St Ives, mun. bor., market town, and par. with ry. sta., in co. and 4¾ miles E. of Huntingdon, on river Ouse - mun. bor. and par., 2330 ac., pop. 3002; town (comprising also parts of Fen Stanton and Hemingford Grey pars.), pop. 3038; P.O., T.O., 3 Banks, 1 newspaper. Market-day, Monday. St Ives (said to take its name from St Ivo, a Persian missionary bishop of 6th century), was known at Domesday as Slepe, a name which survived in Slepe Hall, the residence of Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658). St Ives had a chapel of 970, and a priory of 1017. The bridge is said to have been built by the abbots of Ramsey. The trade is chiefly in agricultural produce and cattle. The charter for the weekly cattle market, which is one of the largest in the kingdom, was granted in 1290. St Ives was made a mun. bor. in 1874.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))