Huntingdonshire
Contents
Nearby Places
Nearby churches
Toleslund (xi cent.), Touleslund, Tholeslund, Toulisloud (xii cent.), Touseland (xiv cent.), Towesland (xvi cent.).
The parish of Toseland lies upon clay, with a sub-soil of Oxford clay and Ampthill clay, growing cereal crops. the land is high and mainly agricultural. Gallow Brook runs through the south of the parish. Various Roman remains have been found in the village and near Toseland Wood, and the parish is crossed by a Roman road.
The parish, it is supposed, takes its name from Earl Toglos or Toli, and gives it to the Hundred of Toseland. A large rough irregularly shaped sarsen-stone (2ft. 8ins. by 1 ft. 7ins. by 9 ins. deep) in the churchyard against the south wall of the church is locally known as the 'Moot-Stone', and is said to be the ancient Hundred Stone. A portion of the Roman road here is also known as Moats or Moots way. Any importance which may have been attached to the village as a meeting place of the Hundred had been lost by the 11th century when, in the time of Edward the Confessor, it was one of three berewicks in Great Paxton, and is not mentioned by name in the Domesday survey of 1086. Its lands were intermixed with those of Great Paxton at the time of the inclosure of the two parishes under a private Act of Parliament in 1811.
the village is composed of some scattered cottages and houses lying along the by-road from Yelling, which joins the St. Neots to Godmanchester road at Great Paxton. The church is in the middle of the village which includes some 17th century half-timbered houses. At the west end of the village is Toseland hall, which was probably built by Sir Nicholas Luke who succeeded his father, John, in 1566 and died in 1613. the remains of a wide and deep moat are to be found in Toseland Wood to the north of the village.
Whilst the parish has always had a separate civil identity this did nor extend ecclesiastically; the parish is part of Great Paxton for this purpose.
Monumental Inscriptions from the Parish Churchyard (approximately 89 entries) are available as fiche set M25 from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
Census information for this parish (1841 - 1891) is held in the Huntingdon Records Office.
The full 1841 Census of Toseland Parish is available as fiche set C107.
The full 1851 Census of Toseland Parish is available as fiche set C57.
The full 1891 Census of Toseland Parish is available as fiche set C13.
A surname index of the 1881 Census of the St. Neots Registration District, in which Toseland was enumerated (RG11/1611, Folios 39b - 42b), and which took place on 3rd April 1881, is available as fiche set C5.
The above mentioned fiche are available from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
OS Grid Square TL 239626.
The church of St Mary consists of a chancel with vestry on the north, and
nave. The walls are of pebble rubble except the north wall of the nave which is
of brick. The roofs are covered with tiles.
The church, which is a
chapelry of Great Paxton, was apparently entirely of 12th century date, but by
the middle of the 19th century it had lost its chancel and consisted simply of
a nave with a hipped roof surmounted by a bell-turret. the north wall of the
nave appears to have been rebuilt in the 18th century. In 1873, it was
thoroughly restored and the chancel rebuilt. the vestry was added in 1897, and
the nave seats were put in in 1907-8.
Baptisms: 1567-1837 (indexed transcriptions).
Marriages: 1567-1836
(indexed transcriptions), (1674-1706 with Great Paxton),
1838-1900.
Burials: 1581-1837 (indexed transcriptions), (1674-1714
are with Great Paxton).
Bishop's Transcripts: 1604-5, 1608, 1610,
1612, 1617-19, 1625, 1661-70, 1672-3/1673-80, 1682-3, 1685-6, 1690-3,
1695-7, 1699-1702, 1704, 1706, 1708-9, 1711-16, 1718, 1720, 1722-32,
1734-43, 1745-50, 1754, 1756, 1765-6, 1768-73, 1775-6, 1778-85,
1787-1813/1813-1822, 1824/1826-7, 1829-41, 1844-53, 1855-8, Note:
1751, 1753, 1755, 1757-64 are included with Great Paxton.
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.
Toseland was originally in the St. Neots Registration District from 1st July 1837, which later became a sub-District. From 1st April 1997, it is now directly under the Huntingdon District.
A GENWEB page for Toseland is available.
An old map of the parish of Toseland in the 19th century is available.
The war memorial with detailed information about those who fell is available on the Roll of Honour site for Huntingdonshire.
Population in 1801 - 99.
Population in 1851 - 230.
Population
in 1901 - 174.
Population in 1951 - 121.
Population in 1971 -
101.
Population in 1991 - 84.
The parish of Toseland was part of 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.
The parish of Toseland occupies 1342 acres of land.
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