Great Chesterford Whites Directory in 1863
CHESTERFORD (GREAT) is a large village, pleasantly situated on the Newmarket road, and on the east side of the river Granta, or Cam, near Chesterford Railway Station, and 3 miles N.N.W. of Saffron Walden. Its parish contains 1027 souls, and 2811 acres of land, including roads and waste ; and has a fair for toys, &c. , on the first Friday in July. Great Chesterford is undoubtedly the site of a Roman Station, as is evident from the numerous coins, urns, and other antiquities that have been found here, as well as from the remains of the encampment itself, which could be completely traced till the beginning of the present century,
and is yet visible in several places. Its name, however, like those of all the other stations in this county and neighbourhood, has been much contested. Dr. Stukeley, and Baxter, make it the Camboricum of Antoninus; and Horsley calls it Iciani, or Iceanum ; a station which Dr. Salmon, on very insufficient grounds, refers to Colchester, the site of the real Camulodunum, which this author places at Castle Camps, in Cambridgeshire. Mr. Gough appears to incline to the opinions of those who make. Chesterford the ancient Camboricum.
Dr. Stukeley, who visited this station in the year 1719, and described it in his Itinerarium Curiosum, says that ” the foundation of the walls was very apparent, quite round, though level with the ground, including a space of about fifty acres. Besides the station itself, which Dr. Salmon, in his Antiquities of Essex, states as being a mile in compass, a smaller camp may be traced near the church; and several others have been noticed as remaining within the circuit a few miles. Antiquaries of the present day have decided that Great Chesterford is the ancient Iceanum, first occupied by the Britons, and afterwards by the Romans.
The manor of Great Chesterford belonged to Earl Edgar in the Confessor’s reign; but at DomesdaySurvey it belonged to the King,
and had the privilege of a royal demesne. It was afterwards possessed by several noble families; and in 1502 was granted by Maurice, brother of the Marquis of Berkley, to St. Peter’s Abbey, at Westminster. At the dissolution, Henry VIII. bestowed it on Lord Chancellor Audley, whose only daughter married Thomas, Duke of Norfolk. From her it has descended to the Marquis of Bristol, the present lord of the manor, and owner of a great part of the soil. Part of the parish belongs to R. M. J. Cottingham, Mrs. Edwards, and several smaller owners, mostly freeholders. The copyholds are subject to certain fines.
The Church (All Saints) is a lofty stone fabric, with a nave, north and south aisles, and a chancel, leaded and in good repair; and a square tower containing six bells, and crowned by an ornamental lantern. It was restored about 20 years ago. On the south side of the chancel is a chapel, formerly “our lady’s chantry,” founded by Wm. Holden about 1523.
In a certificate of the chantry lands (valued at £9. 9s. 7d. per ann.) Great Chesterford is called a” great towne, having in it 500 houseling people, and more.” Morant also affirms that it had formerly a market. The vicarage, valued in K.B. at £10, and in 1831 at £427, with the rectory of Little Chesterford annexed to it, is in the patronage of the Marquis of Bristol and incumbency of the Hon. and Rev. Lord Charles A. Hervey, M.A., who has a large and handsome residence, and 102A. 1R. 11r. of glebe, mostly allotted in lieu of tithes, at the enclosure of the parish in 1804, when 521A. 18. 12P. of land was allotted to the Marquis of Bristol, the impropriator, in lieu of the rectorial tithes. The impropriator pays £25 a year to the vicar, and the benefice was augmented in 1719 with £200, given by Bishop Robinson, and £200 of Queen Anne’s Bounty. The Church Allotment, awarded at the enclosure in 1804, comprises 4A. 1R. 36P. , and the rent is applied in aid of the church-rates, as also is £1. 10s. 44d. received yearly from Hinxton, in Cambridgeshire, as part of Housden’s Charity, and 25s. from half an acre of land in Ickleton parish. Here is an Independent Chapel, built in 1840.
The FREE SCHOOL, which has been conducted on the national system since 1816, was founded by John Hart, who endowed it with land and buildings in 1592, for the support of a master to teach freely the poor children ofGreat and Little Chesterford, under the control of the trustees and the Master and Fellows of Magdalen College, Cambridge. At the enclosure the school received several allotments in exchange, and in lieu of commonright. The property of the charity now consists of 114. 2R. 29P. of land, and a cottage with a garden and yard, let for £31. 7s. per annum; and £105 Three-and-a-Halfper Cent. Stock. The latter was left by Peter Nash, in 1810, for the education of eight poor girls. A house andgarden are occupied rent free by the master, who is allowed ayearly salary of £50.
The schoolmistress has £26 per annum, and the trustees provide books for the free scholars, who are now taught with other children in the handsome National Schools, built in 1848, at the cost of about £1200, ofwhich £200 was a government grant, £100 the gift of the Vicar, and £70 agrant from the National Society.
In 1459, the Rev. Thomas Hill vested in trust for the relief of the poor parishioners of Great Chesterford, a house and 534. of land, which was nearly all exchanged at the enclosure in 1804, for 444. 28. 17p. in Deadman BottomField, now let, with the farm buildings upon it, and 24. 2R. 20P. of old enclosure, for £70. The rest of the trust property is the Town Close, 1A. 3R. 21P. , let for £6, and supposed tohave been the site of a mansion called Town Place. This charity was vested in new trustees in 1827, and they apply the yearly income (£76) in distributions of coals, clothing, &c. , among the most necessitous poor. From Martin’s Charity (see Chrishall) , the poor of this parish have £1s. 6s. yearly. They have also the dividends of £122 Three per Cent. Annuities, left by Viscountess Falkland, and £20 as the rent of 24. 19Pp. of land allotted to them at the enclosure, in lieu ofan old rent charge.
POST OFFICE at Thos. Pilgrim’s. Letters via Saffron Walden.
Debnam John, parish clerk
Barnard Mrs
Green Octavius, solicitor
Hailes Mary & Martha, drapers
Hervey Hon. and Rev. Lord Chas. Ambrose, M.A. Rectory
Hester Henry, station master
Living Josiah, corn miller
Metcalfe Rev. Frederick, curate
Murton Fdk. and Mrs, National School
Stacey Rev. Henry ( Independent)
Surrey Martin, lime burner
Weeden William, watchmaker, &c.
Whitby Thomas, saddler, &c.
INNS AND TAVERNS.
Crown, Sophia Wilkin
Crown and Thistle, Thomas Jowett
Greyhound, John Rudland
FARMERS.
Bareham Thomas
Kent William
Burleigh James, and maltster
Cottingham Robert
Martin Johnson
Nash Mrs T. F. Manor House
Pilgrim John
Sampson James
BAKERS.
Marritt James
Perry Jno. & Ts.
BEERHOUSES.
Hill Joseph
Mason Joseph – Plough
Perrin James – White Horse
Reed Joseph
Rule William
BLACKSMITHS .
Jeffrey Dean
Kent Benjamin
BRICKLAYERS.
Jeffrey John
Wright John
BUTCHERS.
Edward Charles
Pilgrim Thomas
CARPENTERS .
Haggar Austin
Haggar Jeremiah (and wheelwright. )
Haggar Thomas
Wall Mrs Eliza and miller
Killingbeck John
GROCERS &DRPRS.
Bard James
Kent Edward
Marten Mary
Rule William
Shelford William & coal dealer
SHOEMAKERS.
Frisby Benjamin
Rice Thomas
Smith William
TAILORS .
Danns William & Ed.
Perkins Henry
RAILWAY
Trains to London, Cambridge, &c. 5 times aday.
CARRIER.
Thos. Pilgrim, to London, Wed.