Covington and Keyston History Group

ABOUT US

The Covington and Keyston History Group originally started out as the Covington History Group it was formed just before the millennium when a group of villagers started to collect information for a Covington family tree and conducted a survey of all residents to understand who lived in the village and what their interests were.

Over time this expanded to visiting archives and researching all aspects on the village. In February 2012 the group joined Jigsaw (a collaboration between Oxford Archaeology and Cambridge County Council to protect Cambridgeshire’s archaeological heritage) with the aim of learning how to use archaeology, alongside historical sources to find out more about the village. At this point the group had around ten core members but wanted to engage as much of the village as they could. Initial meetings to discuss how the archaeological project in the village should proceed were followed by members of CHG attending training courses run by Jigsaw. These included Test pitting, finds recognition, Roman pottery and how to operate Geophysics equipment. Jigsaw also supported the group in a fieldwalking exercise. With the first dig taking place in June 2012.

Over the next five years there were a number of archaeological digs with substantial finds that kept members busy identifying and reporting on them.

By 2022 the number of original members had dwindled as people moved on from the village, at the same time interest in a history group was rising in the nearby village of Keyston and it became clear that a joint venture would be beneficial to both villages. The group is still a member of Jigsaw which provides access to both equipment and expertise. On average around 20 people attend each of our winter presentation and we still welcome any local residents that wish to join our group.

BROWSE OUR WEBSITES

Take a look at some of the information that we have available

Covington Genealogy

Covington has always been a small village with never more than 200 residents meaning that a database could be constructed of all known associations.This site is populated from All Saints Church records

Keyston Genealogy

Keyston (or Chetelstan) appears as a settlement in the Domesday Book, in the hundred of Leightonstone in the county of Huntingdonshire. It has never been a particularly large village with the highest number of residents recorded as 237 on the 1881 census. This site is populated from St John the Baptist Church records

CKHG Museum

Through metal detection and other archaeology techniques we have obtained a number of items that we believe are of interest to the public. We have also gathered documents that do not fit into our analytical activities but we would like to make them available.

OUR ANALYTICS PLATFORMS

As a group we have a wide range of interests, in this section you will find the documentation that supports our activities.

Reports

Archaeological Reports

Our most important documents - here we record all our archaeological activities in great detail. Analysing our finds and making sure that the information is stored in perpetuity.

Activities

Archaeological Activities

Experimental Archaeology where you try to recreate how something was done or just visiting a site of historic interest can be very entertaining. Where possible the CKHG likes to get involved.

References

Archaeological References

One of the groups assets is its reference collections, they give us the ability to compare and contrast finds so that we acurately record them. These digital versions will never replace the physical versions but may be a useful aid.

Documents

Legal Documents

Archives contain a wealth of interesting documents about land distribution, Mortgages, and even the setting up of institutions. You can see these items through a visit. But we would like them to be more readily available.

Wills

Local Wills

National and Local Archives have a host of Wills provided by legal firms that no longer want them.But to access them you need to visit and request individual Wills. Ideally we would like to make these Wills available to everyone.

Research

Local Research

From time to time when studying something be that a building or institution, we will need to write up our findings. We may not wish to take this further e.g. publish but at the same time we want to make this information available.

Maps

Maps have been used for millenium to impart information. Here we provide access to some local versions that let you zoom in on the details

Publications

As with other local history groups we do occasionally publish short histories of a building or other important items. Where possible we try to make these available free of charge via a PDF.

BECOME A MEMBER

CKHG members receive regular updates on planned events and group activities.
If you are interested in joining, drop us a line at admin@keystongenealogy.uk. or send us you email address using the link below

For general enquiries please contact admin@keystongenealogy.uk

We would love to hear from you!

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