Churches
The two parish which
existed in Histon until the early 17th century
were evidently founded on the demesne and the
tenanted parts of the episcopal manor. They
were distinguished by their dedications to St.
Etheldreda and St. Andrew respectively in the
early 13th century. (fn. 28) The lands tithable to each
church in the Middle Ages lay interspersed in
every furlong in the township, (fn. 29) though, unlike
similar cases in East Anglia, (fn. 30) the two
did not share a single churchyard.
In the late 12th century a clerical family
controlled one or both : Peter the dean
of Histon, first referred to c. 1160, (fn. 31) witnessed
a document dated 1177 × 1189 in the company
of his brothers Brice, parson of the church of
Histon, and Simon the priest of Histon. (fn. 32) By
1202, and possibly by c. 1193, Brice had succeeded Peter as dean. (fn. 33) No trace of a collegiate
character has been found for either church, and
it is likely either that Peter and Brice were rural
deans or that the senior incumbent of the two
was called dean. (fn. 34)
The advowson of the rectory of St. Etheldreda's belonged to Eynsham abbey until the
church was appropriated in 1268, (fn. 35) the abbot
thereafter being patron of the vicarage. He presented regularly in the 14th and 15th centuries, (fn. 36)
though the bishop of Ely once appointed by
lapse, probably in 1454. (fn. 37) The Crown presented
in 1539 (fn. 38) and the presentation afterwards descended with the impropriate rectory and manor
of Histon Eynsham. (fn. 39) Sir James Dyer was said
to be patron in 1561 and 1569 after he had
probably ceased to hold the manor, but the lord
of the manor, Sir Francis Hinde, presented in
1570. (fn. 40) The patronage remained with the Hinde
family as long as they held the manor, though
the Crown presented after an incumbent was
deprived in 1579 and the bishop of Ely collated
by lapse in 1607. (fn. 41) By then St. Etheldreda's
church had been demolished and the two livings
effectively united; the advowsons were in the
same ownership by 1626. (fn. 42)
The advowson of the rectory of St. Andrew's
church belonged to the lords of the manor later
called Histon St. Andrew, the first recorded
presentation being by Henry de Colville in
1344. (fn. 43) Although he was not then lord of the
manor, the advowson had presumably come to
him from his brother Philip (d. c. 1311) and his
mother Emma, like the manor of Colvilles in
Long Stanton. (fn. 44) Feoffees for the Colville family
presented in 1352 and for the Thorpe family
between 1377 and 1399, (fn. 45) the last time after the
sale of the advowson with the manor in 1391 to
Denny abbey. (fn. 46) Denny appropriated the rectory
in 1416 (fn. 47) and afterwards presented vicars. (fn. 48) After
the Dissolution the patronage remained with
the lords of the manor, (fn. 49) coming eventually to
William Bowyer, who held the advowsons of
both vicarages by 1626, (fn. 50) when he conveyed
them with the impropriate rectories to George
Coke. (fn. 51) The latter soon afterwards gave them to
his son Thomas, (fn. 52) who sold the estate in 1655.
Sir Thomas Willys, Bt., who acquired it in
1658, (fn. 53) presented in 1695, (fn. 54) and the advowson
evidently passed on his death in 1701 to his
grandson John Willys (d. 1729), (fn. 55) who was
patron in 1728. (fn. 56) John's cousin and devisee, Sir
William Willys, Bt., separated the advowson
from the landed estate, devising it by will proved
1732 to his nephew Thomas Michell. (fn. 57) Robert
Michell was patron by 1775 (fn. 58) and remained so
until 1807 or later, though he apparently sold a
turn, exercised in 1785, to J. R. Sproule the
elder. Mrs. E. Michell and others were patrons
in 1821, when they conveyed the advowson to
the newly appointed vicar, the Revd. T. P.
Michell, who retained it to 1865. (fn. 59) The Revd.
C. W. Underwood, who bought it in that year,
sold it in 1894 to William Peed of Histon Manor.
In 1897 it was bought by the Revd. W. C.
Chapman. He sold it in 1910 to E. H. Darlington,
whose widow Mrs. E. Darlington conveyed it in
1916 to the Church of England Trust Society,
which merged with the Martyrs' Memorial
Patronage Trust in 1922 and retained the patronage in 1986. (fn. 60)
The abbot of Eynsham was granted the right
c. 1190 to take an annual pension of 4 marks,
confirmed in 1250 and 1262, from his church of
St. Etheldreda. (fn. 61) In 1251 the abbot obtained the
tithes of hay in an exchange with the rector, (fn. 62)
and in 1268 the church was appropriated to the
abbey and a vicarage was established. The vicar
was to have the altar gifts, the lands of the
church, all the tithes apart from those on corn,
and a pension of 2 marks a year from the abbey. (fn. 63)
The arrangement later lapsed, since in 1454 the
vicar's portion was said to be insufficient and
the abbot was ordered to augment it. In the
following year it was agreed that the vicar should
retain 24 a. of glebe and receive an annual stipend
of £8 and the tithes of hay. All other tithes
remained with the abbot. (fn. 64) The stipend was still
being paid by Eynsham in 1539, (fn. 65) and remained
a charge on the lay rector in 1986. (fn. 66)
Before appropriation St. Etheldreda's church,
assessed at 20 marks in the early 13th century,
was more valuable than St. Andrew's, which at
10 marks was then the second lowest in the
deanery. (fn. 67) The poverty of St. Andrew's was
largely due to the fact that Barnwell priory had
been given two thirds of the demesne tithes of
St. Andrew's manor by Picot the sheriff c. 1092. (fn. 68)
A protracted attempt by the rector, Ralph of
Cropredy, to recover all the tithes apparently
ended in failure, (fn. 69) but by 1254 the prior of
Barnwell enjoyed only a pension of 2 marks. By
then, despite a second pension of 2 marks held
by the alien priory of Hough (Lincs.), which
was not recorded later, St. Andrew's had risen
proportionately in value, being worth 16 marks
to St. Etheldreda's 20 marks. In 1291 the assessments were 26 marks and 30 marks respectively. (fn. 70) Barnwell's pension remained payable
from the rectory until the Dissolution. (fn. 71) The
vicarages that were established were much less
valuable, St. Etheldreda's being worth £4 6s.
8d. in 1291. (fn. 72) In the 15th century neither exceeded £8 (fn. 73) and in 1535 St. Etheldreda's was
valued at £7 16s. 2d. and St. Andrew's at £6 7s.
4d. (fn. 74)
The combined vicarage was worth £55 a year
in 1650, (fn. 75) and £70 in 1728. (fn. 76) It was augmented
with an endowment of £200 from Queen Anne's
Bounty in 1767. (fn. 77) The glebe included land in
both Histon and Impington. In the early 17th
century 48 a., including the churchyard and
closes in the village, was attached to the vicarage
of St. Andrew's, and 17 1/2; a. of open-field land to
that of St. Etheldreda's. (fn. 78) The vicar received
most of the small tithes of Histon, except for a
small part of those in St. Etheldreda's parish
which went to the impropriator, and in addition
had part of the small tithes of Impington intercommon furlong and all the hay tithes and part
of the small tithes of the land in Impington
which was held of the Histon manors. (fn. 79) At
inclosure in 1806 the vicarage was allotted 109 a.
for tithes and 101 a. for glebe, in the north part
of Histon parish. (fn. 80) The gross income from letting
the land was £400 in 1851, rising to £580 in 1873
and falling during the agricultural depression to
£250 in 1897. (fn. 81) The land was sold in 1921-2. (fn. 82)
Under the terms of the appropriation in 1268,
the rectory house of St. Etheldreda's was assigned to the monks of Eynsham, who were to
build a vicarage house in oak on the east side of
the churchyard, comprising a hall at least 26 ft.
by 22 ft. with a pantry at one end and a chamber
and garderobe at the other, and a kitchen, bread
oven, and malthouse under a separate roof. (fn. 83) In
1455 the abbot was ordered to build a new
vicarage house. (fn. 84) Nothing is known of it later.
St. Andrew's vicarage house was mentioned
in 1392, when the incumbent was extending it. (fn. 85)
In 1580 it was in great decay, (fn. 86) but it was
presumably that house, by St. Andrew's church,
which was occupied by the vicars of the united
living in the 17th century and later. In 1662 it
had four hearths. (fn. 87) It was in good repair in the
late 18th century and the early 19th, and in 1836,
though too small for the vicar's family, was being
used by the curate. (fn. 88) A new vicarage house was
put up c. 1865 and sold in 1983. (fn. 89)
Between 1272 and 1284 Philip de Colville
endowed a chantry at the altar of St. Mary in
St. Andrew's church with a house and 34 a. of
land, mostly in Histon. (fn. 90) The patronage was
attached to the manor and passed to Denny
abbey in 1392. In 1395 Sir William Thorpe's
feoffees added 26 a. and rents in Pinchbeck and
Spalding (Lincs.). (fn. 91) By c. 1443, however, the
income was so diminished that no chaplain was
willing to serve, and in 1453, by papal licence,
Denny appropriated the revenues and arranged
that all but 10 masses a year should be said in
the abbey church. (fn. 92) Chantry priests appointed
by the lords of Histon St. Andrew continued to
serve (fn. 93) until the chantry was suppressed in
1552. (fn. 94) Its endowments then amounted to 30 a.
A further 11 a. given to support other services
in the church were also sold in that year. (fn. 95)
In the 1520s there were three guilds in the
village, dedicated to the Purification, All Saints,
and St. Catherine. The last attracted bequests
from parishioners of both. (fn. 96)
The vicarages of St. Andrew's and St. Etheldreda's were united in 1588 after the inhabitants
petitioned the archbishop of Canterbury during
a vacancy in the see of Ely. (fn. 97) When the last vicar
of St. Etheldreda's died or resigned in 1607, (fn. 98)
the vicar of St. Andrew's was appointed. (fn. 99) The
legality of the union was doubtful under the
Union of Act, 1545, (fn. 1) and it was called
a pretended union in 1638. (fn. 2) It endured, however,
if only because St. Etheldreda's was partly demolished c. 1599 and not replaced. (fn. 3) The two
parishes, which at first remained separate, with
their own churchwardens, (fn. 4) were recommended
for union in 1650, (fn. 5) but St. Etheldreda's still had
its own churchwardens and sidesmen in 1664. (fn. 6)
By 1675 one churchwarden was appointed for
each parish, (fn. 7) and although in 1695 separate
presentations were formally made of the same
man to the two livings, by 1728 the de facto union
of the parishes and benefices was recognized. (fn. 8)
In the mid 13th century both livings were
wealthy enough to attract graduates, including
Ralph of Cropredy, of St. Andrew's, who was
for a time absent in Rome as chaplain to a
cardinal. (fn. 9) In contrast, the vicarage of St. Etheldreda's after appropriation in 1268 provided
only a small income. Four successive vicars
between 1390 and 1410 exchanged the benefice
within five years of being presented. (fn. 10) Rectors
of St. Andrew's in the 1380s and 1390s left as
quickly despite the greater value of the living, (fn. 11)
and as many as 13 vicars are known between
1416 and the Reformation. (fn. 12) In the same period
only five vicars of St. Etheldreda's have been
identified, (fn. 13) though only William Vale, who
probably resided for 32 years until his death and
burial in the chancel in 1492, is known to have
been long serving. (fn. 14) The attractions of the two
livings as permanent positions remained slight
after the Reformation, St. Etheldreda's having
seven vicars from 1539 to 1583. (fn. 15) Denny's last
nominee at St. Andrew's, a prominent university
man, (fn. 16) was succeeded by a non-graduate not
licensed to preach, who remained vicar until
1561 or later. (fn. 17) The vicar of St. Etheldreda's
from 1583 was a puritan from St. John's College
who consistently refused to conform to the
Elizabethan settlement. (fn. 18) His obduracy may
have been a reason for allowing the union of the
vicarages and the demolition of St. Etheldreda's
church.
The united living was badly served by its
second vicar, John Slegg, who absented himself
after killing a man at Chesterton and failed to
provide a curate; the vicarage was evidently
sequestered in 1638. (fn. 19) In contrast, Slegg's successor John Ashley was devoted to Histon and
survived the Interregnum by attending the Presbyterian classis in Cambridge in the 1650s. He
died as vicar in 1694. (fn. 20) Thomas Scaife (d. 1725)
and his son John (d. 1775) held the living for 80
years between them and both probably served
in person. (fn. 21) Histon's low value nevertheless
remained a problem: the younger Scaife also
held two Berkshire livings and the curacy of
Cottenham, (fn. 22) and sequestrators were recorded
in 1782 and 1801. (fn. 23) A curate was licensed for
Histon and Impington together in 1815, (fn. 24) and
others served during much of the incumbencies
of T. P. Michell, 1821-56, and his son T. H.
Michell, 1856-65. (fn. 25) Vicars usually resided from
the time of C. W. Underwood, 1865-99. (fn. 26)
The two Sunday services and one sermon a
week recorded in 1728 evidently remained the
norm for over a century. Communion was given
three, later four, times a year in the 18th century
and the early 19th, and there were usually said
to be c. 30 communicants, a higher proportion
than in neighbouring fen-edge villages. (fn. 27) It was
probably only under Underwood that services
became more frequent. In 1873 he held monthly
communions and two full services on Sundays,
and also preached on weekdays in Advent and
Lent; and in 1895 he was experimenting with
fortnightly communion at 8 a.m. The increased
provision at first met a need in the growing
village: Underwood had c. 60 communicants
in the parish in 1873, and he reported his
congregations as sometimes overflowing the
church. He estimated that two thirds of the
population of c. 1,000 were church people and
claimed that many dissenters also attended. Already by 1873, however, there had been a decline
in the number of communicants, and attendance
fell away as the village's social and occupational
character changed. In 1885 Underwood thought
that only one third of his parishioners came to
church, with as many or more neglecting all
worship, (fn. 28) and by 1897 the fortnightly communion had been dropped. (fn. 29)
It was perhaps to counter the irreligion reported in 1885 that vicars and nonconformist
ministers in Histon began to co-operate. The
joint prayer meetings held c. 1907 were then
described as part of a long local tradition, (fn. 30) and
continued at intervals until c. 1920. (fn. 31)
The church of ST. ANDREW, so dedicated
by 1217, (fn. 32) comprises chancel, north and south
transepts, central tower, and aisled and clerestoried nave with south porch, and is built mostly of
field stones with ashlar dressings. The cruciform
plan probably derives from a smaller 12thcentury church in scale with the existing tower;
12th-century fragments survive in the north
transept and the west wall, most of them placed
there during 19th-century restorations. The
transepts were extensively remodelled in the mid
or late 13th century, with lavish ornamentation,
though the tall blank arcading of the upper
parts of the internal walls probably remained
incomplete. The chancel was presumably remodelled at the same time, but little or no
evidence survived later alterations. Much of
the 13th-century work, particularly the double
piscina in each transept and the stepped sedilia
in the chancel, resembled that at St. Radegund's
priory, Cambridge (afterwards the chapel of
Jesus College). (fn. 33)
The lower part of the tower was rebuilt c.
1300 and its upper parts in the early 14th
century. The north aisle was evidently added
when the chancel was remodelled in the 13th
century, the date of the arch between that aisle
and the north transept; the south aisle existed
by the 14th century, when the porch was built.
Both arcades, however, were rebuilt in the late
14th century, with the addition of the clerestory,
and new windows were inserted in the aisle walls
in the 15th. Also in the 15th century the eastern
lancets of the north transept were replaced with
new tracery under the existing internal arches,
and completely new windows were inserted in
the north and south walls of both transepts.
The chancel was said to be in decay in 1564
and in great decay in 1579; (fn. 34) its eastern bay was
taken down probably shortly afterwards and
replaced by a brick east wall with a wooden
window. The new wall cut off the existing
chancel north door, and a south door was made
instead. (fn. 35) The rebuilt chancel remained in a poor
condition in the 17th and 18th centuries, its east
wall the object of frequent complaint. (fn. 36)
The north transept, used as a school in 1836,
had been partitioned off as a vestry by 1843, (fn. 37)
while the south transept was used for burials of
the Archer and Sumpter families, (fn. 38) lords of
Histon manor. The whole church was said in
1843 to be pervaded by 'an air of dank, neglected
decay'. (fn. 39) The nave and aisles were restored
between 1858 and 1861 by F. W. Bodley, who
replaced the clerestory windows in a 13th-century style and inserted geometrical tracery in
the west window. Restoration of the transepts,
crossing, and chancel was undertaken from 1871
to 1875 by Sir G. G. Scott. (fn. 40) Scott treated the
transepts gently but the chancel was heavily
restored. He rebuilt the east bay in its original
position, (fn. 41) incorporating stonework recovered
from Madingley Hall in 1874, which was presumed to have been taken there from the demolished St. Etheldreda's. (fn. 42) A small vestry had been
added by 1919. (fn. 43)
The medieval rood screen survived intact to
1745, (fn. 44) but its decayed remains were removed
in 1875. (fn. 45) A west gallery, recorded in 1745, had
perhaps been built in 1728. (fn. 46) It remained until
the restoration of the nave. In the 1890s the
vicar, C. W. Underwood, gave a new pulpit,
prayer desk, font, and glass for the chancel
windows, all but the font made to his own
designs. (fn. 47) There were three steeple bells and
a sanctus in 1552, (fn. 48) one of which survived in
1745, when the peal was of five. They were
recast in 1866 and a sixth was added in 1873; (fn. 49)
the six were recast and two more added in
1966. (fn. 50)
The churchwardens held land for the repair
of the church by 1708. After inclosure it
amounted to 11 a. in Histon and 19 a. in Chesterton. The annual income rose steadily from £12 in
1728 to £43 in 1851. The land was sold in 1919. (fn. 51)
The registers of baptisms cover 1658-61 and
1665-74, (fn. 52) and are complete from 1684; those of
burials and marriages are complete from 1653. (fn. 53)
Bishop's transcripts survive from 1599 with
several gaps. (fn. 54)
The church of ST. ETHELDREDA, which
had that dedication by 1217, (fn. 55) stood 200 m.
WNW. of St. Andrew's, where earthworks surviving in 1986 marked its site. (fn. 56) It had a nave,
chancel, and tower. A chapel of St. Nicholas in
the church was mentioned in 1549. The church
was said in 1588 to have been dilapidated for
many years and to be almost in ruins. (fn. 57) At least
the nave was demolished shortly before 1599,
allegedly by Sir Francis Hinde (d. 1596), (fn. 58) and
in 1638 inquiries were made about the cost of
building a new church. (fn. 59) In 1728, however, the
chancel was implied to be still standing, though
in poor repair, (fn. 60) and in 1745 the church was said
to have stood within living memory, though by
then it had been completely removed. (fn. 61) Materials
from the church, including lead, timber, and the
bells, were said to have been sold by Sir Francis
Hinde or used by him in building at Madingley
Hall. (fn. 62) The churchyard of St. Etheldreda's survived c. 1757, (fn. 63) and was afterwards taken into
Abbey farm.