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Huntingdonshire

Nearby places

KEYSTON

"KEYSTON, a parish in the hundred of Leightonstone, county Huntingdon, 4 miles south-east of Thrapston, its post town, 6 north-west of Kimbolton, and 70 from London. It is a small and scattered village. The land is chiefly common. The road from Thrapston to Huntingdon passes through the parish. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £381 15s. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Ely, value £300. The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, has a tower crowned by a lofty spire. William Elderkin, Esq., is lord of the manor."

Cemeteries

• Monumental Inscriptions from the Parish Churchyard (approximately 206 entries - fiche set M1) are available 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 Keyston Parish is available as fiche set C102.
• The full 1851 Census of Keyston Parish is available as fiche set C52.
• A surname index of the 1881 Census of the Thrapston Registration District of Northamptonshire, in which Keyston was enumerated (RG11/1583, Folios 10b - 15b), and which took place on 3rd April 1881, is available, as fiche set C1.
• A full transcription of the 1891 Census of the Huntingdonshire (Miscellaneous Parishes) Registration District (Sub-Districts of Thrapston (NTH), Oundle (NTH), Stamford (LIN) and Caxton (CAM)) in which Keyston was enumerated, and which took place on 5th April 1891, is available as fiche set C16.
• The above mentioned fiche are available from the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire FHS.

Churches

• The Church of St. John the Baptist, Keyston.

Church History

• OS Grid Square TL 044754.
• The church of St. John the Baptist consists of a chancel, nave, north transept, south transept, north aisle, south aisle, west tower and south porch. the walls are of coursed rubble with stone dressings, and the roofs are covered with zinc and lead.
• The church is not mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086, and the earliest existing parts are the nave and aisles are from about 1250; the chancel was built around 1280, and the tower and porch were built around 1300. Commencing in about 1480, a considerable reconstruction took place: the east wall of the chancel was rebuilt, the walls heightened and a new window inserted in each, the clearstory was added to the nave, the south transept was built, and new windows inserted into the south aisle walls. The roofs of the nave, transepts and aisles were renewed when these parts were respectively reconstructed towards the end of the 15th century and correspond with the slight differences of date, but those of the south aisle and porch were renewed in the 17th century.
• The church underwent another general restoration in 1883 when the lead on the nave roof was replaced with zinc, and shortly afterwards the top of the spire was repaired. The roofs of the south aisle and transept were repaired in 1897. The chancel was reroofed in 1904, and the spire was again repaired in 1908. the roofs of the north transept and north aisle were thoroughly repaired in 1922-3, and in 1928 the top of the spire was again repaired.

Church Records

• These are available in the Huntingdon Records Office.
  • Baptisms: 1604-27, 1638-1851 (both indexed transcriptions).
  • Banns: 1754-1812, 1837-1927, 1955-1956.
  • Marriages: 1604-27, 1638-1851 (both indexed transcriptions), 1754-1812, 1837-1952, 1953-1994.
  • Burials: 1604-27, 1638-1851 (both indexed transcriptions).
  • Bishop's Transcripts: 1604-5, 1608-10, 1617-19, 1626, 1660-76/1684-8, 1690-9, 1701-2, 1704-7, 1714, 1716, 1718-21, 1723-1813/1813-1824/1825-58.
• Keyston Parish Registers (baptisms, marriages and burials) 1604-1851, on 3 microfiche (fiche set D47), are available from the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire FHS.
• 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

• Keyston was in the Thrapston Registration District of Northamptonshire from 1st July 1837, but it subsequently came under the Raunds sub-District of Thrapston. In 1935, the parish was transferred to the Spaldwick sub-District. It is now part of the Huntingdon District.

Gazetteers

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

Names, Geographical

• Chetelstan, Ketelstan (xi cent.),
• Keston, Keyston (xvi cent.).

Poor Houses, Poor Law, etc.

• The parish of Keyston was in the Thrapston Union of Northamptonshire for Poor Law administration.

Population

• Population in 1801 - 212.
• Population in 1851 - 199.
• Population in 1901 - 175 ?
• Population in 1921 - 182.
• From 1935, the population figures of Keyston are included under Bythorn.