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Cambridgeshire

Nearby places

MANEA

"MANEA, formerly a parochial chapelry and hamlet of Coveney, is now an ecclesiastical parish, near the old Bedford river and in the middle of the Fens of the Isle of Ely, with a station 1 mile north from the village on the Ely and Peterborough section of the London and North Eastern railway, 81 miles from London, 8 south-east from March and 9 north-east from Chatteris, in the North Witchford union. South Witchford hundred, petty sessional division, county court district and rural deanery of March, archdeaconry of Wisbech and diocese of Ely.

Earthen jars and urns containing burnt bones have been frequently found in the parish. The soil is loam and fen; subsoil, clay. The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats, beans, potatoes and carrots. The area is 5,642 acres of land and 34 of water; the population in 1921 was 1,463 in the civil and 1,404 in the ecclesiastical parish, which is wholly dependent on husbandry.

By Orders, which came into operation March 25, 1884, detached parts of the parishes of Downham, Wentworth, Witcham and Witchford, in the Ely union, were amalgamated with this parish.

Cemeteries

• The Monumental Inscriptions in the graveyard are recorded in the Cambridge Records Office for the years 1736-1945. These inscriptions are also available on microfiche from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Publications list (search)

Census

• The Census Records from 1841-1891 can be found in the Cambridgeshire Archives and also in the Wisbech Library. In addition the 1851 Census for Manea is available in full transcript form, on microfiche, from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Publications list (search)

Churches

• St. Nicholas's Church, Manea.

Church History

• The church of St. Nicholas was built in 1875 to replace one built in 1791, which had replaced an earlier one where foundations were insecure.
• "The church of St. Nicholas, erected at a cost of £4,000, partly on the site of the old church, and opened April 1, 1875, is a building of stone in the Early Decorated style, consisting of chancel, nave, north transept, north aisle, vestery and turret over the chancel arch containing one bell; there are 350 sittings. The register dates from the year 1708. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £649, inluding 10 acresof glebe and residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Ely, and held since 1925 by the Rev. Francis Falkner Herbert M.A. of Emanual College, Cambridge, hon. C.F. A house adjoining the churchyard, previously an inn, was bought in 1902, and converted into a vicarage house in 1903. There are Primitive and Wesleyan Methodist chapels.
  [Kelly's Directory - 1929]

Church Records

• Church of England
  • Manea, St Nicholas: Records of baptisms 1708-1954, marriages 1708-2002, burials 1708-2000, banns for 1755-1842 and 1873-1982 reside in the Cambridgeshire Archives.The Bishop's Transcripts for the years 1607, 1644-49 and 1660-1862 can be found in the Cambridge University Library. Indexes to transcripts exist in Cambridgeshire Archives for marriages 1646-49, 1661-79, 1696-1900 and for baptisms and burials 1708-1900. The transcripts, 1708-1900, are also available on microfiche from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Publications list (search)
• Methodist
  • Wesleyan Methodist Church: Records exist at the Cambridgeshire Archives for the Chatteris Wesleyan Circuit of which Manea is part.
  • Primitive Methodist Church: Records exist at the Cambridgeshire Archives for the Manea Primitive Circuit of which Manea is part.

Description and Travel

• This was the other half of Coveney, grown much bigger than its parent. Isolated on its lower island, Manea has on its south side a small rise known as Charlemont where King Charles I had planned a small town, an aim thwarted by his untimely end.
• "Manea is situated North West of Ely close to the Hundred Foot Drain. It is a straggling village which twists and turns North to South. The cemetery is situated on the Eastern side of the village on a road leading to the Nature Reserve."
  FEN and MARSHLAND VILLAGES - Anthony Day - Published by S.B. Publications ISBN : 1 85770 041 4

Military History

• The War Memorial has been transcribed and the men researched.

Names, Geographical

• BEDLAM FENS lies 2 miles north-east, FODDER FEN 2 miles to the north, CRANMORE FEN 2½ miles north-north-east, and BYALL FEN half a mile to the south.
  [Kelly's Directory - 1929]

Taxation

• Land Tax: records were compiled afresh each year and contain the names of owners and occupiers in each parish, but usually there is no address or place name. These records reside in the Cambridgeshire Archives for the years 1750-1948 and the Huntingdon Record Office has 1798 (on microfilm).