Kimbolton, Huntingdonshire

Description
Kimbolton, a small town and a parish in Huntingdonshire. The town stands on the river Kym, and on the Kettering and Cambridge branch of the M.R., under Kimbolton Hill, 8 miles NW of St Neots, was anciently known as Kinnibantum, and there is a station, on the railway, 2 1/2 miles distant from the town. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under St Neots. The church, dedicated to St Andrew, is a building of stone, chiefly in the Early English style, consists of nave, aisles, chancel, two chantries, and S porch, with W tower and broach spire, and contains a double piscina, some monuments of the Montagus, and some old armour and banners. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely; net value, £76. Patron, the Duke of Manchester. There are Baptist, Moravian, and Wesleyan chapels. The grammar school affords a liberal education, including some instruction in agricultural chemistry, and has an endowed income of £220. A weekly market was formerly held on Friday, and fairs are held on Easter Friday, Whitsun-Friday, the Friday after Old Michaelmas, and 11 Dec. There is also a statute fair for the hiring of servants on 21 Sept. or the Wednesday nearest to it. The town gives the title of Baron to the Duke of Manchester. The parish contains also the hamlets of Wom-ditch, Newtown, and Stonely, and comprises an area of 5140 acres; population, 993. The manor belonged to the Man-devilles, the Bohuns, and the Staffords; formed part of the marriage dowry of Queen Catherine of Arragon, was given by Henry VIII. after her death, to the Wingfields, passed to the Montagus, and belongs now to the Duke of Manchester. Kimbolton Castle is the Duke's seat, a mansion in which Queen Catherine died, was built by Sir Richard Wingfield, and much improved by Sir John Vanbrugh on the order of Charles, first Duke of Manchester; is a quadrangular edifice, with embattled parapet and central court, has a hexastyle portico at the main entrance, and stands in an extensive well-wooded park. The castle is of red brick, with an exterior casing of stone brought from the Augustinian priory of Stonely, and the room in which Queen Catherine died in the S front is still intact. It has a fine collection of both ancient and modern paintings, and a large library containing some very valuable manuscripts. The estate maintains also a famous herd of shorthorn cattle. The Augustinian priory was founded at Stonely about 1180, by one of the Mandevilles, and there are still some remains. There are almshouses for four poor women and a large number of small charities.