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Huntingdonshire

Nearby places

GRAFHAM

"GRAFHAM, a parish in the hundred of Leightonstone, county Huntingdon, 2½ miles north-west of Buckden, and 8 from St. Neot's, its post town. The Offord station on the Great Northern line of railway is 4½ miles south-east of the village. The hamlet of Perry is in the southern part of the parish The tithes were commuted for land under an Enclosure Act in 1780. The village is small, but neatly built. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Ely, value £199. The church is an ancient edifice of noble appearance, with good spire. It is dedicated to St. Mary, or, according to others, to All Saints. The parochial endowments, arising partly from town lands, produce about £50 per annum, and are applied to the relief of the poor and repairs of the church. There is a free school. Lady 0. B. Sparrow is lady of the manor. A pleasure fair is held at Midsummer.

"EAST PERRY, a hamlet in the parish of Grafham, hundred of Leightonstone, county Huntingdon, 3½ miles south-east of Kimbolton.

Cemeteries

• Monumental inscriptions for the parish of Grafham 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 Grafham Parish is available as fiche set C108.
• The full 1851 Census of Grafham Parish is available as fiche set C58.
• The full 1891 Census of Grafham Parish is available as fiche set C13.
• A surname index of the 1881 Census of the St. Neots Registration District, in which Grafham was enumerated (RG11/1611, Folios 73a - 80b), and which took place on 3rd April 1881, is available as fiche set C5.
• The above mentioned fiche sets are available from the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire FHS.

Churches

• Trinity Baptist Church, West Perry.

Church History

• OS Grid Square TL 160692.
• The church of All Saints consists of a chancel, nave, north aisle, south chapel, west tower and south porch. The walls are of pebble and stone rubble with stone dressings, and the roofs are covered with tiles and lead.
• The church is not not mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086, and the north arcade of the nave, dated to around 1250, appears to be the earliest work which remains. However, the fact that the chancel is some half a century later seems to point to an earlier church on the site, although no vestige of it now exists. The south chapel was added early in the 14th century and, towards the end of this century, the north aisle was rebuilt.
• The tower and spire were built around 1400, but the stair-turret at its south-east angle was added a little later. The rood-stairs were built in the 15th century. The porch was built, or rebuilt, in 1657 and apparently some work was done to the chancel in 1689. In 1724, the "steeple and Bell-loft" were in need of much repair, and in 1748 the Archdeacon recorded 'the whole church very bad and nasty'.
• A new floor, considerably raised, was put down in 1880 and the steeple was pointed in 1884. The church was restored in 1901-3 when most of the walls were under-pinned, a new buttress built onto the south side of the chancel and the porch rebuilt. The spire was pointed in 1906 and the lead on the aisle roofs was recast in 1908.

Church Records

• The following are available in the Huntingdon Records Office.
  • Baptisms: 1581-1851 (indexed transcription), 1814-1874, 1875-1993.
  • Banns: 1754-1812 (indexed transcription), 1823-1992.
  • Marriages: 1586-1851 (indexed transcription), 1837-1963.
  • Burials: 1586-1851 (indexed transcription), 1814-1993.
  • Bishop's Transcripts: 1604-5, 1607-8, 1610, 1612, 1617-19, 1626, 1631-2, 1660-7, 1669-72, 1680, 1695, 1687, 1690-6/1697-1702, 1704-13, 1715, 1717, 1720-61, 1763-9/1770-1813/1813-18, 1820-5/1825-35, 1837-40, 1842-4, 1847, 1851-5.
• 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

• Grafham was originally in St Neots Registration District, but later it became part of the sub-district of St. Neots, when that changed. Since 1st April 1997, it has been in the Huntingdon Registration District.

Community Websites

• Grafham Village.org

Gazetteers

• A transcript of the Grafham parish entries from 1932 Victoria County Series
• A transcript of the Grafham 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

• Grafham:
  • Grafham,
  • Grafam (xi-xii cent.),
  • Grofham, Graffeham (xiv-xvi cent.),
• East Perry:
  • Peri, Pirie (xii cent.),
  • Est Perye,
  • Pirie in Grafam (xiv cent.).

Poor Houses, Poor Law, etc.

• The parish of Grafham 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 - 176.
• Population in 1851 - 334.
• Population in 1901 - 212.
• Population in 1951 - 201
• Population in 1971 - 190.
• Population in 1991 - 452.