Huntingdonshire
Contents
Nearby Places
Nearby churches
Hambertune (xi cent.), Hamertune (xii cent.).
The parish of Hamerton consists of mainly arable land. However, Hamerton Grove on the west side of the parish is now the only area of woodland. The Alconbury Brook flows through the village and the north part of the parish. The land here is about 82 ft. above sea-level and rises in the southern boundary to 227 ft.
The picturesque village, which contains a number of 17th century timber-framed cottages, lies on the intersection of the roads from Leighton Bromswold to the Giddings, and from Upton and Alconbury Weston to Winwick. The church is on the south side of the village, and to the south of it is Rectory House which adjoins the remains of a homestead moat marking the site of the capital messuage of the Beauchamps, mentioned in 1274 and 1324. The "Manor Place" was in lease to John Lawncell in 1542, when he left his interest in it to Silvester Bedell, subject to "Mastris Sibell" not coming to dwell in it herself.
The footbridge over Alconbury Brook (beside which there is a ford) was repaired in the reign of Edward VI by the churchwardens, who defayed the cost by the sale of a cope of blue velvet which was sold for 30 shillings (£1.50). Probably the 14th century reused material in the stonework of the bridge formed part of the work of this date. About a mile to the south-west is Grange Farm which was probably the site of the grange of the Priory of Royston.
In 1347, an inquiry was ordered as to two felons who took sanctuary in the church of Hamerton when "the ministers of the church" hindered the baliffs from seizing their horses, goods and chattels.
Monumental inscriptions of the parish of Hamerton 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 Hamerton Parish is available as fiche set C104.
The full 1851 Census of Hamerton is available as fiche set C71.
A Surname Index of the 1881 Census of the Huntingdon Registration District, in which Hamerton was enumerated (RG11/1602, Folios 9a - 13a), and which took place on 3rd April 1881, is available as Fiche C-3.
A full transcription of the 1891 Census of the Spaldwick sub-District of the Huntingdon Registration District (RG12/1236) in which Buckworth was enumerated, and which took place on 5th April 1891, has also been produced by the Huntingdonshire FHS (as Fiche C8).
The above mentioned fiche are available from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
OS Grid Square TL 137797.
The church of All Saints consists of a chancel with vestry on the north, a
nave, north aisle, south aisle, west tower and south porch. the walls are of
stone rubble and pebble rubble with stone dressings. The tower is of ashlar,
and the roofs are covered with tiles, slates and lead.
The church is not
mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086, but one probably existed and there is
reference to it in 1130. The earliest parts of the present building are the
side windows of the porch, which date from the extreme end of the 13th century,
but the whole church seems to have been rebuilt with a chancel, nave, side
aisles and south porch in the early years of the 14th century. The usual
reconstruction took place late in the 15th century when the aisle walls were
largely rebuilt with larger windows, a clearstory added to the nave, the roofs
of the nave and aisles renewed, a rood-screen and rood-stairs added, and the
west tower built. The chancel, being decayed and ruinous, was partly rebuilt in
1796 when a new steep roof covered with tiles replaced the former flat-leaded
roof.
The church was restored in 1854 when the chancel walls were
refaced. The chancel was under-pinned and repaired in 1896-7.
All original registers are still retained by the parish church.
Baptisms: 1604-1626, 1660-1845 (all indexed transcriptions).
Banns:
1756-after 1844 (indexed transcriptons).
Marriages: 1604-1626, 1662/3-1845
(all indexed transcriptions).
Burials: 1604-1626, 1660-1845 (all indexed
transcriptions).
Bishop's Transcripts: 1604-5, 1607-9, 1612, 1617, 1619,
1626, 1660-9/1674-7, 1684-8, 1691-5, 1698-1702, 1704-6, 1709-11, 1713-15,
1719-20, 1722-31, 1733-6, 1738, 1742-3, 1750-1, 1753-4, 1759-63, 1766, 1771,
1773, 1778-9, 1784, 1786, 1790, 1793, 1799-1813/1813-2/1826-9, 1831-2, 1834-40,
1841-4, 1846-55, 1857.
These are available in the Huntingdon Records Office.
The parish registers for Hamerton All Saints 1604-2000, are available as fiche set D89.
The Huntingdonshire Marriage Indexes include marriages from this parish. These are, at present, issued in alphabetical listings in series: 1601-1700, and 1701-1754.
The last two fiche sets mentioned above are available from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
Hamerton was originally in the Huntingdon Registration District from 1st July 1837. Subsequently it became part of the Spaldwick sub-District, but it is now directly under the Huntingdon District again.
A GENWEB page for Hamerton is available.
An old map of the parish of Hamerton in the 19th century is available.
Population in 1801 - 129.
Population in 1851 - 179.
Population in 1901
- 173.
Population in 1951 - 141.
Population in 1971 - 93.
Population
in 1991 - 105.
The parish of Hamerton was in the Huntingdon Union for Poor Law
administration.
Births and Deaths registered in the Huntingdon Union
Workhouse (1838 - 1949) are available, as fiche set D10, from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
The parish of Hamerton consists of 2184 acres of land.
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