Molesworth, Huntingdonshire
Historical Description
Molesworth, a parish, with a village, in Huntingdonshire, adjacent to Northamptonshire, 5¼ miles ESE of Thrapston, and 3¼ NW of Kimbolton station on the Kettering and Cambridge branch of the M.R. It has a post office under Thrapston; money order and telegraph office, Catworth. Acreage, 1787; population, 173. The manor belongs to the Welstead family. A tract in the N is called Molesworth Wold. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely; net value, £67 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Chester. The church is an ancient building of stone chiefly in the Perpendicular style, and consists of nave and chancel (a fine specimen of Early English work), with a tower. The south porch was built in 1890. The church was restored in 1884-85.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Huntingdonshire | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Molesworth St. Peter | |
Hundred | Leightonstone | |
Poor Law union | Thrapston |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1564.
Churches
Church of England
St. Peter (parish church)
The church of St. Peter is an ancient building of stone, mostly in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch, built in 1890, and an embattled western tower containing 3 bells: the chancel is a fine specimen of restored Early English work, and portions of the nave are in the same style: the church was restored in 1884-5 by the Rev. L. F. Clarkson M.A. then rector, assisted by subscriptions, at a cost of upwards of £1,000; during the restorations a piscina was discovered built into one of the buttresses, and was removed to the chancel: two ledger stones to members of the De Molesworth family, found in the floor of the nave, were restored to their original position: there are two frescos, one of St. Christopher and the other of St. Anthony: there are 120 sittings.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Molesworth from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Molesworth (St. Peter))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Huntindonshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Molesworth are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)