diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index bd2735e..5e6753c 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -59,6 +59,21 @@
             <type>test-jar</type>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>${spring.groupId}</groupId>
+            <artifactId>spring-beans</artifactId>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>${spring.groupId}</groupId>
+            <artifactId>spring-context</artifactId>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>${spring.groupId}</groupId>
+            <artifactId>spring-core</artifactId>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
 
         <!-- Managed Dependencies -->
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/uk/org/iay/incommon/mda/dom/saml/BeansFileTest.java b/src/test/java/uk/org/iay/incommon/mda/dom/saml/BeansFileTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4984506
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/uk/org/iay/incommon/mda/dom/saml/BeansFileTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+
+package uk.org.iay.incommon.mda.dom.saml;
+
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanDefinition;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader;
+import org.springframework.context.support.GenericApplicationContext;
+import org.springframework.core.io.ClassPathResource;
+import org.testng.Assert;
+import org.testng.annotations.Test;
+
+public class BeansFileTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void testBeans() throws Exception {
+        // Create an application context, which also acts as a bean definition registry
+        final GenericApplicationContext ctx = new GenericApplicationContext();
+
+        // Load bean definitions into the registry
+        final XmlBeanDefinitionReader xmlReader = new XmlBeanDefinitionReader(ctx);
+        xmlReader.loadBeanDefinitions(new ClassPathResource("uk/org/iay/incommon//mda/beans.xml"));
+
+        final String[] defNames = ctx.getBeanDefinitionNames();
+        for (final String defName : defNames) {
+            final BeanDefinition def = ctx.getBeanDefinition(defName);
+
+            // All bean definitions should start with "inc."
+            Assert.assertTrue(defName.startsWith("inc."), "does not start with correct prefix: " + defName);
+
+            // All bean definitions should be abstract
+            Assert.assertTrue(def.isAbstract(), "not abstract: " + defName);
+
+            // Deal with the class name, if the definition has one
+            final String className = def.getBeanClassName();
+            if (className != null) {
+                try {
+                    // Check that the class can be loaded
+                    Class.forName(className);
+
+                    // The name of the class within its package should be included in the bean
+                    // name's prefix; there may be more after that
+                    final String classLastPart = className.replaceFirst("^.*\\.", "");
+                    Assert.assertTrue(defName.startsWith("inc." + classLastPart), "does not start with correct prefix: " + defName);
+
+                    // If the class represents a stage, its parent should be the stage parent
+                    if (className.endsWith("Stage")) {
+                        Assert.assertEquals(def.getParentName(), "inc.stage_parent");
+                    }
+                } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
+                    // Could not load class
+                    Assert.fail("could not load class " + className + " for bean " + defName);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Refresh the context to process the bean definitions
+        ctx.refresh();
+
+    }
+
+}