Buckden, Huntingdonshire

Description
Buckden, a village and a parish in Huntingdonshire. The village stands 4 miles SW of Huntingdon, and 5 N from St Neots. There is a station of the same name on the M.R. within 1 mile N of the village, and the Offord and Buckden station of the G.N.R. stands a short distance to the E. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Huntingdon. The parish includes also Stirtloe hamlet. Acreage, 3114; population, 1048. The manor was given in the time of Henry I. to the bishops of Lincoln. The residence of the bishops, an ancient, moated, brick structure, was here till 1838, and then authority was given by order in Council to pull it down and apply the proceeds towards the providing of a new palace. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely; gross yearly value, £350 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Peterborough. The church is a handsome edifice of stone in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch, and an embattled western tower with a spire. There are Baptist and Wesleyan chapels, an endowed school, four almshouses, and other charities, £200. Bishop Maltby of Durham was vicar. Stirtloe and Buckden Towers are country seats in this parish.