Chesterton, Huntingdonshire
Historical Description
Chesterton, a parish in Huntingdonshire, on the verge of the county, and on Ermine Street and the river Nene, 2¼miles SW from Overtoil station on the L. & N.W.R., and 5¼ SW of Peterborough, which is the post town; money order and telegraph office, Wansford. Acreage, 1349; population, 124. The manor belonged to the Bevils, the Drydens, the Piggots, and the Wallers, and belongs now to the Marquis of Huntley. A single-ditched camp is at Castle-field. The living is a rectory, united with the rectory of Haddon, in the diocese of Ely; joint net yearly value, £550. The church is partly Norman, partly Early English, in good condition, and has several ancient monuments.
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 | Chesterton St. Michael | |
Hundred | Norman-Cross | |
Poor Law union | Peterborough |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1734.
Churches
Church of England
St. Michael (parish church)
The church of St. Michael is an edifice of stone in the Early English and Early Decorated styles, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch and a western tower with octagonal broach spire relieved by two tiers of dormers, and containing 3 bells: the building is chiefly Early English, with the exception of the upper part of the tower and spire, and some modern work of inferior character in the chancel and porch, executed in 1841: the south aisle retains a piscina, and there is a chancel screen of semi-classical character: the pulpit is of oak richly inlaid: in the north aisle, beneath a coeval sepulchral arch, is a stone slab with marginal inscription to William Beivyle, ob. 1483; at the east end of the same aisle is a monument of two stages to Robert Bevill and his wife, and his son Sir Robert Bevill and lady; there are kneeling effigies of all these; above the monument are shields of arms, and below are figures of the children of both families in bas-relief: at the east end of the south aisle is a large mural tablet of marble, with long Latin inscription, to John Driden, cousin of the poet, and grandson of Sir Robert Bevill above mentioned, dated 1707: there are 80 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Chesterton from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Chesterton (St. Michael))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Huntindonshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Chesterton 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)