GenUKI Contents

Huntingdonshire

ABBOTS RIPTON

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"ABBOTS RIPTON, a parish in the hundred of Hurstingstone, in the county of Huntingdon, 6 miles north of Huntingdon, and 67 from London. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Ely, value £630, and in the patronage of the Rev. P. P. Rooper. The church, which is dedicated to St. Andrew, is an ancient structure, with a low tower. There is a national school for boys and girls, supported by the inhabitants. At 1 mile distant from the village of Abbot's Ripton, are the hamlets of Wennington and Wild Goose Lays. The parish was given by Henry II. to Ramsey abbey, whence it passed at the Reformation to the St. John family. Edward Fellows, Esq., is at present the lord of the manor."

• "WENNINGTON, a hamlet in the parish of Abbots Ripton, county Hunts, 5 miles north of Huntingdon."

[The above was transcribed (and edited) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2023

Cemeteries

• Monumental inscriptions for this parish have not yet been recorded by the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire FHS.

Census

• Census information for this parish (1841 - 1891) is held in the Huntingdon Records Office.
• The full 1841 Census of Abbots Ripton Parish is included on Fiche Set C110.
• The full 1841 Census of Abbots Ripton Parish is included on Fiche Set C60.
• A surname index of the 1881 Census of the Huntingdon Registration District, in which Abbots Ripton (RG11/1604, >Folios 100a - 106a) and Wennington (RG11/1604, Folios 106b - 109a) were enumerated, and which took place on 3rd April 1881, is included on Fiche Set C3.
• A full transcription of the 1891 Census of the Huntingdon Registration District (RG12/1237) in which Abbotts Ripton was enumerated, and which took place on 5th April 1891, is included on Fiche C9.
• The fiche sets mentioned above are published by the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire FHS.

Churches

• St. Andrew's Church, Abbots Ripton.

Church History

• OS Grid Square TL 231780.
• The church of St Andrew consists of a chancel, north chapel, nave, north aisle, south aisle, west tower and south porch. Although there was a church here at the time of the Domesday survey of 1086, the earliest evidence of the present buildings is of a church gradually reconstructed and enlarged during the third and fourth decades of he 13th century. This church, which consisted apparently of a chancel, nave south aisle with south porch, and perhaps a north aisle, was dedicated by the Bishop of Lincoln in 1242.
• At the beginning of the 16th century, it was evidently intended to rebuild the church. The chancel was, at that date, rebuilt and the north chapel added. A new arcade on the north side of the nave was erected and, from the evidence of the west respond of the south arcade, it was apparently proposed to rebuild that side also. It is probable that, instead of doing so, this arcade was taken down and rebuilt with the same material. The tower is part of the same scheme of reconstruction, but of a little later date than the rest of the work.
• The church was restored by subscription in 1858, and in 1868 the roofs of the nave and the south aisle were restored as a memorial to Frances Rooper by her brothers and sisters.

Church Records

• The following are available in the Huntingdon Records Office.
  • Baptisms: 1558-1598 (remains of paper registers), 1558/9-1684, 1684-1724, 1724-1768, 1768-1812, 1813-1885.
  • Banns: 1755-1812, 1825-1976.
  • Marriages: 1559-1684, 1684-1744, 1735 (one marriage only), 1744-1753, 1762, 1754-1812, 1813-1838.
  • Burials: 1559-1684, 1684-1724, 1724-1768, 1768-1812, 1813-1989 (indexed).
  • Bishop's Transcripts: 1604-5, 1608-10, 1612, 1618-19, 1625-7, 1660-72/1679-80, 1682, 1684-8, 1690-1702, 1704-16, 1718, 1720, 1722-8, 1730-53/1754-1813/1813-24/1825-6, 1828-42, 1851-4.
  • The Huntingdonshire Marriage Indexes include marriages from this parish. These are, at present, issued in alphabetical listings in series: 1601-1700, and 1701-1754, and are available from the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire FHS.

Civil Registration

• The parish of Abbots Ripton has been in the Registration District of Huntingdon continuously from 1st July 1837.

Gazetteers

• A transcript of the AbbotsRipton parish entries from 1932 Victoria County Series
• A transcript of the AbbotsRipton parish entries from Samuel Lewis's 1835 Topographical Dictionary of England,

Military History

• The war memorial with detailed information about those who fell is available on the Roll of Honour site for Huntingdonshire.

Names, Geographical

• Riptone (x cent.),
• Riptune (xi cent.),
• Magna Riptona,
• Ryptone or Riptone Abbatis (xii & xiii cent.),
• St John's Ripton (xvi cent.)

Poor Houses, Poor Law, etc.

• The parish of Abbots Ripton was in the Huntingdon Union for Poor Law administration.
• Births and Deaths registered in the Huntingdon Union Workhouse (1838 - 1949) are available from the Huntingdonshire FHS Bookstall.

Population

• Population in 1801 - 327.
• Population in 1851 - 377.
• Population in 1901 - 386.
• Population in 1951 - 357.
• Population in 1971 - 283.
• Population in 1991 - 253.