1851
Directory of Cambridgeshire
Extract
from pages 226-229
Return to Swaffham Prior Historical Records Page
SWAFFHAM
PRIOR PARISH
The
boundaries of this parish are formed by the parishes of Swaffham Bulbeck,
Bottisham and Burwell. It is bounded on the north by the Cam, and navigable
drains called Lodes pass through the parish and communicate with that river.
Swaffham Prior comprises the united parishes of St. Cyriac, and St. Mary; its
area including a part of the hamlet of Reach is 5297 acres, and its population
in 1801 was 791, in 1831, 1102, and in 1841, 1226 souls. The amount of assessed
property in the parish is £63358. The principal proprietors of the soil are
Mrs. Allix of Swaffham house, the dean and chapter of Ely, Joseph Kent, Esq.,
and Miss Goodwin.
Manors.
There arc several manors in this parish. Brithnot the first abbot of Ely
obtained the manor of Swaffham Prior, and it now belongs to 'the dean and
chapter of Ely Cathedral. The manor of Baldwins, from the family to which it
belonged in the 13th., century, and that of Knights were purchased by John Peter
Allix, Esq., of the representatives of William Finch, Esq., who died in 1779.
The manor of Totehill was anciently in the possession of a family of that name,
and at a later period in the family of Ellys. The manor of Shadworth belongs to
Queens' College' Cambridge, having been purchased in 1478 with money bequeathed
for that purpose by John Collinson archdeacon of Northampton. A manor which had
been in the family of Brigham, belonged to Peterhouse in 1378, and another
called St. Clere's manor from the family of that name that held it in 1408, was
in the Chamberlain family in 1497. Late records of some of the above named, and
other manors do not exist."
The
Village of
Swaffham Prior which is neat and rural, is situated about 5 miles east of
Newmarket, and 11 N.E. of Cambridge. -
The
Parish Churches
of Swaffham Priors or Little Swaffham, and St. Cyric stood on a hill in the
village in one churchyard and hence have obtained the name of Swaffham two
churches. The structures are built in different styles of architecture and from
their situation which renders them conspicuous at a great distance, they form
beautiful ornaments to the adjacent country. The church dedicated to St. Mary
was rebuilt except the tower in 1800 and is a very neat - edifice consisting of
nave, side aisles, transepts and chancel.
The tower is octagonal and contains a peal of six bells. The structure is
of brick with cut stone buttresses. The seats in the centre of the church are
open, and the aisles arc pewed. The chancel window which is filled with
elegantly stained, glass was erected by Colonel Allix in memory of his wife.
The
Church of St. Cyriac
a few yards distant from that of St. Mary now forms an exceedingly neat, and
picturesque ruin. The walls and arches of the nave, chancel, north aisles and
western porch, and part of tlie tower are still standing; the eight beautiful
arches separating the nave from the aisles, which arc open arc still perfect, as
well as the clerestory windows on the north side; and the interior which is the
burial place of the Allix family is overgrown with ivy which adds much to the
beauty of the ruin. The remains of the tower, which are considerable, are of
Saxon architecture and is a remarkable building; the lower part is square, the
second story octagonal; both have round headed windows, and the upper story
which is more modern, has 16 sides. The spaces between the arches, which were
open on the south-side, have been filled with iron palisading, and the whole
ruin is kept very neat by Mrs. Allix. The benefices of St. Mary and St. Cyric
were consolidated by act of parliament in 1667 and the patronage was vested in
the bishop, and dean and chapter of Ely, who appoint the incumbent alternately.
The living of the vicarage of St. Cyric is rated in the K.B. at 1616. 18s. 11
1/2d., and that of St. Mary at £14. 12s. 11d., both arc now returned at £301.
per annum nett. The Rev. Joseph Maddy, M.A. is the present vicar.
The
Schools,
now conducted on the national principle, are endowed with £30. per annum, for
which 10 boys are taught free. These schools are attended by about 70 boys and
50 girls on an average. There are 14 unendowed almshouses in the parish, in
which poor persons live rent free. Here is also a Baptist Chapel capable of
seating about 200 persons. Swaffham House, the seat of Mrs. Allix, is a good
mansion situated in an extensive park a little south of the village.- For the
charities of the parish see the table prefixed to this hundred.
Reach
or Reche is
a small hamlet partly in this, and partly in Burwell parish, situated about li-
mile north of Swaffham. Its
population in 1841 was 416 souls, 301 of which are included with this parish.
Reach was formerly a market town, and before the draining of the feus, ships of
considerable burden are said to have come up here. A large fair for horses,
&c., is held here on Rogation Monday, the tolls of which belong to the
corporation of Cambridge. Part of the end wall with a window of what appears to
have been a church or chapel still stands in the village.
Devil's
Ditch, Fleam Dyke, &c.
Here also, on the west bank of the river Cam, on which, the village is situated,
terminates the greatest of those ditches or fortifications with which the
eastern part of Cambridgeshire is intersected. The most remarkable, of these
extensive banks or ridges, is called the Devil's Ditch or Dyke, the etymology of
which appellation may be accounted for in the name of Davilier, who held the
manor of Broome in Suffolk by the service of being conductor of the footmen or
infantry of that county and Norfolk, who were bound to serve the king in his
Welsh wars, and had their rendezvous always in that ditch. This celebrated ditch
commences near Cattedge and runs across. Newmarket heath in a straight line for
seven miles to Reach, and it is no where so perfect as for the space of about a
mile from this place. The slope measures from 26 to 52 feet, and the width of
the works is 100 feet. The earth that was dug out of the trench was thrown up,
and forms a high bank on tlie cast side, which is that next the sea. This mode
of disposing of the excavated earth is, in the opinion of Dr. Stukeley, a proof
that the ditch was made some centuries before Caesar, by the first inhabitants
that settled eastward, in order to secure themselves from. the attacks of the
inland aborigines. Its antiquity is inferred from several ways having been cut
through the bank and the ditch filled up.- These passages are mostly called
gaps. In Dr. Mason's manuscripts, quoted by Mr. Gough, it is remarked that
"the situation of this (the Devil's ditch) is so well chosen, that being
only seven miles long. it could secure Norfolk and Suffolk from midland
invasions, the fen securing all between that and Lynn; and if there was a
continuation of wood from Ditton to the Thames, as we have some accounts of its
having been in later ages, it would cover Essex also. Other antiquarians are of
opinion that it was constructed for the security of the Iccni by the Romans
their allies, before the country westward had been subjected to the Roman yoke,
and that it might long afterwards have been occupied as a defensive position by
the East Angles against the Mercians. Its greatness proves it to be the work
only of a whole province, especially as there was for greater security a second
parallel to it seven miles distant, not so big but longer beginning at Fen-Ditton
and ending at Balsham, about 12 miles. This ditch called Fleam Dyke, from Flema
a Saxon word implying flight or refuge, is a military line of entrenchment
similar to the Devil's ditch. A considerable part of it has been levelled, but
it still remains very entire between Great Wilbrabam, and Balsham. One argument
of the antiquity of Fleam dyke,, says Dr. Mason, is, "that many ways have
been cut through it and the ditch filled up, yet such is the nature of the soil,
being chalk almost to the surface, that it drinks in all the rain that falls,
and no water is ever seen in it nor upon any part of the heath. There is a third
ditch about a mile south of Bourn bridge, lying upon declining ground between
Abingdon wood and Pampisforth, fronting towards Cambridge," says the same
learned writer; "towards the middle it has been filled up for the Ikeneld
(Roman way) to pass over it, which shews it to be older than that road; it is
very large and deep, but has no bank on cither side; this ditch, like the two
others, extends from. the woods to the flat, soft land."
Brant or Brent ditch is a slighter work of this kind, " which
proceeds from Haydon in Essex, pointing nearly to Barrington, continuing over
part of Foulmire field, till it ends in a piece of boggy ground."
1
= resident at Reach
2
= resident in the fen
Notable
Residents
Alix Mrs., Swaffham house
Kent John, Esq.
Kent Joseph, Esq.
Killingbeck Mr. Robert
Maddy Rev, J., M.A., vicar
Witt Samuel, Esq.
Witt Mrs. Sarah
Farmers
2,
Chambers George D.
2,
Chambers Jacob
2,
Chambers William
Crisp
Robert
Danby
Francis
Danby
Stephen
Ellis
John
2,
Feast Joseph
1,
Fuller Thomas
Fyson
Robert
1,
Harding John
1,
Hawks Thos. (& merchant)
1,
Mason Robert
1,
Mason Thomas
1.
Middleditch
George
Palmby
Francis
Danby, (and wheelwright)
Palmby
Peter Francis
Tebbit
Edward
2.
Wright John
Traders
Adams
Philip, builder
Aldhouse
James, veterinary surgeon
Benson
T. miller & beer retailer
Bayley
W. vict, Rose & Crown
Clark
Edw., clock & watch maker
Clarke
Jonas, beer retailer and tailor
Cook
Sanderson, wheelwght
Feaks
Rebecca, vict., Cock
1,
Galley S. vict., White Horse
Goatree
Thomas, blacksmith
Gunton
John, butcher
Haslip
William, butcher
1,
Mason S., vict. Black Swan
1,
Mansfield T., blacksmith
Palmby
Thomas, vict.
Red
Lion (and farmer)
2.
Parr Mark, vict., Anchor
Shaw
Robert, schoolmaster
1,
Sparks R., beer retailer
Stanton
George M., miller
Tebbit
A., grocer & draper
Watling
John, bricklayer
Waters
Thomas, blacksmith
Webb
George, baker
Webb
Thomas, shopkeeper
Letters are received through the Newmarket Post Office.