Huntingdonshire 
Contents
Nearby Places
Nearby churches
Geakeslea, Iaceslea (x cent.), Jacheslei (xi cent.), Jakeslea (xii, xiv cent.), Yakesle (xiv cent.), Yaxley (xvi cent.).
Northmannescros, Normannescros (x cent.), Northmanescros (xi cent.), Normancros (xiii cent).
The sub-soil of Yaxley parish is of Oxford clay in the high lands but is of Alluvium in the fen district in the southern and eastern parts of the parish. the Great North Road (now the a1 Motorway in this area) follows the western boundary, and the main railway line north runs nearly parallel with it.
A large part of the parish is fen. Yaxley Fen was included in the Earl of Bedford's great drainage scheme undertaken during the reign of Charles I, and other parts were embanked and drained under a private Act of Parliament in 1830. Neolithic implements in the higher land and a bronze axe in Yaxley Fen have been dug up. There is much evidence of the existence throughout the Roman occupation of a small fen-side village, built of wattle and daub, the inhabitants of which used pottery and ornaments of Romano-British manufacture.
The church and older part of the village stand on high land to the north-west of the fen. Yaxley was one of the most important possessions of the Benedictine Monastery of Thorney, and developed into a small market town of which the Abbot was lord. It never attained any status as a borough, although in practice the inhabitants enjoyed some measure of control. Thus, in 1305, Edward I made a grant of pavage to "the baliffs and good men of the town" for five years, and a similar grant of three years was made in 1378. Certain royal proclamations were also sent to the baliffs of the town for publication. Whether the townspeople ever made any attempt to obtain the right to elect their own baliffs is doubtful, but in 1390 some of the Abbots villeins had been refusing to pay certain rents and customs dues to the Abbey, and in 1445 his quarrels with the townpeople appear to have resulted in his excommunicating some of the most important. An appeal to the Pope was necessary before peace was made.
The parish was inclosed by an Act of Parliament in 1767, the award being enrolled on the Recovery Rolls in 1769. There are some residual remains of ditches at the Manor House.
Norman Cross was a hamlet in the parish of Yaxley, which gave its name to one of the Hundred's of the county. Large barracks were built during the Napoleonic Wars in 1796-7 for the accommodation of French Prisoners-of-War, and to whom a memorial was raised in 1914. The barracks were dismantled in 1816.
Monumental inscriptions for this parish have not been recorded by the Huntingdonshire FHS. However, Peterborough & District FHS have an interest in the parish.
Census information for this parish (1841 - 1891) is held in the Huntingdon Records Office.
The full 1841 Census of Yaxley is available as fiche set C123 from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
The full 1851 Census of Yaxley is available as fiche set C73 from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
An
index of surnames in the 1851 Census of the Peterborough Registration District
(HO107/1747) in which Yaxley (Folios 123B-138B), Yaxley Fen (Folios 139-147) and
Yaxley North (Folios 151-167B) were enumerated, and which took place on 30th March
1851, has also been produced by the Peterborough & District FHS.
The Index
is available in either microfiche or A5 booklet form from Mr G Harbron, 7 Newby
Close, Peterborough PE3 6PU, England.
OS Grid Square TL 177918.
The church of St. Peter consists of a chancel, north
chapel, south chapel, nave, north transept, south transept, north aisle, south
aisle, west tower and south porch. the walls of the porch, the east wall of the
chancel and parts of the tower are faced with ashlar, and those of the rest of
the church are of coursed rubble. The roofs are covered with lead.
The
church is mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086. It seems probable that an
early church, possibly with a central tower, was enlarged by the addition of large
transepts in the middle of the 13th century, and that in the last decade of that
century, the remainder of the church was rebuilt and further enlarged. Of this
period are parts of the walls of the chancel and the two side chapels, and those
of the two aisles. Apparently, when this enlargement was made, the old arches
between the transepts and the aisles were not altered, but the widened aisles
opened to the transepts by means of narrow arches (which still remain) on the
outside of the older ones which were destroyed in the 15th century. About 40 years
later, the east wall of the chancel was again rebuilt and a large window inserted
in the end of the south transept. Towards the middle of the 15th century, the
west tower and spire were built within the church, possibly to replace the central
tower, for shortly afterwards the nave arches were rebuilt, together with the
arches between the aisles and the transepts, and the clearstory was added. About
the same time the porch was rebuilt.
The chancel, with its side chapels,
was thoroughly restored in 1902-3, and the nave in 1904. The north transept and
aisles were restored in 1908, and the south transept, aisle and west tower and
spire in 1909-10.
Baptisms:
1653-1812, 1813-1854, 1854-1924, 1924-1949.
Banns: 1754-1790, 1824-1878, 1878-1906,
1907-1922, 1922-1933, 1933-1961.
Marriages: 1653-1754, 1754-1812, 1813-1838,
1838-1897, 1897-1906, 1906-1919, 1919-1929, 1929-1938, 1938-1946, 1946-1953, 1953-1960.
Burials:
1653-1812, 1813-1880, 1880-1950.
Bishop's Transcripts: 1604-5, 1608, 1617-1619,
1625-7, 1660-72/1676, 1679-80, 1682, 1684-5, 1687, 1690-1702, 1704, 1706, 1708-10,
1712-27, 1729-30, 1733-41/1741-6, 1748-76/1776-9, 1781-7, 1789-93, 1795-1813/1813-24,
1825-34, 1837.
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.
Yaxley
was originally in the Peterborough Registration District of Northamptonshire from
1st July 1837. Subsequently it was transferred to the Stilton sub-District of
Huntingdonshire. It was later transferred back to the Peterborough District.
From
1st April 1998, marriage records were transferred to the Huntingdon Registry Office,
but the births and burial records were retained by Peterborough.
A GENWEB page for Yaxley is available.
An old map of the parish of Yaxley 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 - 986.
Population in 1851 - 1445.
Population in 1901 - 1590.
Population
in 1951 - 2764.
Population in 1971 - 3943.
Population in 1991 - 7044.
Yaxley was in the Peterborough Union of Northamptonshire for Poor Law administration.
The parish of Yaxley occupied 4287 acres of land, and 11 acres of water.
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