|
Covington
History –Covington village in Huntingdonshire, England |
Return to Other Locations list
To visit the rest of The Covington History Website
and learn all about the famous Covington name please click HERE
Map:
Official Geographical Location:
A Parish in Huntingdon District in the County of Cambridgeshire, 3.25
miles WNW of Kimbolton and 11 miles East of Wellingborough, covering 1294
Acres. Archdeaconed at Huntingdon and diocesed in Lincoln.
Registered District Number 333-2.
National Grid Reference TL0571.
Geographical Description:
A small
and quite remote little farming village, Covington is near the Three Shires
Stone which marks the point where Cambridgeshire (or Huntingdonshire as it
would have been when the stone was erected), Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire
meet. A moat of an early building survives and the church retains both
Norman and Saxon fonts.
It is described simply as a village with a 17th Century Hall and a
church on a hill amongst great elm trees.
The view from the South-East corner of the Churchyard is locally
considered to be one of the best in Huntingdonshire, with a fine view down the
valley towards the villages of Tilbrook and Kimbolton, the church towers of
which can be clearly seen. Although considered to be a pretty flat county,
Covington is situated approximately 76m (220ft) above sea level, which makes it
one of the loftiest parts of Huntingdonshire
History:
Takes it's name from
the Anglo-Saxon "Town of the Cufa Tribe" or
Cufa-inga-tun.
The parish of Covington was in the Thrapston
Union of Northamptonshire for Poor Law administration.
THE CHURCH
The doorway of the Norman-built St Margaret's Church, which is dedicated
to All Saints, is as original with a plain door set in stone of wood &
iron. This north doorway is believed to be unchanged since built by the
Normans. Wind and rain have worn away the sculpture in the tympanum above the
door, but the quaint Norman carving can still be recognized. It shows a bird,
riding a griffin and a monkey riding a lion. There is also a 13th Century
chancel, the font, a stained-glass window, a chest made in 1700, a group of
Tudor bench-ends, a medieval stone coffin and a fragment of 14th Century glass.
"The dedication is commonly supposed to be to
St. Margaret, but ancient wills conclusively prove it to have been to All
Saints".
Of course, some still
believe that the name was changed after the Reformation and although the
current name may be All Saints, the original (Catholic) name is St.
Margaret's. Then again, during the Civil War, Covington was close to the
seat of Cromwell's power, and the then Lord, the Duke of Manchester, was a
sympathiser. The name may have changed then. There is certainly some evidence
that the history of the church had been tampered with in the years following
the Civil War, one of our more illustrious Rectors - who was expelled during
the Civil War - seems to have been erased from the records, for instance.
The arms on the window fragment represent Sir Robert de Bayeux,
or Bayouse, a Norman lord of the manor of Covington,
who sat for the county in the Edward 2nd Parliament of 1309. The church
register dates from 1539. In 1821 the living was described as a rectory, in the
archdeaconry of Huntingdon, and diocese of Lincoln, rated in the King's books
at £10 1s 8d.
Only the nave remains
of the original 12th century stone church, which may have replaced an earlier
building, but there's no evidence of it's
existence now. The chancel was rebuilt c1300 and early in the 14th century a
chapel was added on the south side of the nave. This chapel was demolished and
the connecting arch blocked at some time in the 15th century. The tower was
probably built around 1330 but was considerably altered around 1500. There is
some evidence that the tower once had a spire but this may have been pulled
down around 1500. Local stories suggest that the top part of the tower did, in
fact, fall down. Certainly, the tower exhibits some alarming (but stable)
cracks. Some less stable than others, a fact missed by a recent survey but
noted while maintenance and restoration work was being undertaken. Previous
restoration work was carried out in 1882-3 involving the roof and south porch.
The organ chamber and vestry were also added then. The south wall of the
chancel was rebuilt in 1911 and the northern roof of the Chancel was re-tiled
in 1999 with Marley "Dreadnought" tiles - the same tiles as used in
1882-3, except the 1999 tiles are metric. The 1882 roof is visible on the
picture (below), but it's not possible to see how badly frost-damaged the tiles
are.
Additional historical detail on St Margaret from Rupert Barnes (r@rahbarnes.demon.co.uk)
Margaret's father was Edward the Ætheling
(known as "Edward the Exile"), son of King Edmund Ironside. Two
princes fled abroad when Cnut seized the throne and started murdering their kinsmen.
Edward the Exile and his two children returned from Hungary only during the
reign of his uncle (and namesake). In 1066 Margaret and her brother Edgar fled
to Scotland, with much of the English nobility. Edgar tried ineffectually to
wrest the throne from William the Bastard. Margaret reluctantly married Malcolm
III (aye, that one - the final hero in Macbeth).
Queen Margaret's sons inherited Scotland and her daughter married Henry I of
England. Thus, Queen Margaret, and the House of Wessex, gave birth to the royal
lines of England and of Scotland, two lines reunited in James VI & I of
course.
Queen Margaret's youngest son was David I, King of Scots. Through his marriage
to the Countess of Huntingdon, Scots kings held the Earldom of Huntingdon for
many years. Whether that influenced the original dedication of Covington church
we may never know.
Queen Margaret was hailed as a saint for reforming (or perhaps deforming) the
church in Scotland, bringing it into line with continental norms. That
might also be a motivation for removing her dedication later, though until we
know when that happened, we can only guess at the reasons.
Yours sincerely
Rupert Barnes
Coat of Arms
The following
comments can be found on the official Covington Amenities Committee Website in,
Huntingdonshire website, penned by Simon Parsons
http://www.covington.org.uk - clearer info on the Coat of Arms can
be found on my Coat of Arms
web page.
Have you noticed the "arms" of the Parish? - It came from a
broken painted plaster plaque found under a cupboard in the church vestry with
the dedication "Covington" at the top and the motto "Invidere Sperno" (never
spurn) at the bottom. Such is the state of the local archives that the origin
of the arms is unknown - perhaps it's one of those "Arms of your
family" you used to be able to buy mail order?
I suspect that it's involved with the supposed
dedication to St. Margaret. The shield shows a net (fishing for souls) and a
cross - probably depicting the cross of St. Andrew on the Scottish flag (St.
Margaret was a Queen of Scotland although she was actually English). The little
stars are starfish, by the way. The rest of the achievement appears to have
been lifted from the arms of Huntingdonshire with a slight modification to the
standard. The design and colour scheme doesn't follow the rules of Heraldry, so
it's at best no more than 150 years old (many town and council arms appeared at
that time and also have colour-on-colour arms). It's also not the arms of the
original Norman Lord of Covington.
Recent History:
The main landowners in 1940 were Messrs. William Brown, Arthur Higgins
& Oliver Williams. Covington Hall overlooks the village.
Churchwardens of St. Margarets Church in May
1985 were Mr. T. Brown of The Manor, Covington (Tel Huntingdon 861525) &
Mrs. G. Hill, Rookery Farmhouse, Covington (Tel Huntingdon 861311).
The Rural Dean & Priest in charge of Covington, Catworth
& Tilbrook was Rev. R.J. Macklin, The Vicarage, Kimbolton.
Patron - Earl Fitzwilliam of Covington, a parish in the union of Thrapston hundred of Leightonstone.
Population
Population in 1801 - 104.
Population in 1851 - 162.
Population in 1901 - 100.
Population in 1931 – 82 Population in
1951 - 90. Population in 1971 - 92
Population in 1981 - 95. Population in
1991 – 83 Population in 2001 - 90.
Population in 2011 - 120
Links to other websites:
OFFICIAL COVINGTON VILLAGE WEBSITE
Click on the globe to return to the Covington
Locations page