Huntingdonshire
Contents
Nearby Places
Nearby churches
Chetelstan, Ketelstan (xi cent.), Keston, Keyston (xvi cent.).
the parish of Keyston lies on the Northamptonshire border, and on its west and parts of its north and south sides the boundaries of the parish and the old county of Huntingdonshire coincide. The land is undulating but rises from the brook (which is a tributary of the Alconbury Brook) and which runs through the middle of the parish. Here the land is about 150 ft. above sea-level and rises to nearly 250 ft. in the north, and a little over that height to the south.
Although much of the land is arable, most of it is laid down for grass. there were some small copses scattered over the parish, but on the whole there is little woodland. The road from Huntingdon to Thrapston runs through the north of the parish, and a by-road from Covington to Raunds runs through the middle.
The village stands midway between these roads some 13 and a half miles from Huntingdon, and is approached by a road called Toll Bar Lane from the north, and by another road from the south. It is arranged around roads forming approximately an oval shape. Within this figure is the church, to the west of which is Manor farm. the ancient manor house, which stood in a large field containing earthworks, was described in 1589 as 'newly built'. At that time, Henry Clifford, who had secured the lease for forty-one years from Robert, Earl of Essex, less than a year before the sale of the manor, was living there.
During Henry Clifford's tenure of the manor, the common fields were 'improved and made into several closes', the Earl of Essex having given licence for the inclosure. It seems probably that some planting of trees was done at the same time as the survey of 1589 mentions that 'there are neither woods nor underwoods pertaining to the said manor, saving some oaks and elms growing in hedgerowes (sic) about several closes'. The manor house was pulled down by Thomas Elderkin around 1835, when a newer manor house was built; this latter manor house was subsequently enlarged.
The following place names occur in the survey of 1605: Basingham's Bridge, the Cross, Duckinglane, Froglane, Gotheridge feld, Hilmeadow or Hillymead, Middlebrook, Milford, Morden feld, Staples or Stables meadow, Towne meadow, Torpens meadow, Read close, and Torpill's end.
The civil parish of Keyston was abolished in 1935 to help create the civil parish of Bythorn with Keyston. In 1936 the ecclesiastical parish followed suit when it gained the Bythorn chapelry of Brington with Bythorn and Old Weston to create Keyston and Bythorn ecclesiastical parish.
Monumental Inscriptions from the Parish Churchyard (approximately 206 entries - fiche set M1) are available from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
Census information for this parish (1841 - 1891) is held in the Huntingdon Records Office.
The full 1841 Census of Keyston Parish is available as fiche set C102.
The full 1851 Census of Keyston Parish is available as fiche set C52.
A surname index of the 1881 Census of the Thrapston Registration District of Northamptonshire, in which Keyston was enumerated (RG11/1583, Folios 10b - 15b), and which took place on 3rd April 1881, is available, as fiche set C1.
A full transcription of the 1891 Census of the Huntingdonshire (Miscellaneous Parishes) Registration District (Sub-Districts of Thrapston (NTH), Oundle (NTH), Stamford (LIN) and Caxton (CAM)) in which Keyston was enumerated, and which took place on 5th April 1891, is available as fiche set C16.
The above mentioned fiche are available from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
OS Grid Square TL 044754.
The church of St. John the Baptist consists of a chancel,
nave, north transept, south transept, north aisle, south aisle,
west tower and south porch. the walls are of coursed rubble with
stone dressings, and the roofs are covered with zinc and
lead.
The church is not mentioned in the Domesday survey
of 1086, and the earliest existing parts are the nave and aisles
are from about 1250; the chancel was built around 1280, and the
tower and porch were built around 1300. Commencing in about
1480, a considerable reconstruction took place: the east wall of
the chancel was rebuilt, the walls heightened and a new window
inserted in each, the clearstory was added to the nave, the
south transept was built, and new windows inserted into the
south aisle walls. The roofs of the nave, transepts and aisles
were renewed when these parts were respectively reconstructed
towards the end of the 15th century and correspond with the
slight differences of date, but those of the south aisle and
porch were renewed in the 17th century.
The church
underwent another general restoration in 1883 when the lead on
the nave roof was replaced with zinc, and shortly afterwards the
top of the spire was repaired. The roofs of the south aisle and
transept were repaired in 1897. The chancel was reroofed in
1904, and the spire was again repaired in 1908. the roofs of the
north transept and north aisle were thoroughly repaired in
1922-3, and in 1928 the top of the spire was again repaired.
Baptisms: 1604-27, 1638-1851 (both indexed
transcriptions).
Banns: 1754-1812, 1837-1927,
1955-1956.
Marriages: 1604-27, 1638-1851 (both indexed
transcriptions), 1754-1812, 1837-1952, 1953-1994.
Burials:
1604-27, 1638-1851 (both indexed transcriptions).
Bishop's
Transcripts: 1604-5, 1608-10, 1617-19, 1626, 1660-76/1684-8,
1690-9, 1701-2, 1704-7, 1714, 1716, 1718-21,
1723-1813/1813-1824/1825-58.
These are available in the Huntingdon Records Office.
Keyston Parish Registers (baptisms, marriages and burials) 1604-1851, on 3 microfiche (fiche set D47), are available from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
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.
Keyston 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.
A GENWEB page on Keyston is available.
An old map of the parish of Keyston in the 19th century is available.
Population in 1801 - 212.
Population in 1851 -
199.
Population in 1901 - 175386.
Population in 1921 -
182.
From 1935, the population figures of Keyston are
included under Bythorn.
The parish of Keyston was in the Thrapston Union of Northamptonshire for Poor Law administration.
The parish of Keyston occupies 2690 acres of land.
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