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Swineshead

Suineshefet (1086), Swynesheved (xiii cent.), Swineshead (xvi cent.).

Swineshead was formerly a detached part of Huntingdonshire to which county it, historically, belongs, but in 1888 it was transferred to Bedfordshire. The soil in the parish is loam and gravelly and the sub-soil mainly blue galt. The chief crops grown are wheat, barley beans, and peas. The surface is undulating and is between 139 ft. and 236 ft. above sea-level. The village itself stands at about 155 ft. The parish was once well wooded, Swineshead and Spanoak Woods in the north of the parish still remain but now are not as large as they once were.

The village is in the middle of the parish, and the houses of which it consists include many old ones. The "Three Horseshoes" Inn dates from the early 17th century. The cottages are of brick and timber with tiled and thatched roofs. The former rectory, now used as a farmhouse, is an ancient plastered building of brick and timber opposite the church. When it was undergoing restoration in 1846, a copy of the Solemn League and Covenant (signed by the then Rector of Swineshead) was discovered in the roof where it was, perhaps, hidden by the cautious rector of the time. There are the traces of two moats in the village.

Swineshead was inclosed by Act of Parliament in 1803.

• Cemeteries
• Census
• Church History
• Church Records
• Civil Registration
• Maps
• Military History
• Description and Travel
• Population
• Poorhouses, Poor Law etc.
• Statistics

Cemeteries

Monumental inscriptions of the parishes of Shelton (St. Mary), Swineshead and Little Staughton are available, from the Bedfordshire FHS Publications List.

Census

Census information for this parish (1841 - 1891) is held in the Huntingdon Records Office.

• The full 1841 Census of Swineshead Parish is available as fiche set C87 from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
• The full 1851 Census of Swineshead is available as fiche set C68 from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
  A surname index of Swineshead parish in the 1851 Census of Bedfordshire (Vol. 2, Book 1) is also available from the Bedfordshire FHS.
• A surname index of the 1881 Census of the St. Neots Registration District, in which Swineshead was enumerated (RG11/1612, Folios 112a - 117b), and which took place on 3rd April 1881, is available as Fiche C5, from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
• A full transcription of the 1891 Census of the Kimbolton Registration District (RG12/1243) in which Swineshead was enumerated, and which took place on 5th April 1891, is available as fiche set C14, from the Huntingdonshire FHS.

Church History

OS Grid Square TL058659.

The church of St Nicholas consists of a chancel, nave, north aisle with vestry, south aisle, west tower and south porch. The walls are coursed rubble with some pebble rubble, and with stone dressings. The roofs are covered with stone slates, tiles and lead.

The church is not mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086, but there was a rector here before 1271. The whole church seems to have been rebuilt during the 14th century, bwginning with the chancel about 1330; about the same time, the south aisle and porch were built. The north aisle with the base of a tower at its west end followed about 10 years later, but the proposed tower was almost immediately abandoned in favour of one at the west end of the nave.

Towards the end of the 15th century, a clearstory was added to the nave, a vestry was added at the east end of the north aisle, with a chamber above it, and a narrow slip-way communicating with the chancel. At the same time the chancel arch was widened, rood-stairs built on the south side, and a rood-screen and loft erected.

The nave roof was repaired in 1706 and in 1841. A general restoration seems to have gone on from 1847 to 1853. The tower and spire were again repaired in 1907.

Church Records

The original registers are at the Bedfordshire Records Office, but indexed transcriptions and microfiched copies are available as follows:

Baptisms: 1548-1812 (indexed transcriptions), 1548-1983 (microfiche).
Banns: 1756-1811, 1923-1983 (both on microfiche).
Marriages: 1550-1811 (indexed transcriptions), 1550-1981 (microfiche).
Burials: 1548-1812 (indexed transcriptions), 1548-1980 microfiche).
Bishop's Transcripts: 1604-5, 1607-8, 1610, 1617-19, 1626, 1631/1678-88, 1690-3, 1695-1702, 1705, 1707, 1709-18, 1721-49, 1751-85, 1789-1813/1813-24/1825-6, 1828-37, 1844-8, 1850-8.

These are available in the Huntingdon Records Office.

The parish registers are available in the Bedfordshire Parish register series on microfiche, available from the Bedfordshire 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.

Civil Registration

Swineshead was originally in the St. Neots Registration District from 1st July 1837. Subsequently it became part of the Kimbolton sub-District, but it is now directly under the Huntingdon Registration District.

Description and Travel

A GENWEB page for Swineshead is available.

Maps

An old map of the parish of Swineshead is available.

Military History

The war memorial with detailed information about those who fell is available on Roll of Honour site for Bedfordshire.

Population

Population in 1801 - 214.
Population in 1851 - 267.
Population in 1901 - 160.
Population in 1951 - 115.
Population in 1971 - 116.
Population in 1991 - 137.

Poorhouses, Poor Law etc

The parish of Swineshead was in the St Neots Union for Poor Law administration.

Births and Deaths registered in the St Neots Union Workhouse (1913 - 1952) are available, as fiche set D11, from the Huntingdonshire FHS.

Statistics

The parish of Swineshead occupies 1353.5 acres of land.

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