Huntingdonshire
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Nearby Places
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Sapley is not, and never has been a parish. The Lordship of Sapley (formerly referred to as Sapley Lordship) previously consisted of forested land. When Henry II deforested the whole county, he excepted Waybridge, Sapley and Herthy forests because these had previously been royal demesne. The Lordship of Sapley had already been leased for many years. By 1542 the lease was held by Sir Richard Williams, alias Cromwell; from this lease it is clear that the forest was 7 miles in circuit at that time.
Because formerly it had been a Royal Forest, and because of its only population consisted of foresters, Sapley was extra parochial. During the 19th cent., the forested area was cut down for agricultural purposes, and by 1877 it became included in the parish of Hartford. From that time, the latter became known as Hartford-cum-Sapley.
Sapley is now a residential suburb of Huntingdon.
There are no Monumental Inscriptions for Sapley, per se. Any related to Sapley residents are likely to be recorded under the Hartford parish page.
Census information for Sapley can normally be found under Hartford parish.
A full transcription of the 1891 Census of the Huntingdon Registration District (RG12/1237) in which Sapley was enumerated, and which took place on 5th April 1891, is available as fiche C9 from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
The is no church in Sapley, nor has there ever been. The fuctions of the parish church were provided by Hartford Parish Church which now is responsible for Sapley.
Church records for Sapley are included in the Hartford Parish registers.
Civil registration arrangements for Sapley is, and always has been, the same as for Hartford. That is to say, Sapley comes under the Huntingdon Registration District.
A GENWEB page on Sapley is available.
An old map of Sapley in the 19th century is available.
In 1831 the recorded population of Sapley was 8; in 1851 this had grown to 17. Population records between 1877 and 1935 were included in Hartford. Since 1935 both Hartford and Sapley have been part of the Borough of Huntingdon, and the population statistics treated accordingly.
Sapley was outside the scope of the Poor Law administration until 1877, when it was included in the arrangements for Hartford. Hartford was part of the Huntingdon Union.
The only separate statistics for Sapley are those for 1542 when the circumfrence of the forest was documented as 7 miles. The acreage figures for Hartford, include the area taken for Sapley.
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