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Grafham, Huntingdonshire, England. Geographical and Historical information from 1932.

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GRAFHAM:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1932.

[Description(s) transcribed by Martin Edwards and later edited by Colin Hinson ©2010]
[from The Victoria County History series - 1932]

"GRAFHAM WITH EAST PERRY, the parish of Grafam with East Perry is half arable with the rest being grass. The soil is boulder clay and the sub-soil is Oxford clay. Although there is no no woodland in the parish, in 1086 there was a panage one league square. Other early references indicate that, before the 14th century, there must have been a fair amount of woodland. The Diddington Brook (sometimes called the Grafham Brook and which is now dammed to produce Grafham Reservoir), which flows into the River Ouse, runs from north-west to south-east and forms the parish boundary on the south-west and south sides of the parish. The land rises from the brook, where it is about 90 ft. above sea-level, to about 189 ft. at Grafham village on the north side of the brook, and to 182 ft at East Perry on the south side.

The somewhat scattered village stands on high land at the meeting of the by-roads: one (now diverted because of the reservoir) from Great Staughton by Church Hill, another from Easton by Hartham Street (which is now only a track), yet another from Ellington by Breach Road, and another from Huntingdon and Buckden. The church is on the south side of the village, and to the north of it is the Rectory. The Fox Inn, in the village, is a 17th century timber-framed building. About a quarter of a mile to the north-west of the church is the moated site of the Manor House of the Engaines, who in the 14th century are said to have had a park leading to Sibthorpe in Ellington. This was also the site of the manor house of the Bigg family in the 17th and 18th centuries. Half a mile to the east of the village is another moated enclosure.

The western part of the hamlet of Perry is in the parish of Great Staughton. The eastern part of Perry is in the parish of Grafham and was formerly the least populous part of Perry.

The village feast was formerly held on the second day after the feast of St Lawrence (12th August), but in 1375 it was found to interfere with the harvest; it was changed to the feast of St. Theckla the Virgin (23rd September).

There was an Act of Parliament for the inclosure of the parish in 1774 and a resulting award in 1776, and a further Act for inclosing 2000 acres of Great Staughton with Grafham in 1807. During the 1960s, the Diddington Brook was dammed to produce a reservoir called Grafham Water which now has a leisure complex attached. The formation of Graham Water in the later 20th century has divided the village of Grafham, which is on the north, from that of East Perry which is on the south. Grafham and Perry are now regarded as two separate places, with Perry allied with Great Staughton."

[Description(s) transcribed by Martin Edwards ©2003 and later edited by Colin Hinson ©2010]
[mainly from The Victoria County History series- 1932]