Place:Paston, Northamptonshire, England

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

From 1889 until 1965 Paston was located in the the Soke of Peterborough. After mergers in 1965 and 1974 the county became part of Cambridgeshire. It was part of the Peterborough Rural District until 1974 and is now in the Peterborough administrative district of Cambridgeshire.

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Paston is a residential area and electoral ward of the City of Peterborough with a population of 8,650 at the 2001 UK census. The parish church of All Saints', Paston, situated over the boundary in Walton ward, celebrated its 800th birthday in 2017.

The following description from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72 is provided by the website A Vision of Britain Through Time (University of Portsmouth Department of Geography).

"PASTON, a village and a parish in Peterborough [registration] district, Northampton. The village stands near the Great Northern and the Midland railways, 1 mile E of Walton [railway] station, and 2½ N of Peterborough; and was known to the Saxons as "Pastun". The parish contains also the hamlets of Gunthorpe, Walton, and Werrington; the last of which has a post-office under Peterborough. Acres: 3,150. Real property: £7,032. Population: 1,071. Houses: 241.

"The property is much subdivided. The manor belongs to the Bishop of Peterborough and M. Cole, Esq. Paston Hall also belongs to Mr. Cole, but is occupied by W. Jelly, Esq., M. D.

"The living is a rectory in the diocese of Peterborough. Value: £644. Patron: the Bishop of Peterborough. The church is later English, with transition-Norman and early English tower and spire; and comprises nave, aisles, and chancel. There are a chapel of ease and a Wesleyan chapel at Werrington, a Primitive Methodist and a national school, almshouses with £20 a year, and other charities £22, at Paston."

Gunthorpe

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Gunthorpe from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"GUNTHORPE, a hamlet in Paston parish, Northampton; 3¼ miles N of Peterborough. Population: 66. Houses: 12."

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Gunthorpe is now a residential area of the city of Peterborough, in Cambridgeshire. It is located south of the village of Werrington and north of Paston, with Fulbridge Road to the west. Car Dyke, the Roman ditch, straddles Gunthorpe's east side.

Its growth can be considered as an effect of Peterborough's New Town status. Building began in the 1950s and continued until the early 1990s with most of the housing in the hands of the city council.

NOTE: There are also parishes named Gunthorpe in Nottinghamshire and Norfolk as well as one in Rutland.

Walton (Peterborough)

Walton is now a residential area and electoral ward of the City of Peterborough adjacent to Paston north of the city centre. It was originally a hamlet in Paston parish, but the railway station for both settlements was in Walton.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Walton from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"WALTON, a hamlet, with a [railway] station, in Paston parish, Northampton; on the Midland railway, 2¾ miles NNW of Peterborough. Real property: £1,329. Population: 209. Houses: 46."

Werrington

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Werrington from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"WERRINGTON, a chapelry in Paston parish, Northampton; near Walton [railway] station, and 3½ miles NNW of Peterborough. It has a post-office under Peterborough. Real property: £3,079. Population: 697. Houses: 161. The property is much subdivided. The living is a [perpetual] curacy in the diocese of Peterborough. Value: £222. Patron: the Bishop of [Peterborough]. The church is good; and there is a Wesleyan chapel."

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Originally a village in the parish of Paston, Werrington was engulfed by Peterborough as the city expanded in the mid-twentieth century. The area is on the northern edge of the conurbation, approximately four miles (6.4 km) from the city centre. It spans an area of two and a half square miles (6 km²) and had a population of approximately 14,800 in the UK census of 2001. (This figure has not been updated in Wikipedia.) Werrington is a residential area.

Research Tips

• If you are researching anyone whose lifetime preceded (or even mostly preceded) 1889, the places in which he or she lived are going to be in Northamptonshire rather than the Soke of Peterborough. The Soke of Peterborough was actually a section of Northamptonshire.
• Original historical documents relating to the Soke of Peterborough are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at the County Record Office in Peterborough.
• GENUKI does not provide webpages for the Soke of Peterborough and its provision for Northamptonshire is very limited.
• The FamilyTree Wiki has a series of pages on Northamptonshire (including the Soke of Peterborough).
• A Vision of Britain through Time, section "Units and Statistics" leads to analyses of population and organization of the county from 1889 through 1974. There are pages available for all civil parishes, municipal boroughs and other administrative divisions.
• Map of Northamptonshire in 1900 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time shows the Soke of Peterborough (not labelled as such) in the top right hand corner.
• Map of Northamptonshire divisions (including the Soke of Peterborough) in 1944 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time