GenUKI Contents

Huntingdonshire

ST. NEOT'S

"ST. NEOT'S, a parish and small town in the hundred of Toseland, county Hunts, 8 miles south-west of Huntingdon, and 51 from London by the Great Northern railway, on which it is a station. It is situated on the east bank of the river Ouse, over which is a stone bridge of one central arch, with two smaller ones, over the stream, and continued by six other arches, forming a causeway over the marshy lands adjoining. It derives its name from an ancient Benedictine monastery situated on the opposite bank of the river, at Eynesbury, originally founded in 974 by Earl Alric and his wife Ethelfleda, and dedicated to St. Neot, whose relics are said to have been stolen from Neotstock, in Cornwall, and conveyed hither." (There is more of this description).

[The above was transcribed (and edited) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2023

Cemeteries

• The Monumental Inscriptions of St Neots 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 St. Neots Parish is available as fiche set C113
• The full 1851 Census of St. Neots Parish is available as fiche set C63.
• The full 1891 Census of St. Neots Parish si available as fiche set C13.
• A full transcription of the 1891 Census of the Kimbolton Registration District (RG12/1243) in which the St Neots' Workhouse was enumerated, and which took place on 5th April 1891 is available as Fiche C-14.
• A surname index of the 1881 Census of the St. Neots Registration District, in which St Neots (RG11/1610, Folios 4a - 83b), and the St.Ives Union (RG11/1613, Folios 101a-114b) were enumerated, and which took place on 3rd April 1881, is available as Fiche C5.
• All the above fiche are available from the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire FHS.

Churches

• Here are photographs of Churches etc. in the parish:
  • The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, St. Neots.
    • Looking down the nave
    • The East Window
    • The font
  • St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, St. Neots.
  • The Evangelical Church, St. Neots.
• The following Churches have their own websites:
  • The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, St. Neots

Church History

• OS Grid Square TL 184602
• In 1086, both portions of Eynesbury and its dependency at Caldecote were served by one church which was attached to the manor of Countess Judith. Her son-in-law, Simon de St. Liz, Earl of Huntingdon, - with his wife's consent - gave the church of Eynesbury to the Priory of St Neots before the year 1111. Two years later one of the Eynesbury Manors was given to the Priory, and the town of St Neots grew in importance.
• The church is not mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086, but a church appears to have existed at that time although nothing of this early date survives. The church of St Mary consists of a chancel with north chapel, modern north vestry, south chapel, nave, north aisle, south aisle, west tower, and north and south porches. The walls are of rubble with stone dressing, but those of the tower and north chapel are of ashlar. The roofs are covered in lead.
• Parts of the chancel walls are of 13th century date, and the north vestry is of the 14th century. The rest of the church appears to have been wholly built in the 15th century, commencing with the south chapel, then the nave with its aisles, clearstory, porches and north chapel, and ending up with the west tower completed about 1535. The north wall of the north aisle and the west end of the south aisle were restored in the 17th century. In 1843, the north porch, formerly of brick, was rebuilt in stone. In 1846-8, the church was generally restored, the floors lowered and new seats and a pulpit put in. In 1855-6, the east wall of the chancel was faced with ashlar and the windows renewed; in 1860 the chancel seats were made.
• In 1880 the pinnacles of the tower were renewed, and in 1883-5 the sanctus bell-cote was restored and the vestry enlarged. In 1901, the chancel roof was completely restored.

Church Records

• The following are available in the Huntingdon Records Office.
  • Stray pages for the register of baptisms for the years 1690-1720.
  • Births: 1741-1742, 1746, 1749.
  • Baptisms: L 1691-1720, 1721-1761, 1762-1812, 1813-1834, 1834-1857, 1857-1887, 1887-1920, 1920-1941, 1941-1973.
  • Banns: 1754-1780, 1780-1812, 1813-1844, 1844-1904, 1904-1953, 1823-1866, 1938-1945, 1945-1959, 1960-1965, 1966-1974, 1974-1982.
  • Marriages: 1691-1720, 1721-1754, 1754-1780, 1780-1812, 1813-1837, 1837-1861, 1862-1896, 1896-1925, 1925-1938, 1938-1953, 1953-1961, 1961-1969, 1969-1974.
  • Burials: 1691-1720, 1721-1761, 1762-1812.
  • Bishop's Transcripts: 1604-5, 1608, 1612, 1618-19, 1624-5, 1661-7/1671-79, 1681-4, 1686-8, 1690-3, 1695, 1697-1702, 1705, 1707-10,/1711-16, 1718, 1720, 1722-7, 1729-44, 1746-55/1756-70, 1772, 1774-82/1783-1813/1813-22, 1823-5, 1827-39/1840-53.
• The Huntingdonshire Marriage Indexes include marriages from this parish. These are, at present, issued in alphabetical listings in series: 1601-1700, and 1701-1754 on fiche.
• An indexed list of burials 1604 - 1900 from the Parish Church registers is available as a set of 4 microfiche (fiche set D59).
• All the above fiche are available from the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire FHS.

Civil Registration

• St Neots was originally a Registration District of its own, but later it became a sub-district of Huntingdon. Since 1st April 1997, St Neots has been directly in the Huntingdon Registration District, but with a limited local service.

Gazetteers

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

• S. Neod (xii cent.),
• Villa Sancti Neoti (xiii century and later).

Poor Houses, Poor Law, etc.

• St Neots parish was in 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 of St Neots in 1801 - 1752
• Population in 1851 - 3157
• In 1891 St Neots was divided into St Neots (Urban District) and St Neots (Rural District)
• Population in 1901 - 2789 (Urban) plus 72 (Rural)
• Population in 1951 - 4700 (Urban) plus 72 (Rural)
• In 1971 the population of Eaton Socon was added into St Neots
• Population in 1971 - 152094 (Urban) plus 95 (Rural)
• Population in 1991 - 25110 (Urban) plus 93 (Rural)