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Huntingdonshire

Nearby places

GREAT GRANSDEN

"GREAT GRANSDEN, a parish in the hundred of Toseland, county Huntingdon, 3½ miles south-west of Caxton, its post town, and 7 south-east of St. Neot's. It is situated on the south-east border of the county, and was formerly in possession of the Fitzalan family. The land is chiefly arable, with a small extent of pasture and common. The soil in the lower lands is loam, resting upon a substratum of gravel, and in the uplands clay, with boulders of primitive and secondary rocks scattered over the surface, mixed with diluvial remains and bones of the ichthyosaurus; and ironstone occurs in some parts. The village, which is neatly built, is situated on the declivity of a hill. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Ely, value £200, in the patronage of Clare Hall, Cambridge. The church is an ancient edifice, overgrown with ivy, and has in the tower a clock which plays a different tune on each day of the week. It is dedicated to St. Bartholomew. Here are a few almshouses, and other charities, producing rather over £60 per annum. The Baptists and Wesleyan Methodists have each a chapel, and there is a parochial school, partly endowed. In the parish are four manors, severally belonging to Clare Hall, Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Rev. W. Webb, and D. Gardener, Esq. Gransden Park is the principal residence.

Cemeteries

• Monumental Inscriptions from the Parish Church and churchyard of Great Gransden (St Bartholomew) 1733 - 1950, together with those of the Church interior (circa 1328 - 1967), the parish cemetery (1928-2000), Old Meeting House (1928 - 2000) and the Baptist Chapel (1765 - 1945), are available on one fiche, as fiche set M31, from 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 Great Gransden Parish is available as fiche set C97.
• The full 1851 Census of Great Gransden Parish is available as fiche set C47.
• A full transcription of the 1891 Census of the Huntingdonshire (Miscellaneous Parishes) Registration District in which Great Gransden was enumerated, and which took place on 5th April 1891, is available as fiche set C16.
• The above mentioned fiche sets are available from the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire FHS.

Churches

• Here are photographs of Churches etc. in the parish:
  • St. Bartholomew's Church, Great Gransden.
    • Internal view looking down the nave
    • The font
  • The Baptist Church, Great Gransden.
• The following Churches have their own websites:
  • St. Bartholomew's Church, Great Gransden

Church History

• OS Grid Square TL 271556.
• The church of St. Bartholomew consists of a chancel with a 19th century organ chamber and a vestry on the north, nave, north aisle, south aisle, west tower and north and south porches. The walls are of rubble with stone and clunch dressings, and the roofs are covered with lead.
• Although mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086, there are no remains of this early date existing and, with the exception of the tower which is of the late 14th century, the whole church was rebuilt and widened to the south in the 15th century, and most architectural features belong to these two periods respectively.
• The church was restored in 1873 when the organ chamber and vestry were built, and the north porch entirely rebuilt.

Church Records

• These are available in the Huntingdon Records Office.
  • Baptisms: 1538-1653/4, 1655-1700/1, 1701-1752, 1753-1812, 1813-1862, 1862-1927.
  • Banns: 1754-1823, 1823-1942.
  • Marriages: 1538-1653/4, 1654-1700, 1701-1752, 1754-1812, 1813-1837.
  • Burials: 1539/40-1653/4, 1654-1700/1, 1682-1683, 1701-1752, 1753-1812, 1813-1883.
  • Bishop's Transcripts: 1604-5, 1607-10, 1612, 1618-19, 1625-7, 1660-70, 1672/1674-88, 1690-6, 1698-1702, 1704-12, 1714-16, 1718, 1720, 1722-1742/1743-1813/1813-24, 1826-30/1825, 1831-7, 1839-58.
• 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 Huntingdonshire FHS Bookstall.

Civil Registration

• Great Gransden was originally in the Caxton Registration District of Cambridgeshire.

Gazetteers

• A transcript of the GreatGransden parish entries from 1932 Victoria County Series
• A transcript of the GreatGransden 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 and also the Canadian Air Force Memorial.

Names, Geographical

• Grantesden (xi cent.),
• Grantendene,
• Granceden (xii cent.),
• Grauntedene,
• Magna Granteden (xii cent.),
• Grantisden (xiv cent.),
• Grandesden,
• Gransden (xvi cent.).

Poor Houses, Poor Law, etc.

• The parish of Great Gransden was part of the Caxton Union of Cambridgeshire for Poor Law administration.

Population

• Population in 1801 - 412.
• Population in 1851 - 665.
• Population in 1901 - 504.
• Population in 1951 - 396.
• Population in 1971 - 520.
• Population in 1991 - 850.