Covington and Keyston History Group
Covington and Keyston History Group was formed with the aim of researching, recording and presenting the history of both villages. Meetings take place on the second Monday of the month from October to March at 7:00pm alternating between Covington and Keyston Village Halls.
The programme for each 'season' can include visiting speakers, primary document research, identification of archaeological finds. Visitors are very welcome to come along to Group meetings. We also go on interesting summer outings, which usually include a very good lunch!
Recent topics have included talks on Kimbolton Airfield during WWII and another on American forces in our area during that period, the Manchester Family, the diary of Cornelius Binns, and details regarding an active Archaeological dig in Norwich. Some summer highlights have included visits to the Northamptonshire Archives and Hemingford Grey Manor House along with the continuance of the archaeology activities including metal detecting, field walking and test pits.
Covington is a small village, consisting of never more than 200 souls for most of its history, so attempting a genealogy of the entire village is a reasonably achievable target. Simon Parsons is currently distilling parish records, gravestones, photographs, personal histories and stories into a genealogy database. The site is being regularly updated, usually when Simon is on holiday, with 1100 People and 253 Families entered as of the last update on 4th December, 2023. Unless original family name known, female subjects retain their maiden name all the way through. You can access the Covington database by clicking HERE.
Following the creation of The Covington and Keyston History Group, it was decided that we should also have a database of Keyston residents. The village has always been slightly larger than Covington with a peak population of just short of 240 in 1881, since 1951 we do not have an exact population, as for reporting purposes, it was merged with Bythorn. We do have access to St John the Baptist church records for Births, Deaths and Marriages along with Census data for the village from 1841 to 1911 so populating the database should not be difficult. You can access the Keyston database by clicking HERE.
History Group – Latest News
CKHG – Pot Identification
Covington and Keyston History Group – Pot Identification – Saturday 10th May 2025 at 10:00AM. To be held at Bottom Farm Covington. Identification of Items recovered from this year’s field walking in Keyston.
Presentation on Flint Tools
Covington and Keyston History Group – Monday 10th March at 7pm in Covington Village Hall. A talk by Sheila Kohring on flint based tools identification and creation. Include some lithic practicals. Non-members Welcome (£5)
Presentation on the Huntingdon Mint
Covington and Keyston History Group – Monday 10th February at 7pm in Covington Village Hall. A talk by Rodney Scarle. 900 years of illustrious history on the English hammered silver penny. Non-members Welcome (£5)