CAXTON
[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2013
"CAXTON, a parish in the hundred of Longstow, in the county of Cambridge, 12
miles west of Cambridge, and 11 north of Royston railway station. It was
formerly a consider-able town on Ermine Street, belonging to the families
of Frevile, Burgoyne, D'Eschallers, and others, but is now a small
agricultural village. Up to the middle of the last century it had a market,
which was granted about the year 1247. It is still the head of a Poor-law
Union, and of a registration district, but is included in the New County
Court district of Cambridge. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of
Ely, value £80, in the patronage of the Dean and Canons of Windsor, to whom
the church was given in 1351, having belonged previously to the priory of
Lewes; it is dedicated to St. Andrew, and possesses some old tombs. The
Baptists have here a chapel, and there are National schools for both sexes.
Matthew Paris, the historian, was born here. George Gaps, Esq., is lord of
the manor. In this parish stands the workhouse of the Arrington and Caxton
Union. Fairs are held on 5th March and 18th October."
[Transcribed and edited information from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868]
- St. Andrew's Church, Caxton.
- "The church of St. Andrew is a building; of stone and flint, chiefly Early English,
but with portions in the Perpendicular style, and consists of chancel, nave, south
aisle, south porch and a low embattled western tower containing 6 bells, restored
and a new treble bell added in 1879, at a cost of about £400: the chancel retains
a piscina with Geometric tracery in the head, and a plain sedile: the nave is curiously
placed, being askew and on a higher level than the chancel, and is separated from
the aisle by an arcade of four very lofty arches, carried on clustered piers: there
are several memorials of the Barnard family, who had a seat at Caxton, and a memorial
window to John Augustus Wright, surgeon, of this parish, d. 1869: there were formerly
brasses to Sir John Myton, vicar, with effigy, 1479; John Cretyng, 1500, and Walter
Cretyng, 1483: the church was restored in 1874 and 1929: there are over 200 sittings.
The church of Caxton, which had belonged to the priory of Lewes, was in 1351 given
to the Dean and Canons of Windsor. Dowsing, the Puritan iconoclast, on coming here
removed "a cross on ye steeple and one on ye church, and 20 superstitious pictures."
The register dates from the year 1741."
- "There is a Baptist chapel, erected in 1842, with 250 sittings."
[Kelly's Directory- Cambridgeshire - 1929]
- Church of England
- Caxton, St. Andrew:
Records of baptisms 1741-1874, marriages 1741-1836, burials 1741-1961 and banns
for 1754-1812, 1831-77, 1887-1907, 1928-77 reside in the Cambridgeshire Archives.
The Bishop's Transcripts for the years 1599-1680, 1690-1852 can be found in the Cambridge
University Library. Indexed transcriptions of baptisms, marriages and burials for
the years 1599-1681, 1692-1851 reside in the Cambridgeshire Archives and these transcripts,
1599-1851, are available in full transcript form, on microfiche, from the
Cambridgeshire Family History Society Publications list (search)
- Wesleyan Methodist Church:
Records exist for the
St. Neots Wesleyan Circuit of which Caxton is part.
- Primitive Methodist Church:
Records exist for the
St. Neots Primitive Circuit of which Caxton is part.
- "Matthew Paris, the historian, probably connected with the Parish family of Hildersham
and born about 1195, is said to have been a native of this place. The Caxton Moats,
which originally formed a Roman fortification, are still of great interest. The kennels
of the Cambridgeshire Hounds are in this parish; the pack comprises 50 couples of
hounds, and hunts on Mondays. Tuesdays and Fridays, and occasionally on Saturdays;
Douglas Crossman esq. J.P. and George Ralph Cunliffe Foster esq. J.P. are joint masters;
Cambridge, Kimbolton, St. Neots, Huntingdon and Royston are convenient places for
visitors; Old North Road is the nearest railway station to the kennels. The town
formerly had a market, which was originally granted to Sir Baldwin de Freville in
the year 1247; it was then held on Monday, but the day was afterwards changed to
Tuesday, on which day it was held until the early part of the last century, since
which time it has become obsolete. William Nugent Walter Gape esq. who is lord of
the manor, William Arthur Briscos esq. J.P. Frank W. Hobson esq. and Job Wells Pentelow
esq. are the principal landowners."
[Kelly's Directory- Cambridgeshire - 1929]
- Records exist at the Cambridgeshire Archives for Caxton & Arrington Union Workhouse,
later the Public Assistance Institution, for births 1838-47, 1866-1928 and deaths
1914-30. The Caxton & Arrington Union Workhouse for the
1881 Census is listed here.
- Land Tax:
records were compiled afresh each year and contain the names of owners and occupiers
in each parish, but usually there is no address or place name. These records reside
in the Cambridgeshire Archives for the years 1798 (on microfilm), 1829-32 and 1946-48.
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