Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for IVES (ST.)

IVES (ST.), a town, a parish, a sub-district, and a district in Huntingdon. The town stands on the river Ouse, at the junction of the Cambridge and Huntingdon railway with the branch thence to March, 5 miles E of Huntingdon; took its name from Ivo, a Persian bishop, who made a missionary tour through England, and died here about the end of the 6th century; was known, at Domesday, as Slepe; suffered devastation by fire, in 1689, to the value of upwards of £13, 070; consists now, for the most part, of modern buildings; is subject, in its lower parts, to floodings by the Ouse; and has a head post office, ‡ a railway station, with telegraph, two banking offices, four chief inns, a six-arched bridge over the river, a police station, a public hall, a church, seven dissenting chapels, a national school, a British school, a workhouse, and charities £88. The bridge is said to have been erected by the abbots of Ramsey; and it has, over one of its piers, an ancient building, supposed to have been originally a chapel, and now used as a public house. The public hall bears the name of the Institution; was erected, in 1848, at a cost of £1, 000; and has an apartment 60 feet long, 30 wide, and 18 high. The church is later English, of the 15th century, with a W tower; and stands close to the river. The original church is supposed to have stood over the grave of Bishop Ivo; another church, on the same site, was erected, in 970, by Ednoth, abbot of Ramsey; a Benedictine priory, a cell to Ramsey abbey, was founded here, in 1017, by Earl Adelmar; and both the church and the priory offices were burnt in 1207, and afterwards re-built. The Independent chapel or Free church, on Market-hill, was built in 1865, at a cost of £4, 000; is in the decorated English style; and has a tower and spire 150 feet high. The national school was built in 1845; is in the Tudor style; and accommodates 150 boys and 150 girls.. The workhouse is on the London road, about ½ a mile from the town, within the parish of Hemingford-Grey; was built in 1838, at a cost of about £4, 000; and has capacity for about 400 inmates. The cemetery is on the N-outskirts of the town, and was opened in 1848. A weekly market is held on Monday; and well-frequented fairs are held on Whit-Monday and 11 Oct. Brewing and malting are carried on; and there are extensive flourmills. Petty sessions are held every Monday. The Earl of Holland, fighting in the cause of Charles I., was taken at Huntingdon in 1648; and Oliver Cromwell had a residence here, called Slepe Hall, now displaced by a number of new houses. Roger de St. Ives, an Augustinian monk, and Pratt, the author of "Gleanings, " were natives. Pop. of the town in 1851, 3, 522; in 1861, 3, 321. Houses, 708.

The parish comprises 2, 330 acres. Real property, £17, 371; of which £270 are in railways, and £120 in gas works. Pop. in 1861, 3, 395. Houses, 722. The manor belongs to the Duke of Manchester. The living is a vicarage, united with the chapelries of Old Hurst and Woodhurst, in the diocese of Ely. Value, not reported. Patrons, B. F. Ansley and G. J. Ansley, Esqs., and the Trustees of the late G. Ansley, Esq.-The subdistrict contains also the parishes of Houghton, Witton, Hemingford-Abbotts, Hemingford-Grey, Fen-Stanton, Hilton, and Holywell-cum-Needingworth. Acres, 17, 230. Pop., 8, 144. Houses, 1, 757.—The district comprehends also the sub-district of Warboys, containing the parishes of Warboys, Old Hurst, Broughton, Wistow, and Bury; the sub-district of Somersham, containing the parishes of Somersham, Colne, Bluntisham, Woodhurst, and Pidley-cum-Fenton; and the Cambridgeshire sub-district of Swavesey, containing the parishes of Swavesey, Over, Lolworth, Boxworth, Conington, and Fen-Drayton. Acres, 62, 930. Poor-rates in 1863, £10, 429. Pop. in 1851, 20, 594; in 1861, 19, 654. Houses, 4, 266. Marriages in 1863, 135; births, 698, -of which 42 were illegitimate; deaths, 512, -of which 218 were at ages under 5 years, and 13 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60 1, 396; births, 6, 759; deaths, 4, 120. The places of wor ship, in 1851, were 24 of the Church of England, with 5, 787 sittings; 2 of Independents, with 850 s.; 13 of Baptists, with 4, 017 s.; 2 of Quakers, with 650 s.; 1 of Unitarians, with 130 s.; 4 of Wesleyans, with 1, 390 s. 5 of Primitive Methodists, with 577 s.; 3 undefined with 629 s.; and 2 of Latter Day Saints, with 60 s. The schools were 31 public day schools, with 2, 644 scholars 46 private day schools, with 915 s.; 39 Sunday schools with 3, 544 s.; and 1 evening school for adults, with 2 s


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town, a parish, a sub-district, and a district"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: St Ives AP/CP       St Ives SubD       St Ives RegD/PLU       Huntingdonshire AncC
Place names: IVES ST     |     SLEPE     |     ST IVES
Place: St Ives

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