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Cambridgeshire

Nearby places

FEN DRAYTON

"FEN DRAYTON, a parish in the hundred of Papworth, in the county of Cambridge, 3 miles south-east of St. Ives. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely, value £100, in the patronage of Christ College, Cambridge, to which the impropriate tithes, amounting to £426 9s. 6d., belong. In 1838 an Act was passed for allotting and enclosing the common lands. Drayton House is the principal residence.

Cemeteries

• The Monumental Inscriptions in the graveyard of the church are recorded in the Cambridge Records Office and are available, on microfiche, from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Publications list (search)

Census

• The Census Records from 1841-1891 can be found in the Cambridgeshire Archives. In addition the 1851 Census for Fen Drayton is available in full transcript form, on microfiche, from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Publications list (search)

Churches

• Here are photographs of Churches etc. in the parish:
  • The Churchof St. Mary the Virgin, Fen Drayton.
• The following Churches have their own websites:
  • The Churchof St. Mary the Virgin, Fen Drayton

Church History

• "The church is a small edifice of stone in various styles, from the Early English to the Perpendicular, and consists of chancel, nave, south aisle, north and south porches and a western tower with spire containing one bell , there is a memorial window, erected in 1901, to the late Rev. Frederick Shaw M.A. vicar here 1850-90, and to his wife: the church was restored in 1855 and the nave end south aisle were refloored and reseated in 1906 : there are 220 sittings. The register of baptisms dates from 1575: marriages, 1580; burials, 1574. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £200, with residence, in the gift of Christ's College, Cambridge, and held since 1927 by the Rev. Leonard Byam Sewood Abbott A.K.C. who resides at Conington. The Wesleyan chapel, erected in 1866, at a cost of £1,035, is of white and red dressed bricks in the Gothic style, and has a turret: the windows are partly stained, and there are 240 sittings. The proceeds of 22 acres of land are applied to parish purposes. In the village is an obelisk of stone, erected in 1920, as a memorial to the men of this parish who fell in the Great War, 1914-18."
  [Kelly's Directory - Cambridgeshire - 1929]

Church Records

• Church of England
  • Fen Drayton: Records of baptisms 1576-1865, marriages 1580-91, 1603-67, 1682-1835, burials 1573-1630, 1653-1912 and banns 1754-1816 reside in the Cambridgeshire Archives. Indexed transcripts for marriages 1580-1837 and a full baptism, marriage and burial index to 1916, including cross-references to other parish registers, also reside in the Cambridgeshire Archives. The Bishop's Transcripts for the years 1599-1665, 1675-84, 1712-58, 1770-76 and 1786-1861 are to be found in the Cambridge University Library.
• Methodist
  • Wesleyan Methodist Church: Records exist for the Wesleyan Methodist Church baptisms 1866-1967 at the Huntingdon Record Office with photocopies at the Cambridgeshire Archives.

Gazetteers

• A transcript of the FenDrayton parish entries from Samuel Lewis's 1835 Topographical Dictionary of England,
• A transcript of the FenDrayton parish entries from 1929 Kellys Directory of Cambridgeshire

Military History

• The Fen Drayton War Memorial has been transcribed and researched.

Taxation

• 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 1789, 1798 (on microfilm), 1829-38 and 1880-1948.