TYDD ST. GILES
Tydd St. Giles, the northernmost parish in Cambridgeshire, is situated 6 miles north of Wisbech. The
Shire Drain divides it on the north and west from the
sister parish of Tydd St. Mary in Lincolnshire. This
stream has shrunk to a shadow of its former self but is
an important boundary, separating, as it has done, two
counties, two dioceses, and in all probability two AngloSaxon kingdoms. The upper part of the Shire Drain,
forming the western boundary of Tydd, has been
known since the 17th century as Lady Nunn's Old
Eau, from the wife of a 14th-century Tydd landowner. (fn. 1) The eastern boundary of the parish is also
a county boundary, and was in 1934 adjusted to conform with the modern course of the River Nene. (fn. 2) The
neighbouring parish on the south is Newton-in-the-Isle.
The most important watercourse in the parish, after
the Nene, is the North Level Main Drain (1831-4),
the successor to the Shire Drain, which cuts straight
across from south-west to north-east and has considerably altered the local topography. The parish is crossed
by the main road from Wisbech to Long Sutton (A
1101) and the Peterborough to Sutton Bridge branch
of the former Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (1866), which has a station (Tydd) about 3 miles
east of the village just outside the county boundary.
The soil is highly fertile and much given over to
orchards and market gardens. As in most Marshland
parishes, as opposed to those in the fens proper, there
is a network of by-roads and a more scattered type of
settlement. At Tydd, besides the main village round
the church, which is roughly in the centre of the parish,
there are hamlets at Four Gotes and Tydd Gote, (fn. 3)
where the high road enters and leaves the parish, and
at Foul Anchor in the extreme north-east corner, near
the outfall of the North Level Main Drain into the
Nene.
The name 'Tydd' defies explanation. Tydd St.
Giles is not mentioned in Domesday Book, since it was
within the liberty of the Bishop of Ely, but Tydd St.
Mary appears there in the form of Stith. (fn. 4) The writers
of Domesday may have identified the name with the
Saxon word 'staith', meaning such parts of the banks
of a watercourse or sea beach as were used for a regular
landing-place for men or goods. Staithes were quite
common in East Anglia, e.g. the Staithe in Wisbech
(now called Staithe Road) on the old sea bank. Here,
at Tydd, was the outlet to the sea of the old Nene or
Sluice Drain or Elloe River-the last of which alternatives gave its name to the whole wapentake; and so
Stith (or Staithe) St. Mary on the Lincolnshire side of
the river would have its counterpart on the Cambridgeshire side. This argument depends upon the correctness of the Domesday 'Stith'. Alternative suggestions
are that the name is derived from (a) Tidi, an Old
English personal name used in the 9th century from
which a number of other place-names are derived-
though the use of such a name uncompounded would
be most unusual; (b) from O.E. titt, used in the transferred sense of a slight hill. (fn. 5) The facile 'tide' is unwarranted. Although the name is of a single syllable it
possesses nearly a score of variants. 'St. Mary's Tyd',
which constantly recurs, might perhaps account for the
appearance of the initial 'S' in Stith, which is a rare
form; this would negative the 'staith' explanation. But
the chain of manor houses along both banks of the river
at Tydd points clearly to the use of the river as a highway, with its concomitant landing-places.
Probably the oldest house in the parish is Kirkgate
House, lying opposite the present manor house. It is
built on the site of the home of the Fisher family who
lived at Tydd St. Giles from 1320 for several generations. Its south gable at one time bore the date 1587,
and the north end was stated to be 100 years older. (fn. 6)
The house was badly damaged a few years ago by the
fall of a tree, which crashed through the centre of the
building. The Fishers, as their name implies, were
predominantly a seafaring family, some of them being
engaged in commercial enterprises both at home and
overseas. (fn. 7) Two at least of them took orders, apart from
the John Fisher whose sepulchral monument in the
church is referred to below.
Hannath Hall is a handsome Elizabethan residence
probably somewhat older than the manor house. The
property belonged to Richard Sparrow, whose family
is referred to in early manorial records as 'Passur'. It
was sold to John Laverock of Upwell in 1573. (fn. 8) John
Laverock devised by will (fn. 9) to his son Edmund 'all free
lands and my house that I have in Tyde Seyntt Jeyles
and Tyde Seyntt Marye's that I lately purchased of
Richard Sparrow', which suggests that the house was
already in existence at the time of purchase. It was
known as the 'Sparrows Nest', until in later years it
became vested in the Hannaths. It does not appear
that the Laverocks ever lived there. Edmund Laverock
died c. 1618, leaving two daughters and coheirs, of
whom Dorothy married Hamond L'Estrange of Hunstanton, brother of the first baronet. The property was
sold by the L'Estrange family to the Traffords and
was comprised in Lady Trafford's marriage settlement
of 1791. It was then occupied by Thomas Watkinson
and afterwards by John Hannath. In 1812 it was sold
to Joseph Hannath of Tydd St. Giles, son of John
Hannath, for £7,948 10s. under the description of 245
acres in Tydd St. Giles and Tydd St. Mary, which
included lands other than of former Laverock ownership. Joseph Hannath died in 1868 after devising his
property to his nephews and nieces, children of his late
sister Jane Marshall, the wife of Joseph Marshall of
Waldersea House, Elm. The devisees sold Hannath
Hall and' a portion of the land in 1870 to William
Kilham of Tydd Gote, who devised the property to
his son Frederick Kilham. From him it passed to
George Williams, who was living at Hannath Hall in
1899, (fn. 10) and it still continues in possession of his family.
A portion of the house appears to have been taken down
but substantially it is intact, and capable of restoration.
The manor house dates from the early 17th century,
with later alterations. It has good octagonal and
diamond-shaped chimneys.
The rectory is a brick building erected for Canon
John Scott, the rector, from the design of his brother
Sir Gilbert Scott in 1868. It occupies the site of the
former rectory which was a plain square ivy-covered
house in a state of dilapidation. The present house is
built on a raised terrace and is supported on solid blocks
of reinforced concrete. Part of the field in front is an
intake from the common. Close to the old boundary
of the field, on the east side of the drive, was the tithe
barn, and traces and fragments of the foundation have
been discovered from time to time. The old name of
the road passing the rectory, Barn Gate, is derived from
this circumstance. The old house in New Field, nearly
opposite the church, is said by persistent local tradition
to have been the old rectory, but there is no evidence
in support of this. It is of considerable antiquity and
when first built must have been imposing. It has been
spoilt by modern alterations and is now divided into
two cottages. Originally the property of Francis Dusgate, c. 1640, it was for a number of years owned by
Timothy Hall and his family, afterwards by Joseph
Hicks and Robert Hicks, and later by John Broughton.
It was purchased from the representatives of the latter
by E. B. Howlett, whose relict now possesses it.
Park House, in the Fen, was built by the Traffords
and, together with a considerable area of land, was sold
c. 1789 to Charles Littlewood. On Littlewood's death
in 1796 it was again sold and eventually became vested
in Lord Peckover of Wisbech, upon whose death
(1919) (fn. 11) it was purchased by Mr. Abraham Licquorice.
It has been considerably added to and altered.
In Fold Lane, off Kirkgate, are to be found the
remains of the village pound, as well as the remaining
portion of the old parish workhouse, now consisting of
two cottages vested in the Tydd St. Giles Charity
Trustees. Part of the parish workhouse was destroyed
by fire in the last century.
PARISH FIELDS
There are about thirty fields, or campi,
extending from east to west: Hallcroft (the
Angle); Hallcroft (South); Doddins; Gardyke or Laysoken; Furlong, Headacres or
Spadeholme; Blowhead; Great Broad East; Little
Broad East; Gores or Cotefield; Southcrofts or Dike
Field Crofts; Long Pricks; Summer Leazure or Church
Field; Edyke Field; Bladderwick; New Field or High
South; Low South Field; Hornfield; Ryeland Field;
Carrow Field; Bottle Lane or Cockley Field; Eagate
Field; Ealeet Field; North Lane Field; Quaney Field;
Fengate Field; Thridding or Treading Field; Fen Lane
or Gitt Field; Shoffendyke or Shoddyk Field. (fn. 12) East
of the Roman Bank are High Marsh and Low Marsh,
representing the land inclosed from the sea. These
marshes were gradually silted up as the sea receded,
and became ripe for inclosure temp. Charles II. They
were 'improved, set out and divided' under the Bedford
Level Act of 1663. (fn. 13) The land was allotted to the lord
of the manor and the owners of commonable messuages
in the parish on the basis of 2 a. 11. 20 p. in the High
Marsh and 2 acres in the Low Marsh in respect of
each commonable messuage. By this means some 500
acres of marsh were brought into cultivation, and now
provide some of the finest silt farms in the county. The
final parliamentary inclosure took place in 1841. (fn. 14)
Only 159 acres remained to be dealt with at this date,
of which 2 were allocated for a recreation ground, 21
sold to defray costs, 17 given to the Bishop of Ely as
lord of the manor, and the remainder divided, in very
small allotments, among 52 proprietors.
DRAINAGE
Tydd St. Giles, Newton, and Tydd
St. Mary are associated with a particularly successful piece of land drainage.
On 29 August 1632 Richard Colvile of Newton, Simon
Wood, and other proprietors and commoners of the
3,000 or so acres of fen land in these parishes determined upon their recovery. The lands, it was said,
were so waterlogged as to be of little value and were
soon likely to be of none, 'by reason of their ancient
drain the river of Wisbech, the outfall to the sea by the
fower gotes, being diverted and drained'. The proprietors accordingly agreed with Henry Dereham of
London that he would, within two years at his own cost,
drain such lands to the outfall near Catsmere in such
manner that the lands should always be kept dry one foot
at least under the soil, and would maintain the drains and
sluices he erected. In return he was to receive in fee
simple two-fifths of the lands in question. This agreement was ratified at a Session of Sewers held at Wisbech
on 20 September 1632. The Commissioners enacted
that the fens in question should be charged with a rate
of 40s. an acre, payable to Henry Dereham. In default
of payment by any owner two-fifths of his lands should
be set out and allotted to Henry Dereham absolutely.
One moiety of Dereham's two-fifths was to remain
liable for maintenance works, and every owner was to
divide his land from that of his neighbours by such
dikes as should be sufficient to carry away their waters
to Dereham's main drains. All owners of high grounds
in the three parishes were to be permitted to send their
waters into Dereham's drain, for which an acre shot of
1d. an acre was to be paid.
This isolated drainage scheme, like that at Elm, must
be considered to have been a success. Only a few years
later, when the number of landowners in the parish of
Tydd St. Giles was just under a hundred, Henry
Dereham is shown to have been the owner of 13 acres
in the Fen, which suggests that practically all the
owners paid their 40s. per acre rather than hand over
two-fifths of their land.
The drainage is now carried out by the Tydd and
Newton Drainage Commissioners, appointed under an
Act of 1773, (fn. 15) whose powers were amplified by a
further local Act (1808). (fn. 16)
The Marsh lands, inclosed from the sea and lying
on the east side of the old Sea Bank (now popularly
known as the Roman Bank) possess natural drainage
and did not in consequence in ancient times fall under
any special drainage commission. The Marsh now falls
within the area of the Westside Marshes Internal
Drainage Board, a body which in 1939 was incorporated and re-formed under the Land Drainage Act
(1930).
MANORS
The manor of TYDD ST. GILES with
the advowson of the church belonged to
the bishops of Ely, and the sub-manors of
Hockholds (Colvile's), Rickards, and De la Launds
were held of this manor. In the inquisition upon the
manor taken in 1222 (fn. 17) Robert, son of Walter, was found
to hold 8 virgates of arable land, each virgate containing 32 acres, by the fourth part of a knight's fee and
suit to the Hundred Court, which 8 virgates in the
inquisition of 1251 (fn. 18) were found to be held by William
de Weston, knight, by the same service. This is presumably Rickards manor. Similarly in 1222 Stephen
de Marisco was found to hold 3½ virgates by the service
of ½ knight's fee, presumably Hockholds manor. By
the inquisition of 1222 Innocencia, widow, was found
to hold 2½ virgates for 3s. 6d. in equal payments, which
in 1251 were held by John de Lytbery and Innocencia
his mother, presumably De la Launds manor. This
last manor extended also into Tydd St. Mary, in which
parish was the manor of Littlebury.
There were in 1251 94 separate customary tenants,
holding 69 messuages and 9 cottages, and 32 virgates
were accounted for besides 3 crofts, a virgate in Newton, certain other holdings and the demesne lands. The
demesne lands detailed in the inquisition of 1251 were:
5 acres in Hevedakeres (Headacres, now Furlong
Field); 2 acres in Suth Meadow Field (South Crofts);
3 acres in Bradherst Field (Broad East); 3 acres in
Laysoken (Gardike); 5 acres in Hassecroft (Hall Croft);
4 acres in 'Thystlecroft'; 7 acres in 'Sumersleswe';
2 acres in 'Stackstede'; 13 acres in 'Chapeleland'; making
a total of 44 acres of profit-yielding (lucrabilis) land,
which could and ought to yield profit according to the
customs of the town. There also belonged to the manor
a pasture which the lord held in severalty called Edych
(Eadike), worth 10s., and with other herbages of
stubble worth 20s. more or less. There was also a salt
pit which then returned half a load (fn. 19) of salt yearly;
it used to yield more but had been almost entirely
destroyed by the sea (periit per mare). (fn. 20)
Of the customary tenants, Oky son of John held a
messuage and found a hen at Christmas and 10 eggs at
Easter. He would plough with 5 oxen 2 days in winter
and 2 days in Lent. He would go for seed to the lord's
granary in Tydd St. Giles, would sow and harrow what
he had ploughed, and would hoe for one day, receiving
the lord's food. Among other services he would dig
and embank about Wisbech Castle a portion in common with his mates (paribus), like the men of Wisbech.
He should go with the lord's bailiff to distrain whenever necessary, pay gersuma or fine on his daughter's
marriage, and the lord should have for relief at his
death 20s. at most. He was liable for service as beadle
or dike-reeve, if appointed. For every day that he
mowed he should have 2 loaves, 4 herrings or 5 eels,
or ¼d. worth of cheese. The other messuages were held
on similar terms. Ralph, son of Geoffrey del Wer, held
a cottage for which he had to collect hens or eggs in
Tydd St. Giles and carry them to (Wisbech) castle,
for which he was to have his food.
Tenants of virgates could and ought to reclaim land
towards the sea and marsh without increase of rent,
and if any man's land or messuage should be destroyed
by the sea, yet he must answer for his rent and customs.
Elgere, son of Lenmere, held a cottage at the rent of
11d., but nothing was then paid because it was destroyed by the sea. If any man could get a profit from
the messuages and lands which had been for a long
time drowned (presumably fen lands), the lord must
have his due. Other tenements are mentioned as being
destroyed by the sea. Sea wreck and royal fish, if found,
should belong to the bishop as lord, but the finder
should have 4d.
The whole yearly rental was £4 3s. 7d., with 24
hens at Christmas, 800 eggs at Easter, and boon days.
Richard del Mers (Marsh), Symon Bryd (atte
Bridge), and Richard de Fenna are names of significance. William de Stabulo is mentioned, but though
the lord in later times possessed a mill, rented at the
ancient rent of 8d., no reference is made to it in the
1251 inquisition except inferentially, e.g. the reference
to the lord's granary given above. Subsequently also
reference is made to a chapel in Eadike, rented at 6d.
This is doubtless the chapel near Tritton Bridge, by
the 13 acres called 'chapel land', and until recently
known as the Chapel Field, though the chapel has long
since disappeared. The bishop's, or Barton manor
appears to have been seized during the Civil War, for
in March 1650 Lawrence Bromfield levied a fine in
which Denis Taylor and Katherine his wife were deforciants, and in another fine of 1657 (fn. 21) John Thurloe,
Cromwell's Secretary of State, who had acquired other
episcopal property, including Wisbech Castle, was
plaintiff against Lawrence Bromfield and Sarah his
wife, over the manor of Tydd St. Giles, with the
rectory, all tithes, and the advowson of the church. At
the Restoration the manor reverted to the bishops of
Ely, who held it until it became vested in the Church
Commissioners.
The manor of HOCKHOLDS was held of the
Bishop of Ely, as above stated, by Stephen de Marisco
as a knight's fee, being described as 3½ virgates in 1251;
de Marisco obtained a grant of free warren there in
1268. (fn. 22) He was succeeded by his son Geoffrey, whose
daughter Desireé carried it in marriage to Roger Colveil
of Newton. (fn. 23) The ownership remained in this family
until John Colvile of Newton, fifth in descent from
Roger, died possessed of it and was succeeded by his
son Francis, who died in 1509 (fn. 24) without surviving
issue, whereupon the manor devolved upon Richard,
a younger son. Richard Colvile, who died in 1525,
appears to have disposed of the manor, (fn. 25) which eventually became vested in the old Lincolnshire family of
Welby.
The manor house belonging to this manor was
originally in the north-eastern corner of Horn Field, (fn. 26)
now called Willoughby's Corner, on a piece of land
containing 4 acres, where now stands a small farmhouse. It had evidently fallen into decay, for a new
manor house was erected by the Welby family on the
north side of Kirkgate, being the house now known as
the 'Manor House'.
It is probable that the manor was acquired by
Thomas Welby of Long Sutton, whose relict Agnes
(subsequently Agnes Deynes) and their eldest son
Richard Welby possessed it. The manor was settled in
1579 upon Agnes for life, with remainder to Richard
Welby and his heirs and remainder in default upon the
right heirs of Mary, relict of Henry Adams of Tydd
St. Mary, a daughter of Thomas and Agnes Welby. (fn. 27)
Richard Welby was probably the first occupant of
the new manor house, which is a handsome Elizabethan
building of red brick. On the east side a fleur-de-lis,
the Welby crest, is carved in a panel in the brickwork.
Originally the roof was thatched, and there were two
upper stories, but one was taken down in the latter part
of the 19th century by John Richard Tindall, the then
owner, who roofed it with slate as it now appears.
Richard Welby was living at Tydd St. Giles as early
as 1574, (fn. 28) and his children were baptized there, the
earliest in 1577. He married Audrey, daughter of
William Callow of Holbeach, who survived her husband. He died in 1584, having by his will dated
3 April in the same year made provision for his younger
children out of his other lands there. He was succeeded
at Tydd St. Giles by his eldest son John Welby, who
in 1601 married Jane, daughter of Sir Edward Osborne, Sheriff of London and Lord Mayor in 1583.
In 1613 Welby entered his pedigree at the College of
Heralds. (fn. 29) His elder children were baptized at Tydd
St. Giles, but he eventually removed to Lynn, where
from 1608 onwards his younger children were baptized. William, the second son, baptized in 1604, held
the manor, containing 3½ virgates, of the Bishop of Ely,
and sold it in 1629 to Thomasine Owfield or Oldfield,
widow, who in turn sold it to Simon Wood of London. (fn. 30) Considerable property at Tydd was held by
Richard Welby, younger brother of William, and according to a note in the parish terrier (fn. 31) 'Mr. Robert
Girling bought all R. Welby's land and sold it to Mr.
Wood'. Simon Wood (fn. 32) was a citizen and Merchant
Taylor and evidently a man of considerable means,
having apparently succeeded his father Robert Wood
in the ownership of the manors of Dunton Hall and
Tilney in Tydd St. Mary, though in 1643 he was at
pains to disclaim any idea of wealth. (fn. 33) If he ever lived
in the locality it would probably have been at Dunton
Hall, though in the manor house at Tydd St. Giles, in
a painted chamber window, was a shield bearing the
arms of Robert Wood, i.e. Wood and two other coats
quarterly, impaling the arms of Montague. From the
bottom of the shield issued eleven sprigs with an
escutcheon for each showing the differences for his
eleven children. (fn. 34)
Simon Wood appears as owner of the manor in
1636, when the quit-rents of Hockholds amounted to
about £2 per annum, and the rental due to him out of
the two manors of Hockholds and Rickards amounted
to £206 14s. His only daughter and heiress Margaret
Wood carried the properties on her marriage to John
Trafford of Low Leyton (Essex), descendant of a very
ancient family and a firm adherent of the Royalist cause.
He resided at Dunton Hall, where he died in 1666.
His second daughter and eventual coheir, Anne,
married Fisher Dilke of London, and their only
daughter, another Anne, married (1692) Clement
Boehm, a Director of the Bank of England, whose
son Sigismnnd assumed the surname of Trafford upon
succeeding to the estate. Sigismund Boehm Trafford
made considerable additions to the family property in
the Tydds, and rebuilt Dunton Hall at great expense.
A few years before his death in 1723 he, like the Welby
family, went to reside at Lynn. He was succeeded by
his nephew Clement Boehm, and the latter, who died
in 1741, by his son, another Clement, who was knighted
on the occasion of his carrying an address to the king
in 1761.
In 1759 Clement Trafford suffered a recovery upon
the manors of Hockholds and Rickards and other properties, which passed to him under the will of Sigismund Trafford, in order to vest the same in himself
absolutely, and part of it was then settled by him in
trust for his wife and their issue. Matrimonial difficulties arose, which led to the break-up of the establishment at Dunton Hall; the building was demolished,
and by deed dated 18 August 1779 the unsettled properties were conveyed to trustees upon trust for sale.
The greater part of the property was disposed of in
lots during the next few years, though some parts were
still unsold at Sir Clement's death in 1786.
Lady Trafford obtained a private Act of Parliament
in 1791 (fn. 35) authorizing her to use her maiden name of
Southwell alone. She died in 1809, and in 1812 the
settled property was sold for £49,800, in lots, but
although the two manors of Hockholds and Rickards
were included in the recovery of 1759, they do not
appear to have been separately disposed of subsequently, and must have lapsed. Included in the sales
of 1812 was the manor house with 90 acres of land,
purchased for £8,025 by Barnabas Coe of Terrington
St. Clement, who two years later re-sold to John Cartwright of Holbeach Marsh. It does not appear that
the latter ever lived in the house, and some years after
his death, which occurred in 1845, the property was sold
by his trustees to Richard Joseph Tindall, son of John
Tindall of Little Hale (Lines.), then resident at Tritton
manor, Tydd St. Mary. Like some of his predecessors
he spent the last years of his life at Lynn, dying there
in 1890, when the property passed to his elder son
J. R. Tindall, J.P. The latter died in 1946, leaving
the property in trust for his daughter Edith Mary,
the wife of Mr. A. H. Carter.
The manor of RICKARDS, like that of Hockholds,
was held of the Bishop of Ely, and in 1529 belonged
to William Depdale, citizen and painter-stainer of
London. He directed by will that his manor called
Ricards manor in Tydd St. Giles and his lands there
held by Richard Ogle, and his co-feoffees, who were
seised thereof to his use, should be sold and the money
divided among his children. (fn. 36) The following year
Thomas Tyd of Tydd St. Mary, yeoman, appears to
have been possessed of a moiety, for he directed by
will (fn. 37) that his feoffees should stand seised of a moiety
of a manor in Tydd St. Giles called Ryckards manor
and a messuage and 24 acres of land in Tydd Hern
formerly belonging to his father Thomas Tyd. In 1550
the manor was held by Richard and Thomas Tydde. (fn. 38)
By 1614 it had become vested in John Welby and
thereafter was held in similar fashion to Hockholds
(q.v.) until it lapsed. No trace of any manor house
exists, but the site was identified in the Tydd St. Giles
parish terrier, c. 1647, as being on 2 roods of land in
Newfield next Kirkgate on the north, and land of
William Watkinson on the east, being the property
now and for many years occupied by the village blacksmith's shop, and not much more than a hundred yards
from the site of Hockholds Manor.
In 1636 the quit-rents of the manor were given as
£1 17s.
DE LA LAUND'S MANOR
A manor was held by Sir
Thomas de la Laund of Gosberton (Lincs.) which, with many
other manors in Lincolnshire and
elsewhere, on the rebellion of Sir Thomas were forfeited
to the Crown. In 1471 it was granted by Edward IV
to his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, (fn. 39) and four
years later was regranted (probably in trust) to Queen
Elizabeth (Woodville), Richard (Beauchamp) Bishop
of Salisbury, and William Dudley, Dean of the Chapel
of the Household. (fn. 40) Richard Laund's heirs held property in Tydd St. Giles in 1435, (fn. 41) and a number of
parcels in Tydd St. Giles were held of 'Dallalands
Manor' (as the name came to be known in the passage
of time) but it is evident that the manor was actually
sited in Tydd St. Mary. On this point the will of
Henry Adams, esquire, of Tydd St. Mary (fn. 42) is decisive.
In it he devised to his son Robert Adam 'twelve acres
of pasture at Clements Cross being the scite of the
Manor of Dallalands'. Except that the 12 acres were
in Tydd St. Mary, the exact location has not been
established. In the reign of Henry VIII this manor
was in possession of Thomas Denton, who made settlements of it in 1535 (fn. 43) and 1538. (fn. 44)
Robert Adam after his father's death (c. 1586)
wasted his inheritance, and sold this manor to his kinsman William Welby. In 1629 it was settled by fine
by another William Welby; by this date it had acquired
the alternative title of DENTONS, and the manors of
Rickards and Hockholds were also included in this
settlement. (fn. 45) In the following year the same three
manors were acquired by Philip Culme and another
from Thomasine Owfield, widow, John Janson, esquire,
Joyce (Jocosum) Glover, clerk, Joseph Owfield, and
John Owfield, (fn. 46) who were acting as trustees for Welby
under the 1629 settlement. The ownership of this
manor ultimately became vested in Thomas Pell, from
whom it passed to his son Edmund, lord of the manor
of Littlebury in Tydd St. Mary, of which he was in
possession in 1677. (fn. 47)
References occur to another manor in Tydd St.
Giles, held by the Thimbleby family and subsequently
that of Cony, which may perhaps be identified with
Rickards or De la Launds. About 1540, (fn. 48) William
Walgrave, illegitimate son of Richard Thimbleby,
esquire, the grandson and heir of the said Richard, was
plaintiff in respect of lands at Tydd St. Giles set out to
him in lieu of an annuity charged on manors in the
two Tydds and elsewhere; and in 1558-9 Sir William
Cordell, Master of the Rolls, obtained this manor, with
that of Dunton Hall in Tydd St. Mary and other property in Lincolnshire, from various members of the
Thimbleby family for £1,080, (fn. 49) followed by another
fine of 1559 between the same parties (fn. 50) in which the
manors of Dunton (Tydd St. Mary), Tydd St. Mary,
and Tydd St. Giles are specifically mentioned. Ten years
later William Cony senior, esquire, bought the manor
from Sir William Cordell and Mary his wife. A third
of the area at this date was stated to be marshland. (fn. 51)
CHURCH
The advowson has always followed the
descent of the main manor, and has been
in the gift of the Bishop of Ely. The
earliest recorded rector is Nicholas de Houton, 1320.
The church, like most of those on the episcopal manors,
was never appropriated, and in the early Middle Ages
was a valuable one. It was assessed at £20 in 1217,
£33 13s. 4d. in 1254, and £42 in 1291. (fn. 52) At the last
date it was one of the richest in the Isle. In 1535,
however, the value was only £21 13s. (fn. 53)
The church of ST. GILES consists of clerestoried
nave, aisles, north porch, and detached south-east
tower. It is of early 13th-century origin, to which
period the chancel arch, nave arcades, and two lower
stages of the tower belong. The aisles were rebuilt in
the first half of the 14th century and the porch added,
and at the end of the 15th century the clerestory was
rebuilt and raised and another stage added to the tower.
The chancel, originally 50 ft. long by 20 ft. wide, was
completely destroyed in a gale in 1741. It was rebuilt
in a shortened form and debased style the following
year, but the 18th-century building was taken down
in the 19th-century restoration and not replaced. This
restoration was begun in 1868 by the rector, Canon
John Scott, under the direction of his brother, Sir
Gilbert Scott the architect. The whole church was refloored and re-seated, the nave re-roofed, screens provided for the vestries, and the musicians' gallery at the
west end taken down. The tower was strengthened in
1888, and the organ installed in place of a harmonium
about the same time.
The position of the tower, about 50 ft. to the southeast of the church, is probably due to the necessity of
obtaining a firm ground for the foundations. It may
be paralleled at Terrington St. Clement and West
Walton (Norf.), and Fleet and Long Sutton (Lincs.).
in the marshland. As at West Walton and Long Sutton,
and also at certain churches in the Isle, e.g. Littleport
and March, the tower rested on open arches which
have now been filled in.
The blocked chancel arch is two-centred and has
deep mouldings, while the responds have engaged shafts
and caps with early foliage. A modern window of three
lights has been inserted in the arch. There is a blocked
opening in the wall on either side of the arch. The
arcades consist of six bays with two-centred arches of
two orders and hood-moulds; the piers and caps are
round and the bases square; several of the caps have
stiff foliage and the west responds have three engaged
shafts and foliaged caps. The blocked upper doorway
of the rood stair exists in the north-east angle of the
arcade. On one of the piers is a 14th-century inscription reading 'Cest Piler Comencat Ricard le Prestre
Primer Preyez Pur Luy'. The westernmost bay is of
slightly later date than the rest, suggesting that there
was formerly a tower in the normal position, which was
replaced, when the present one was built, by an extra
bay to the nave.
The clerestory consists of cinquefoiled two-lights
under square heads. The blocked heads of the original
clerestory lights exist between the present windows and
at a lower level; they are plain lancets. The blocked
rood stair is in the south-east angle of the north aisle
and is corbelled out on the exterior. The large west
window of the nave is of mid-14th-century date and
has five lights with flowing tracery. It is flanked on the
outside by large 14th-century buttresses with three setoffs and a canopied niche on the face, with gabled tops
and angle pinnacles. The west ends of the aisles also
have angle pinnacles and crocketed coping, all of the
14th century. The west doorway has a wide ogee arch
with three niches above.
The east window of the north aisle is late 15th
century and of four main lights cinquefoiled, with eight
tracery lights, all under a square head. The first three
windows in the north wall are of three trefoiled lights
with mid-14th-century tracery; the remaining two
windows in this wall are also of the 14th century and
of two trefoiled lights with quatrefoils above. The west
window is a 15th-century insertion of three lights
cinquefoiled, with rectilinear tracery in the two-centred
head. There is a large pinnacle at the north-east angle.
Plan of St. Giles's Church
The south aisle has an east window of four lights
with rather clumsy 14th-century tracery. The east
portion of the south wall has been rebuilt in brick with
stone dressings, probably at the end of the 15th century,
and contains a contemporary window of three lights.
This portion of the aisle, now the vestry, was in the
Middle Ages used as a Lady Chapel (fn. 54) and contains a
piscina. The second, fourth, and fifth windows are
14th-century three-lights and the third a four-light,
with trefoiled heads and tracery of the period; the west
window is also of four lights and of the 14th century.
There is a niche with trefoiled head in the south wall.
The north porch has an outer arch of two orders
with moulded caps, and a two-light trefoil-headed
window on the east and west. The inner doorway has
continuous mouldings. The buttresses throughout the
building are almost entirely 14th century, of two setoffs with gabled tops. The north aisle has a plain
plastered lean-to roof which is probably 17th century;
the other roofs are modern and poor.
The font has a hexagonal bowl with the arms of
Ely, the emblems of the Passion, the shield of St.
George, an angel and two grotesque faces, representing
sloth and gluttony, growing out of leaves. The shaft
is traceried and the font stands on two stone risers. In
the modern screens in the east bays of the arcade are
some old tracery heads.
The detached tower is of three stages, the two lower
being of the 13th century and of stone, and the top
stage a late 15th-century addition in brick with stone
dressings. It stands on four two-centred arches of three
orders with moulded caps and bases, the east and south
being blocked with a brick filling when the tower was
raised. There are large and massive angle buttresses,
which are square below and semi-octagonal above. The
newel stair is contrived in the south-east buttress, which
was raised in brick and stone in the 15th century so as
to reach the top stage. There is a large 13th-century
window on all four sides in the second stage. Each is
of three uncusped lights now blocked with brick, with
a quatrefoil pierced in the solid head, the whole contained within a two-centred arch of two orders with
engaged shafts to the jambs-an early example of plate
tracery. The top stage has a window of two cinque
foiled lights on each face, and there is an embattled
parapet.
The most interesting sepulchral inscription remaining is a 13th-century cross slab of grey marble with an
inscription commemorating Sir John Fysuer. The
stone was originally at the east end of the nave, but
was moved to its present position behind the organ in
1868. According to John Layer, the antiquary (1585-
1640), there were formerly inscriptions in the stainedglass windows commemorating (i) Robert Michell,
rector, collated 1349 (east window), (ii) Thomas
Howson, who 'built two faire wyndowes', (iii) Simone
Howson, his wife, and John Howson, 1483, and
(iv) Henry at the Bridge and his wife ('in the fair
ancient window' in (?) north aisle). The following
coats of arms were apparently also displayed (i) argent,
a lion, over all a label of five points gules, (ii) or, two
bars gules, (iii) or, a chief, and (iv) or, on a fesse gules,
three roundels argent. (fn. 55)
The plate consists of a communion cup and cover
paten of silver, 1569, the latter inscribed on the foot
'FOR TED SENT GYLS 1570', and a paten and flagon both
of silver, dated 1869.
In 1552 there were three bells in the bell turret,
another bell on the ground, and the sanctus bell. (fn. 56) The
tower now contains six bells by Mears and Stainbank
of London, 1887, replacing a ring of five. The inscriptions on the latter were: treble, 'The gift of Sigismund
Trafford of Dunton Hall in Tidd St. Maries 1710.
Henry Penn Fusor', with the Trafford arms and crest;
2nd, 'Omnia fiant ad gloriam Dei. Abell Hodges,
Rector. Tobie Norris cast me, 1625'; 3rd, 'In aure
Dei non clamor sed amor cantat. Tobie Norris cast
me, 1625'; 4th, 'Coelorum Christe placeat tybe vox
sonus iste. Jesus spede us. Johannes Welbe generosus
et Clement Martin, Rector, 1603'; 5th, 'James Scribo,
Adam Cook, Churchwardens, 1726'. (fn. 57) The cost of the
sixth bell was met by public subscription.
The registers begin in 1559, with a gap from 1659
to 1689.
About 1865 Richard Young built a Church mission
house at Foul Anchor at his own expense. He stipulated in doing so that the work of restoration of the
parish church should be pressed forward with all convenient speed. The mission house was opened for use
in 1866. On Young's death (1871) the ownership
vested in his son the Revd. Belton Young, who several
years later handed it over to the ecclesiastical authorities.
It was closed for some years during the 20th century,
but in 1950 was reopened for its original purpose and
as a Sunday school.
GUILDS
There were three guilds at Tydd St.
Giles, those of Our Lady (founded in
1350), Holy Cross (1385), and St. Giles
(1386).
Our Lady's Guild was remarkable in that its membership was strictly limited to twelve brethren, and
every vacancy which occurred was to be promptly filled
up. It was founded by William Everswell, chaplain,
and Nicholas Clerk, who, wishing to do something for
the improvement of their lives and for the benefit of
their souls, and because they two alone were insufficient
to carry out the purpose in mind, founded a chaplaincy
and got others to join them. In 1535 the guild's properties were valued at £4 13s. 1d. (fn. 58) It possessed a hall
of its own, with a house for the chantry priest, and
certain lands. Two torches at festivals and one candle
before the image of St. Mary were provided by the
members. (fn. 59)
St. Giles' Guild maintained three candles at masses,
and subscriptions were paid in the form of one, or two,
bushels of barley. The members were required to
attend vespers on the vigil of the feast-day, high mass
on the day itself, and vespers following. All members
were obliged to attend the funerals of dead brethren
unless excused for illness or infirmity. The proctor was
to suffer the bellman to go round the town ringing his
bell, to make all men pray for the soul of the deceased,
and to summon all the guild members to mass, at which
each brother was to give 1d., and the brotherhood
1s. 8d. in bread to the poor. The brethren each paid
½d. in soul arms. (fn. 60)
The Guild of Holy Cross possessed its own chapel
at Sea Gate, at the Tydd Gote end of the village next
the outfall of the Shire Drain, where the members
were accustomed to meet. This guild did not possess a
hall. (fn. 61)
There was a further Guild of St. John Baptist, (fn. 62) in
respect of which no guild certificate exists. It is possible that the chapel at Tritton Bridge, previously
mentioned, belonged to this guild.
NONCONFORMITY
A congregation of Baptists
was established at Tydd St.
Giles by 1782. John Smith,
who kept the village shop in the house next the rectory
field, founded the chapel in Broadgate, adjoining a
house belonging to him, with an open-air baptistry for
immersion. Smith was ordained in 1795, and two
deacons were appointed at the same time. In 1796 the
congregation numbered 15. It had increased to 28 in
1800. In 1817 there were 65 Baptists at Tydd St.
Giles, Sutton St. James, and Fleet. Smith died in 1807,
and was buried beside his chapel. He was succeeded
by Mr. Pocklinton and James Smith. (fn. 63) In 1851 there
was a larger average attendance at the chapel than at
the parish church, where the rector was non-resident. (fn. 64)
The chapel was discontinued in 1922 and the building
sold.
Two Methodist chapels, Wesleyan and Primitive,
in the village and fen respectively, were established in
Tydd in the latter part of the 19th century. (fn. 65) They
are both still in use. (fn. 66)
SCHOOL
In 1789 Tydd St. Giles was one of the
sixty-eight parishes in the diocese without
a school. (fn. 67) Dr. Jobson, reporting on the
state of the schools in Wisbech hundred in 1814, (fn. 68)
stated that there were about 50 children of school age
in the parish, including many Dissenters. By this date
a school had been established in the workhouse, where
30 to 35 children learned their catechism under a
master who was allowed £12 a year by the parish.
Jobson mentioned the possibility of applying £70 a year
from charity lands to education, but nothing seems to
have been done until after the foundation of Marshalls'
charity.
In 1834 Thomas Marshall purchased 4 a. 2 r. 29 p.
to meet the cost of school fees for children of deserving
families. In 1837 this land was let in eleven allotments
at an average rent of 50s. an acre, to the sober and
industrious poor. On the establishment of the School
Board (1879) the charity became superfluous and was
wound up by J. T. Marshall, the settlor's son, who
had complete discretionary power for that purpose.
Thomas Marshall, although born deformed with only
one arm, by his diligence and industry amassed a considerable fortune. He attributed this largely to the
good start he got by attending school at Leverington,
and is said never to have missed the 5-mile daily journey
except in flood-time. In his childhood, early in the
19th century, the land was mostly in pasture and it was
possible to walk from Tydd to Leverington almost in
a straight line.
The school thus endowed was held in the south aisle
of the church. This was partitioned off and a door cut
in the west wall, an arrangement which lasted until the
restoration of the church in the 1860's. Soon after its
establishment there were 35 boys, all over 6 years of
age, receiving free education in reading, writing, and
arithmetic, besides 16 boys whose parents paid 5s. a
quarter for reading and 2s. a quarter extra for writing
and arithmetic. (fn. 69) The schoolmaster was Samuel Clarke;
the girls received their instruction from Mrs. Parker
in a cottage near the church, where the village post
office now is.
The first actual school building was erected opposite
the church in 1866 (fn. 70) at the instance of Canon John
Scott, the rector, who collected moneys for the purpose
and himself contributed £150; the National Society
made a grant of £70. (fn. 71) A. J. Burling was the last
master to teach in the church, and when the new school
was opened he and Mrs. Burling found themselves with
over a hundred children. He and his wife were still
teaching in 1899, when there were 140 places and an
average attendance of 110. (fn. 72) The school was originally
a Church school, but failure to raise the funds for its
necessary enlargement led to the compulsory formation
of a School Board in 1879, (fn. 73) to which the Church
authorities leased their school at a nominal rent. Early
in the 20th century the school was again enlarged by
the provision of a porch, and in 1927 a new head
teacher's house was built on a fresh site in Church
Lane, the old one being occupied by the school cleaner.
Six years later the senior children, 30 in number, were
transferred to the Colvile School at Newton, leaving
85 at Tydd. This number had decreased to 72 in
1949, when the school buildings were described as
obsolescent. (fn. 74)
The Brigstock and Wren's Charities' trustees, acting under a scheme
established by the Charity Commissioners in 1910, administer about 29 acres of land, with
3 cottages, in Tydd St. Giles, and about 12 acres in
Sutton St. Edmunds (Lines.). Wren's charity originated when the English fleet attacked the Dutch in Sole
Bay in 1672. One of the naval officers on board the
Royal Prince was Matthew Wren, son of the Bishop
of Ely, who had a presentiment that he would not
survive the engagement. He made his will on board
on 19 May 1672, in sight of the Dutch fleet and in
expectation of fighting with them in a few hours' time,
and thereby gave 15 acres in the Low Marsh for the
use of the poor of Tydd St. Giles, subject to a rent
charge. The 15 acres were let in 1835-7 to Robert
Mills at £29 yearly.
The Charity Commissioners of 1837 declared that
John Brigstock in 1667 had given the following lands
to 9 trustees for the poor of Tydd St. Giles: a messuage
and 3 roods in Sumer Leazure, the messuage in 1837
being used as the parish workhouse and very old and
in bad repair; a messuage and 1¼ acre in Gardyke; two
other parcels each of 1¼ acre in South Crofts and Carraway Fields; 2 acres in Low South Field; 2 acres in
Furlong and Spade Holme Fields; 2 acres in Low
Marsh; 2¼ acres in High Marsh. In point of fact none
of the property ever belonged to Brigstock; he was the
last surviving trustee of an older charity and the deed
was simply an appointment of new trustees for the continuation of the trust. It is difficult to establish the
origin of these charity lands, but (mainly with the aid
of the Tydd Terrier) it may be stated as follows. The
2 acres in Low South Field were given by Robert
Wilzey of Tydd St. Giles for providing, out of the
rent, a supply of coals for the poor. The lands in
Gardyke were purchased by the town from Coyton.
The 2 acres in Furlong and 1 acre in Great Broad East
were taken in exchange for the water mill. The land
in the Marsh was allotted to the trustees on the
inclosure of the marshes. The remaining lands are
described as 'Town Lands' and are of uncertain origin,
except that some of them were derived from one Coxon.
The income of all of them, so far as is known, has
always been, and now is, distributed to or for the
benefit of the poor. Certain odd portions of lands were
sold when the North Level Drain was cut in 1834, and
separated from the remainder, and the proceeds of the
sale were employed in the purchase of 12 acres at
Sutton St. Edmunds (Lines.), which are held upon
the same trusts.