Anciently called Kinnabantum, is a neat market town and. parish, in the hundred of Leightonstone, 63 miles n. n. w. from London, 12 w. by s. from Huntingdon, and 8 n. w. from St. Neots; situated on the borders of Bedfordshire, in a pleasant part of the county, agreeably diversified by gentle hills and fertile valleys, the former being ornamented by fine woods. The principal seat, and chief object of attraction in this neighbourhood, is Kimbolton Castle, the seat of the Duke of Manchester; the mansion is an ancient and beautiful stone building, situated in an extensive park. This castle was the jointure, and became the retirement of Queen Katherine, after her divorce from the inconstant Henry VIII.; it was here she died, on the 6th of January, 1536, and was interred in Peterborough cathedral. In this parish are the remains of Stonely priory, a convent of canons of the order of St. Augustine, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, by William de Mandeville. Earl of Essex, about the beginning of the twelfth century. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in agriculture ; and some of the females are occupied in lace making, and there is a little malting business. Kimbolton confers the inferior title of Baron on the Duke of Manchester; this nobleman is lord of the manor, and his representative holds a court leet and baron, at which a constable is appointed. The first Earl of Manchester was a native of this place, and a parliamentary general in the civil war.
The church, dedicated.to St. Andrew, is a handsome building, with a lofty spire, the living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Huntingdon and in the presentation of the nobleman before mentioned; the present incumbent is the Rev. John Thomas Huntley. There are places of worship for baptists, independents, Wesleyan methodists and Moravians. A good free school, an infants’ school, and almshouses for four poor widows comprise the charities. The market day is Friday ; and the fairs are held on the Fridays in Easter and Whitsun weeks,the first Friday after Michaelmas day, and the 11th of December. Kimbolton parish contained, according to the parliamentary returns for 1831, 1,584 inhabitants.
