Coveney (St. Peter)
COVENEY (St. Peter), a parish, in the hundred of South Witchford, union and Isle of Ely, county of Cambridge, 6 miles (W. N. W.) from Ely; containing, with the chapelry of Manea and the hamlet of Wardy-Hill, 1505 inhabitants. It stands on an eminence overlooking the Fens. The manor belonged to the monks of Ely, and having been for some time wrongfully withheld from them, was recovered by Bishop Nigell before the year 1169: among subsequent owners, occur the families of Lisle, Scrope, and Robinson. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £5, and in the gift of Lord Rokeby, with a net income of £809: the tithes have been commuted for £227. 14.; and there is a glebe of 30 acres. The church is an ancient edifice with a thatched roof. The chapel at Manea forms a separate cure. There is a national school supported by subscription; and about £50 per annum, the amount of various bequests, are distributed among the poor on St. Thomas's day. Great numbers of oak, and a few other trees, have been discovered buried at various depths below the surface, and some almost petrified are found in various places.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.