GenUKI Contents

Huntingdonshire

Nearby places

KIMBOLTON

"KIMBOLTON, a parish, post and market town, in the hundred of Leightonstone, county Huntingdon, 11 miles west of Huntingdon, and 8 north of St. Neot's. It is situated on the verge of the county, in the wooded valley of the Kym, a branch of the Ouse, and near the Great Northern railway. It was anciently called Kinnibanturn, and was held by the Mandevilles, Bohuns, and others. It is now held by the Montagues, who take from it the title of baron.

The town is an insignificant place, wholly dependent on agriculture and the manufacture of lace. It is governed by a constable appointed at the courts leet and baron, held under the Duke of Manchester. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Ely, value £200. The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, is an ancient stone structure, with a tower surmounted by a lofty spire. In the interior are monuments of the Wingfield and Montague families. The charities produce £168 per annum; also an almshouse, built by the inhabitants of Kimbolton. There are chapels for Moravians, Baptists, and Wesleyans. There is a grammar school, at which agricultural chemistry is taught; also parochial schools for both sexes, and an infant school. Kimbolton Castle, which was built by the Wingfields, near the site of an older mansion, is the residence of the Duke of Manchester. It is situated in a park, and is celebrated as the place where Queen Catherine of Arragon resided after her divorce from Henry VIII. The Duke of Manchester is lord of the manor. Friday is market day. Faire are held on the Fridays in Easter and Whitsun weeks, and the Friday after Old Michaelmas day, for toys, &c., and on the 11th December for cattle; also a statute fair for the hiring of servants on the 23rd September."

"STONELY, a hamlet in the parish of Kimbolton, hundred of Leightonstone, county Hunts, 9 miles south-west of Huntingdon. It is situated near the river Kym, and has traces of an Austin friary, founded in 1181 by William de Mandeville. The principal seat is Stoneley Hall.

Cemeteries

• Monumental inscriptions for the parish of Kimbolton 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 Kimbolton Parish is available as fiche set C103.
• The full 1851 Census of Kimbolton Parish is available as fiche set C53.
• A surname index of the 1881 Census of the St. Neots Registration District, in which Kimbolton was enumerated (RG11/1612, Folios 41a - 61a), and which took place on 3rd April 1881, is available as Fiche C5.
• A full transcription of the 1891 Census of the Kimbolton Registration District (RG12/1243) in which Kimbolton was enumerated, and which took place on 5th April 1891, is available, as fiche set C14.
• The above mentioned fiche are available from the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire FHS.

Churches

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

Church History

• OS Grid Square TL 097679.
• The church of St. Andrew consists of a chancel, north chapel, south chapel, north vestry, nave, north aisle, south aisle, west tower and south porch. The walls are of rubble and pebble rubble with stone dressings, except that the south wall of the chancel is of red brick. The roofs are covered in lead.
• The church is mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086, but the oldest existing portion is the north arcade of the nave which dates from the middle of the 13th century; this indicates a nave of the same size as the present. In the last quarter of the 13th century, a south aisle and arcade were added. About 1300, the chancel and chancel arch were rebuilt and, a few years later, the north aisle and arcade were rebuilt for the foundations of a 14th century diagonal buttress were found when the north-west corner was underpinned in 1921. Quite early in the 14th century, the tower was built and the clearstory was added to the nave about 1370. At the end of the 15th century, the south aisle was rebuilt and the porch and south chapel added. The north aisle was rebuilt and the north chapel added about 1500, the chancel being largely rebuilt at the same time.
• The south wall of the chancel was rebuilt in the 18th century. In 1748, the roofs of the chancel, the two chapels and the nave were out of repair. In 1787 a new beam was inserted in the nave roof, and another was inserted in 1841. The vestry was rebuilt in 1847, and the chancel was reroofed again in 1853. About the same time, the Montagu Vault was formed in the north chapel, a small porch for access to it being added some 40 years later. The whole church was restored in 1881-2, and the spire in 1903. The present Lych-gate is a modern addition, erected in 1929. The roofs of the present nave, aisles and chapels were restored in 1930-1, and the north chapel was refurbished in 1963 in memory of Phyllis Vernon Kilby.
• In the north wall is a 20th century window in memory of members of the Carter family, whilst the US Army Air Force's connections with Kimbolton during the 2nd World War are commemorated by a tablet near the north chapel screen.
• Additional acknowledgent is made to the third edition of the Kimbolton Church Guide from which additional factual material has been taken.

Church Records

• Many registers are badly damaged and unfit for use; in these case, the records have been preserved on microfilm.
• The following are available in the Huntingdon Records Office.
  • Baptisms: 1800-1811 & 1832-1852 (indexed transcriptions), 1646/7-1653/4, 1650/1-1709, 1709-1748, 1750-1799, 1800-1811, 1813-1832, 1832-1856, 1856-1885.
  • Banns: 1754-1798, 1823-1891, 1891-1929.
  • Marriages: 1754-1812 & 1813-1851 (indexed transcriptions), 1646/7-1653, 1653-1708/9, 1709-1747/8, 1750-1753, 1754-1799, 1798-1812, 1813-1837, 1837-1897.
  • Burials: 1800-1811 & 1813-1851 (indexed transcriptions), 1646/7-1653/4, 1653-1708/9, 1709-1748, 1749-1799, 1800-1811, 1813-1843, 1843-1956.
  • Bishop's Transcripts: 1604-5, 1607-8, 1610, 1612, 1617-19, 1626, 1631, 1660-9/1677-80, 1683-5, 1690--3, 1695, 1697, 1699-1701, 1704-27, 1729-51/1752-4, 1756-1813/1813-17, 1820-4/1825-36, 1851, 1853-5.
• 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

• Kimbolton was originally in the St. Neots Registration District from 1st July 1837. Subsequently it became part of the Kimbolton sub-District, but it is now directly under the Huntingdon District.

Gazetteers

• A transcript of the Kimbolton parish entries from Stepehen Whatley's 1750 Topographical Gazetteer of England,
• A transcript of the Kimbolton parish entries from 1932 Victoria County Series
• A transcript of the Kimbolton 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

• Kimbolton
  • Chenebalton (xi cent.),
  • Chenebolton (xii cent.),
  • Kenebalton (xii-xiii cent.),
  • Kenebaulton (xiii cent.),
  • Kembauton (xiv cent.),
  • Kymbolton, Kimoltune,
  • Guimolton,
  • Quybolton (xiv cent.).
  • Stonely:
  • Stanleigh, Staynley (xiii cent.),
  • Stonly (xiii-xiv cent.),
  • Stoneley (xvi-xvii cent.).
  • Wornditch:
  • Wormedik, Wermedych (xiii cent.),
  • Wormedich (xiii-xvii cent.),
  • Worndiche (xvi cent.).}

Poor Houses, Poor Law, etc.

• The parish of Kimbolton 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 - 1266.
• Population in 1851 - 1653.
• Population in 1901 - 915.
• Population in 1951 - 875.
• Population in 1971 - 1136.
• Population in 1991 - 1311.