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Huntingdonshire

Nearby places

DIDDINGTON

"DIDDINGTON, a parish in the hundred of Toseland, in the county of Huntingdon, 4 miles north of St. Neot's, and 1½ mile south of Buckden. It is situated on the river Ouse, and contains the hamlet of Boughton. The village consists of a few scattered houses along the Great North Road. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Ely, value £134, in the patronage of Merton College, Oxford. The church, dedicated to St. Laurence, was erected about the middle of the 14th century. There is a free school. George Thornhill, Esq., is lord of the manor, and a deputy lieutenant of the county. The tithes were commuted for land and a corn rent, under the Enclosure Act of 1797."

"BOUGHTON, a hamlet in the parish of Diddington, hundred of Toseland, in the county of Huntingdon, 3 miles to the north of St. Neot's. It is on the west bank of the river Ouse. The Great Northern railway passes near Boughton."

Cemeteries

• The monumental inscriptions of Diddington parish have not yet been published 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 Diddington Parish is available as fiche set C108.
• The full 1851 Census of Diddington Parish is available as fiche set C58.
• The full 1891 Census of Diddington Parish is available as fiche set C13.
• A surname index of the 1881 Census of the St. Neots Registration District, in which Diddington was enumerated (RG11/1611, Folios 90a - 94a, and 105a), and which took place on 3rd April 1881, is available as Fiche set C5.
• The above mentioned fiche are available from the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire FHS.

Churches

• Here are photographs of Churches etc. in the parish:
  • St. Laurence's Church, Diddington.
    • Internal view looking down the nave
    • The Font

Church History

• OS Grid Square TL 190660.
• The church of St Lawrence consists of a chancel with a modern north vestry, nave, north aisle, south chapel, west tower and south porch. The oldest part of the walls are of stone rubble mostly plastered. The tower is of red bricks with stone dressing, the south porch is also of red bricks plastered over and the east wall and chancel is of yellow brick. The roofs are of lead, tiles and slates.
• Although mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086, the nucleus of the present church is the chancel and nave which are of the first half of the 13th cent., to which a north aisle was added in 1275. The church was much altered around 1500 when a new south chapel was built, the clearstory was added and the north aisle remodelled with larger windows. Slightly later the tower was built, together with the western angles of the nave, the western bay of the north aisle being pulled down. The south porch is later still and in the 17th cent. The chancel was shortened and a yellow brick east wall was built. The vestry was added in about 1865 when the chancel was restored and reroofed.
• The church existed in 1086 when it belonged to the Bishop of Lincoln's manor. Before 1279, John Littlebury presented the advowson to Walter de Merton who, in turn, gave it to his college at Oxford. It was before this that the vicarage was ordained. The advowson of the vicarage still belongs to Merton College, Oxford.

Church Records

• The following are available in the Huntingdon Records Office.
  • Baptisms: 1688/9-1809, 1809-1812, 1813-1956.
  • Banns: 1813-1836, 1824-1956.
  • Marriages: 1699-1809, 1755-1812, 1813-1836, 1837-1959 (photocopies).
  • Burials: 1697-1809, 1809-1812, 1813-1965.
  • Bishop's Transcripts: 1604-5, 1607-8, 1618-19, 1625-7, 1660-1670, 1673/1674-7, 1679-80, 1686, 1688, 1690, 1692, 1696, 1701-2, 1704, 1706-11, 1713-16, 1718, 1720, 1723-34, 1736-52/1754-84, 1789-1813/1813-24/1825-35, 1837-9, 1841-57.
• 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.
• Diddington Parish Registers (baptisms (1604 - 1956), marriages and burials (1604-1965)), are available as fiche set D-49 from the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire FHS.

Civil Registration

• Diddington was in the Registration District of St. Neots from 1st July 1837 until 31 March 1997, when that district was disbanded. Since 1st April 1997, it has been in the Huntingdon Registration District.

Gazetteers

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

Military History

• The roll of honour with detailed information about those who served, and died, in World War is available on the Roll of Honour site for Huntingdonshire.

Names, Geographical

• Dodintone (xi ent.),
• Doditone, Dodington,
• Dudington (xiii cent.),
• Dydyngton (xiv cent.).

Poor Houses, Poor Law, etc.

• The parish of Diddington was part of the St. Neots Union (for Poor Law administration).
• Births and Deaths registered in the St Neots Union Workhouse (1913 - 1952) are available as fiche set D11, from the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire FHS.

Population

• Population in 1801 - 156.
• Population in 1851 - 216.
• Population in 1901 - 186.
• Population in 1951 - 668.
• Population in 1971 - 93.
• Population in 1991 - 90.