Huntingdonshire
Contents
Nearby Places
Nearby churches
Redinges, Gedelinge (xi cent.), Geddinge (xii cent.), High Gyddyng, Gidding Prior (xv cent.), Much Gyddyng, Great Gidding (xvi cent.).
The parish of Great Gidding is bounded on the north-east by the Bullock Road, with Glatton and Sawtry adjoining; on the south-east it is bounded by Little Gidding and Winwick, and on the north west and part of the south by the parish of Luddington-in-the-Brook, Northamptonshire. The Alconbury Brook forms a small part of this latter boundary, and then passes through he middle of the parish. Its altitude at the brook is 125 ft. above sea-level, and it rises to about 205 ft. in the north and 225 ft. in the south.
In 1086, the land at Gidding seems to have consisted of two parts (now Great and Little Gidding) which were held by William Engaine (4 1/2 hides), Eustace, the Sheriff (4 1/2 hides) and the Abbot of Ramsey (one hide). The Abbot also had the area now known as Steeple Gidding which was valued at 7 1/2 hides.
The village is in the middle of the parish and on the north side of the brook. Some 17th century houses of timber and thatch remained until recently but they have rapidly disappeared; only a very few remain. The church and Vicarage are at the south-west corner of the village. In 1973, the parish was united with Little Gidding and Steeple Gidding parishes to create a single ecclesiastical parish.
Monumental inscriptions of Great Gidding parish have not yet been recorded by the Huntingdonshire FHS.
Census information for this parish (1841 - 1891) is held in the Huntingdon Records Office.
The full 1841 Census of Great Gidding Parish is available as fiche set C95.
The full 1851 Census of Great Gidding Parish is available as fiche set C45.
A surname index of the 1881 Census of the Oundle Registration District of Northamptonshire, in which Great Gidding was enumerated (RG11/1584, Folios 59a - 68b), and which took place on 3rd April 1881, is available as fiche set C2.
The above mentioned fiche sets are available from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
OS Grid Square TL117832.
The church of St. Michael consists of a chancel, nave, north aisle,
south aisle, west tower and spire and a south porch. The walls are of
rubble with stone dressings and the roofs are covered with slates and
lead.
The church is not mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086. There
was, however, a stone church here before the middle of the 13th century, which
is the date of the present south doorway; the late 13th century chancel is,
undoubtedly, a rebuilding of part of that early church. A western tower was
added to it in the first half of the 14th century, but the belfry was not built
until about 1370. The nave and the chancel arch were rebuilt arount 1400, and
some 60 years later, the two aisles, the clearstory and the porch were
rebuilt.
The parapets of the tower and spire were not built until the
early years of the 16th century. The church was restored in 1870, when the
walls of the chancel were raised and a new roof put on and the porch rebuilt
again. The tower and the chancel arch were restored in 1925.
Baptisms: 1579-1666/7, 1670-1731/2, 1732-1787, 1787-1812,
1813-1877.
Banns: 1773-1777.
Marriages: 1574-1604, 1671-1731/2,
1675-1812 (indexed transcription from BTs), 1732-1772, 1772-1812,
1813-1836, 1837-1958, 1959-1975.
Burials: 1581-1652/3, 1670-1731/2,
17132-1787, 1788-1812, 1813-1930.
Bishop's Transcripts: 1604-5, 1612,
1617-19, 1626, 1631, 1660-8/1675-6, 1686-8, 1691, 1695-6, 1698-1702, 1704-7,
1709-36, 1738-50/1751-86, 1789-1808, 1810-12/1813-17, 1821, 1823-4/1825,
1827-37, 1851, 1853-5, 1857-9.
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.
The parish of Great Gidding was in the Oundle Registration District of Northamptonshire from 1st July 1837. In 1935, the parish was transferred to the Spaldwick sub-District of Huntingdonshire. It is now part of the Huntingdon District.
A civic website on The Giddings is available.
An old map of the parish of Great Gidding in the 19th century is available.
The war memorial in St Michael church, with detailed information about those who fell, is available on Genweb Huntingdonshire.
Population in 1801 - 420
Population in 1851 - 563
Population in 1901 -
337
Population in 1951 - 252
Population in 1971 -
209
Population in 1991 - 344.
The parish of Great Gidding was in the Oundle Union of Northamptonshire for Poor Law administration.
The parish of Great Gidding occupies 2348 acres of land.
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