Huntingdonshire
Contents
Nearby Places
Nearby churches
Gedding Engayne, Gidding Warner, Little Gidding (xiii cent.).
The parish of Little Gidding is bounded on the north-east by the Bullock Road and Sawtry, on the south-east by Steeple Gidding, on the north-west by Great Gidding and on the south-west by the Alconbury Brook, which separates it from Thurning. The parish rises from 112 ft. at the brook to about 200 ft. at the village; it is about half arable and half grass, and the soil is heavy clay.
The village is celebrated as being the residence in the 16th century of Nicholas Ferrar and his family. The ancient manor house where they lived stood between the present Manor Farm and the church. King Charles I is said to have visited the Ferrars there on three occasions: viz. 13th May 1633, 15th March 1642 and, lastly, on 2nd May 1646 on his way to join the Scottish Army. In the following November, Parliamentary soldiers sacked the house and church, and the family fled. However, they returned in July 1647 and remained there until a few years after the Restoration of the Monarchy (1660) when the family finally left the house, although there names continued to be recorded in the parish registers until 1748. The house probably began to fall into ruins when the Ferrars left. Part of it is said to have been taken down early in the 18th century and the remainder in 1798.
An early homestead moat between the church and the road doubtless marks the site of the Engaine's manor house - the family who are first recorded as holding the Manor of Gidding in 1086.
Monumental inscriptions for Little Gidding parish have not yet been recorded by the Huntingdonshire FHS.
Census information (1841 to 1891) for this parish is held in the Huntingdon Records Office.
The full 1841 Census of Little Gidding Parish is available as fiche set C95.
The full 1851 Census of Little Gidding Parish is available as fiche set C45.
A surname index of the 1881 Census of the Oundle Registration District of Northamptonshire, in which Little Gidding was enumerated (RG11/1584, Folios 69b - 70b), and which took place on 3rd April 1881, is available, as fiche set C2.
The above mentioned fiche are available from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
OS Grid Square TL 133814.
The church of St John the Evalgelist consists of a chancel, nave, and a
modern vestry on the south. The walls are of red brick with some stone
dressings, and the west wall is entirely faced with stone. The roofs are
covered with stone-slates, and that of the vestry with
slates.
The church is not mentioned in the Domesday Book but
there was certainly a much earlier church than the present. It seems to
have had a chancel, nave, and north transept (or, perhaps, a north
aisle) and a west tower. It was in a neglected tate and used as a barn
in 1625, in which year it was repaired and restored to its proper use; new
flooring was installed and the building was wainscotted throughout. It was
provided with a new brass font and a brass eagle lectern, as well as a gallery
at the west end for the organ. This church was greatly damaged by Cromwellian
soldiers in 1646 when they destroyed the organ and threw the eagle lectern into
the woods.
In 1714 the nave
was entirely rebuilt and the north transept and west tower were pulled down;
the chancel was apparently rebuilt at the same time but in a cheaper style. In
1853, the church was thoroughly restored, reseated like a college chapel, the
widows reglazed, and the vestry added. The east wall and the south-east corner
were repaired in 1921.
Baptisms: 1657=1670, 1695-1712, 1735, 1745-1782, 1785-1801,
1802-1812, 1813-1993.
Banns: 1784-1811, 1823-1919.
Marriages: 1662-1676,
1694-1757, 1784-1811, 1763-1807, 1815-1835, 1838-1950,
1968-1972.
Burials: 1637, 1648-1663, 1680-1707, 1717-1781, 1785-1802,
1805-1812, 1813-1988.
Bishop's Transcripts: 1661-9/1696, 1699, 1701, 1706-7,
1709-12, 1714-15, 1717-31, 1733-7, 1739, 1741, 1745-6, 1748, 1751, 1753-63,
1766-9, 1771, 1773-4, 1776-84, 1787, 1789-1802, 1804-12/1813-24/1825-32, 1835,
1843-51, 1853-8.
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 Little Gidding was originally in the Oundle Registration District of Northamptonshire from 1st July 1837. In 1935, the parish was transferred to the Sawtry sub-District. It is now part of the Huntingdon Registration District.
A civic website on The Giddings is available.
An old map of the parish of Little Gidding in the 19th century is available.
Population in 1801 - 47.
Population in 1851 - 41.
Population in 1901 -
39.
Population in 1951 - 28.
Population in 1971 -
17.
Population in 1991 - 22.
The parish of Little Gidding was in the Oundle Union of Northamptonshire for Poor Law administration.
The parish of Little Gidding occupies some 724 acres of land.
Find Help, report problems, or contribute information.