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Huntingdonshire

Nearby places

WOOLLEY

"WOOLLEY, a parish in the hundred of Leightonstone, county Hunts, 6 miles north-east of Kimbolton, and 8 north-west of Huntingdon. The village, which consists only of a few farmhouses, is situated on a branch of the river Ouse. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely, value £120. The church is dedicated to St. Mary, or to St. Matthew. The charities produce about £3 per annum. John Cockerhill, Esq., is lord of the manor."

Cemeteries

• Monumental inscriptions for Woolley 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 Woolley Parish is available as fiche set C104 from the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire FHS.
• The full 1851 Census of Woolley Parish is available as fiche set C54 from the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire FHS.
• A Surname Index of the 1881 Census of the Huntingdon Registration District, in which Woolley was enumerated (RG11/1602, Folios 50a - 51b), and which took place on 3rd April 1881, is available, as fiche set C3, from the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire FHS.
• A full transcription of the 1891 Census of the Spaldwick sub-District of the Huntingdon Registration District (RG12/1236) in which Woolley was enumerated, and which took place on 5th April 1891, has also been produced by the Huntingdonshire FHS (as Fiche C8). This is available from the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire FHS.

Church History

• The church of St. Mary consisted of the chancel, nave, north transept, south transept, north aisle, south aisle and west tower. The walls were of rubble with stone dressings and the roofs were covered tiles and lead.
• The church is not mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086, but numerous 12th century stones bore evidence to a church here at that time. The chancel, nave, transepts and aisles were built around the year 1300, and the nave was lengthened and the tower spire built at the end of the 14th century. At some uncertain date, the north transept was pulled down and rebuilt as an extension of the aisle. The roofs were largely renewed in the 17th century.
• The chancel was restored in 1857 and again in 1863. The south transept and south aisle were rebuilt in 1907, and the north aisle thoroughly restored in 1914. The columns of the nave arcades were under-pinned in 1931, and the tower and spire were restored in 1932.
• Because of further deterioration in the fabric of the building, and especially the roof, together with a dwindling parish population, the church was closed in 1949, the last service being held on 20th September of that year. The church building subsequently disintegrated and was pulled down in 1961/2.

Church Records

• The following are available in the Huntingdon Records Office.
  • Baptisms: 1576-1845 (indexed transcriptions), 1813-1945.
  • Banns: 1756-1840 (indexed transcriptions), 1756-1812, 1825-1940.
  • Marriages: 1576-1841 (indexed transcriptions), 1754-1812, 1839-1944.
  • Burials: 1576-1850 (indexed transcriptions), 1815-1987.
  • Bishop's Transcripts: 1604-5, 1608, 1617-20, 1625, 1662-71/1675, 1679-80, 1682-5, 1687-91, 1693-4, 1697-1702, 1704-7, 1711-13, 1715-16, 1720-43, 1745, 1747-79, 1783-4, 1789-1812/1813-21, 1823/4/1825-31, 1833-6, 1839, 1843-52.
• 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

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

Gazetteers

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

Names, Geographical

• Ulvelai (xi cent.),
• Wulueleia,
• Wolfleg,
• Wlfleg,
• Wolle (xiii cent.),
• Woolley (xvi cent.).

Poor Houses, Poor Law, etc.

• The parish of Woolley was in the Huntingdon Union for Poor Law administration.
• Births and Deaths registered in the Huntingdon Union Workhouse (1838 - 1949) are available, as fiche set D10, from the Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire FHS.

Population

• Population in 1801 - 60.
• Population in 1851 - 90.
• Population in 1901 - 40.
• Population in 1931 - 29.
• Population figures from 1935 are included under Barham.