Buckden Parish Page

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Buckden

Bugedene (xi cent.), Bugendena, Buggeden, Bukeden (xiii cent.), Bokeden (xv cent.), Bugden (until late xviii cent.).

Buckden lies on the road from Huntingdon (which is 4 miles to the north-east) to St Neots (south-east) i.e. the London or Great North Road which, for some distance, forms its northern boundary. The modern A1 dual carriageway also runs through the parish and close to the village. It is bounded oin the east by the River Ouse, a bridge over which connects it with Offord Cluney.

The parish lies somewhat low, the ground near the Ouse being liable to floods, and the higher ground in the west reaching a level of not more than 150 ft. The land is arable; the soil being clay and gravel and the sub-soil Oxford clay.

The village lies in the middle of the parish on the Huntingdon Road (here called the High street). The parish church and Buckden Palace, formerly the seat of the Bishops of Lincoln, stand at the west end of Church Street. It is not known how early the bishops had a residence at Buckden, but the fact that the manor was held in demesne in 1066 suggests that it was then already a residence of a bishop.

Cemeteries
Census
Church History
Church Records
Civil Registration
Description and Travel

Maps
Military History
Population
Poorhouses, Poor Law etc.
Statistics

Cemeteries

Monumental Inscriptions from the Buckden (St Mary) Parish Churchyard (fiche set M7, consisting of approximately 96 entries), and those of Buckden Municipal Cemetery in Lucks Lane (fiche set M-27 consisting of 582 entries) are both available from the Huntingdonshire FHS.

Census

Census information for this parish (1841 - 1891) is held in the Huntingdon Records Office.

The full 1841 Census of Buckden Parish is available as fiche set C86.

The full 1851 Census of Buckden Parish is available as fiche set C36.

The full 1891 Census of Buckden Parish si available as fiche set C13.

A surname index of the 1881 Census of the St. Neots Registration District, in which Buckden was enumerated (RG11/1611, Folios 4a - 31a), and which took place on 3rd April 1881, is available as fiche set C5.

All the above mentioned fiche sets are available from the Huntingdonshire FHS.

Church History

OS Grid Square TL 193677.

The church of St Mary consists of a chancel with a modern organ chamber, and vestry on the north, nave, north aisle, south aisle, west tower and south porch. The walls are of rubble with stone dressing, and the roofs are covered in lead.

Although mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086, nothing of this date remains; the earliest existing portions being the south doorway of the nave (which is early 13th cent.) and parts of the chancel wall which date from the latter part of the same century. Apparently early in the 15th cent. it was contemplated to rebuild the whole church, widening it towards the north. The east wall of the church was rebuilt to suit the proposed wider church, but evidently the scheme was changed and the earlier north and south walls were retained, but the upper part was rebuilt and new windows formed. Meanwhile the south arcade, south aisle and west towers were built, the latter with its axis to suit the widened church. The north arcade, however, which evidently followed a year or two later, was rebuilt on its former line. The rebuilding of the north aisle, no doubt, followed the completion of the north arcade.

Considerable repairs to the roofs took place in 1649 and 1665, and large buttresses were added on the north side in the 18th cent. The church was restored in 1840, 1860 and 1884 when the present vestry and organ chamber were built, and again in 1909 when the seating was renewed and the font removed to the tower.

Church Records

Baptisms: 1559-1858 (indexed transcriptions), 1858-1889, 1889-1953.
Banns: 1755-1851, (indexed transcriptions) 1832-1896.
Marriages: 1559-1851 (indexed Transcriptions), 1837-1920, 1920-1925, 1925-1936, 1936-1945, 1947-1967, 1967-1992.
Burials: 1559-1851 (indexed transcriptions), 1813-1902, 1921.
Bishop's Transcripts: 1660-3/1720-2, 1724-5, 1731-2, 1734, 1736, 1773-4, 1807-12/1813-14, 1816-24/1825-33, 1835-43/1844-61.

These are available in the Huntingdon Records Office.

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 Huntingdonshire FHS Bookstall.