GenUKI Contents

Huntingdonshire

Nearby places

BYTHORN

"BYTHORN, a parish in the hundred of Leightonstone, in the county of Huntingdon, 6 miles to the north of Kimbolton. Thrapstone is its post town. The living is a perpetual curacy annexed to the rectory of Brington, in the diocese of Ely. The church is dedicated to St. Lawrence. The charitable endowments amount to £16 per annum."

Cemeteries

• Monumental inscriptions for this parish have not yet been recorded by the Huntingdonshire FHS.

Census

• Census information for this parish (1841 - 1891) is held in the Huntingdon Records Office.
• The full 1841 Census of Bythorn Parish is available as fiche set C102.
• The full 1851 Census of Bythorn Parish is available as fiche set C52.
• A surname index of the 1881 Census of the Thrapston Registration District of Northamptonshire, in which Bythorn was enumerated (RG11/1583, Folios 4a - 9b), and which took place on 3rd April 1881, is available as Fiche C1.
• A full transcription of the 1891 Census of Bythorn, which took place on 5th April 1891, is available as fiche set C16.
• The above mentionmed fiche are available from the Huntingdonshire FHS.

Churches

• St. Lawrence's Church, Bythorn.

Church History

• The church of St. Lawrence consists of a chancel with north chapel, nave, north aisle, south aisle, west tower and south porch. The walls are partly of ashlar and partly of coursed rubble with stone dressings, and the roofs are covered with lead and slates.
• The church is not mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086, but there was evidently a stone church on the site in the 12th century, some of the stones of which are built into the existing walls. The nave was probably rebuilt towards the end of the 13th century when a north aisle was added but, notwithstanding the presence of a 13th century piscina, it is doubtful whether the chancel was rebuilt at this time. Early in the next century, a south aisle was added and, about 1345, the chancel was rebuilt and widened to the south; the tower and porch were added at this time and the north aisle rebuilt. The clearstory was built in the 15th century, and the north chapel was built early in the 16th century.
• The tower and spire were repaired in 1853. The church was largely rebuilt in 1870 and the chancel much restored in 1874. Some further repairs to the tower and the west end of the south aisle were undertaken in 1907.
• There is a further more detailed history of the Church on the Bythorn.com website.
• And more photographs and further information on St. Peter's Church on Rob's Churches website.

Church Records

• These are available in the Huntingdon Records Office.
  • Baptisms: 1561-1900 (indexed), 1571-1642/3, 1640/1-1684, 1683/4-1777, 1777-1778, 1775-1812, 1813-1960.
  • Banns: 1754-1811 (indexed).
  • Marriages: 1560-1812 (indexed), 1560-1642, 1640-1676/7, 1707, 1716/17-1727, 1742-1754, 1754-1811, 1813-1836, 1837-1956.
  • Burials: 1561-1818 (indexed), 1560-1642, 1640-1684, 1684-1777, 1777-1778, 1777-1812.
  • Bishop's Transcripts: 1604-5, 1608-10, 1612, 1617-19, 1626, 1632, 1660-9, 1670-1/1682-8, (1672-76), 1691, 1695, 1697, 1699-1702, 1704, 1706-7, 1709-10, 1712, 1714-18, 1722-32, 1734-5, 1738-41, 1743-51, 1753-67, 1773-74, 1777-1813/1813-24/1825-58.
• 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.

Civil Registration

• Bythorn was in the Thrapston Registration District of Northamptonshire from 1st July 1837, but it subsequently came under the Raunds sub-District of Thrapston. In 1935, the parish was transferred to the Spaldwick sub-District. It is now part of the Huntingdon District.

Gazetteers

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

Maps

• An old map of the parish of Bythorn in the 19th century is available.

Names (Geographical)

• Bierne (xi-xiv cent.),
• Bytherne (xii-xv cent.),
• Byerne (xiii cent.),
• Bithorne (xiii-xvi cent.)

Poorhouses and Poor Law Etc

• The parish of Bythorn was in the Thrapston Union of Northamptonshire for Poor Law administration.

Population

• Population in 1801 - 269.
• Population in 1851 - 294.
• Population in 1901 - 108.
• Population in 1951 - 268.
• Population in 1971 - 259.
• Population in 1991 - 254.

Statistics

• The parish of Bythorn occupies 1570 acres of land. It measures 3 miles in length from north to south, and from half a mile to one mile in width.