Keyston

Keyston
St John the Baptist's Church
Keyston  Keyston shown within Cambridgeshire
OS grid reference	TL044735
District	Huntingdonshire
Shire county	Cambridgeshire
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Postcode district	PE28
Dialling code	01832
EU Parliament	East of England
List of places UK England Cambridgeshire

Coordinates: 52°21′N 0°28′W / 52.35°N 0.47°W / 52.35; -0.47

Keyston is a village in Cambridgeshire, England. ^[1] Keyston lies approximately 12 miles (19 km) west of Huntingdon, near Molesworth. Keyston is in the civil parish of Bythorn and Keyston. Keyston is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well as being a historic county of England.

The village lies at the western end of Huntingdonshire and the parish's western border coincides with the Cambridgeshire county boundary with Northamptonshire. The village is built around the brook that runs through its centre with the brook at about 45 metres above sea-level.

Known as Chetelestan in the Domesday Book, the name Keyston means "Boundary stone of a man called Ketil".^[2] By the 13th century it was known as Keston, and Keyston from the 16th century.^[3]

History

The poet John Donne was granted the living to the Rectory in 1616.^[4]

Government

The civil parish of Keyston was abolished in 1935 in creating the larger parish of "Bythorn and Keyston", and the ecclesiastical parish followed a year later.^[5][6] Bythorn and Keyston has a parish council which is elected by the residents of the parish who have registered on the electoral roll; the parish council is the lowest tier of government in England. A parish council is responsible for providing and maintaining a variety of local services including allotments and a cemetery; grass cutting and tree planting within public open spaces such as a village green or playing fields. The parish council reviews all planning applications that might affect the parish and makes recommendations to Huntingdonshire District Council, which is the local planning authority for the parish. The parish council also represents the views of the parish on issues such as local transport, policing and the environment. The parish council raises its own tax to pay for these services, known as the parish precept, which is collected as part of the Council Tax. The parish council has three councillors.

Keyston was in the historic and administrative county of Huntingdonshire until 1965. From 1965, the village was part of the new administrative county of Huntingdon and Peterborough. Then in 1974, following the Local Government Act 1972, Keyston became a part of the county of Cambridgeshire. Keyston is a part of the district ward of Ellington for Huntingdonshire District Council^[7] and is represented on the district council by one councillor.^[8] For Cambridgeshire County Council Keyston is part of the electoral division of Sawtry and Ellington ^[7] and is represented on the county council by one councillor.^[9]

At Westminster, Keyston is in the parliamentary constituency of North West Cambridgeshire,^[7] and is represented in the House of Commons by Shailesh Vara (Conservative). Shailesh Vara has represented the constituency since 2005. The previous member of parliament was Brian Mawhinney (Conservative) who represented the constituency between 1997 and 2005. For the European Parliament Keyston is in the East of England (European Parliament constituency).

Demography

Population

In the period 1801 to 1901 the population of Keyston was recorded every ten years by the UK census. During this time the population was in the range of 175 (the lowest was in 1901) and 237 (the highest was in 1881).^[10]

From 1901, a census was taken every ten years with the exception of 1941 (due to the Second World War).

All population census figures from report Historic Census figures Cambridgeshire to 2011 by Cambridgeshire Insight.^[10]

Church

The village church of St John the Baptist dates from the 13th century, with the present nave and aisles having been built in around 1250. The chancel followed in around 1280 and the tower in around 1300.^[5]

The church is renowned for its oaken cadaver, a memorial consisting of a wooden skeleton, taken from a fifteenth-century tomb. It is reputed to be one of only two such carvings in the country.^[11] The baptismal font has a modern octagonal bowl on a 13th-century circular stem and base and a square plinth. The 13th-century octagonal bowl with tapering sides was found, in the 1890s, in the rectory garden, and now lies separately in the south aisle.^[12] The first pew on the right, on entering the church, is carved with the date 1608.^[11]

Since 2008 the interior of the church has suffered from a severe infestation of bats, a protected species, and therefore requires thorough cleaning before services and ceremonies can take place.^[11]

Bells

There are five bells, inscribed as follows:

• Feare the Lorde 1592.
• William Marks churchwarden: . I: Eayre fecit. 1743 gloria Deo soli: . Francis [?] Clitherow Esquire
• Remember the ende 1592.
• Give God the praise 1592.
• Thomas Rvssell of Wootton near X Bedford made me in 1733 Thomas Simonts churchwarden.

The first, third and fourth are by Watts of Leicester. In 1552 there were four bells and a sanctus bell. By about 1709 there were five bells but whether this includes the sanctus bell is not clear.^[12]

Culture and community

The village is home to The Pheasant pub, known for its cuisine.^[13] Keyston also has a small airfield.^[14]

References