WITCHAM
Witcham is a parish and village in the Isle, 5 miles
west of Ely. The village stands on a hill and has a
picturesque appearance from the Ely road, its houses
grouped around the church with its low and massive
tower. It was formerly situated on a by-road in the
centre of its open fields, and provided a text-book
example of the nucleated village settlement typical of
the East Midlands. The construction of a satellite
airfield at Sutton during the Second World War, in
connexion with Witchford aerodrome, has, however,
somewhat altered the layout. This airfield blocks the
former high road to Chatteris, so that traffic now passes
through Witcham village, along the road from the
Horse and Gate cross-roads to Mepal. During the
Second World War also, a hutted camp was built along
the north side of the Sutton road. The camp was later
used as a Polish Resettlement Centre and as a Women's
Land Army hostel.
The men of Witcham formerly enjoyed common
rights in the fens to the north (see Welches Dam).
This fact gave the parish a confused boundary, which
was considerably altered in the past century. In 1806
it was reported that Witcham and Coveney were
separated by 'an ancient Ditch or Dike called the Division Dike', maintained by the occupiers of land on the
Coveney side. The bounds of Witcham had last been
perambulated about 1750. (fn. 1) In 1885 detached parts of
Witcham were transferred to Coveney, Manea, and
Mepal, and detached parts of Ely St. Mary, Ely
Trinity, and Witchford were transferred to Witcham.
This still left one part of Witcham parish, 124 acres
in extent, detached. This fragment was joined to the
main portion in 1933 (fn. 2) when the intervening parish of
Witcham Gravel, formed in 1896 by County Council
order, was thrown into Witcham.
The fields of Witcham as specified in a 13th-century
grant to Ely priory were north, east, and south fields,
Shakelond and le Slade. (fn. 3) In course of time other fields
are named. Burnt Hill in the north-east of the parish
occurs as 'Burnewrthehil' in 1215-19. (fn. 4) It gave its
name in the 16th century to Burn Hill Field. (fn. 5) The
Market Way, now a by-road leading east from the
village towards Ely, also occurs in 1215-19. (fn. 6) It gave
its name to Market Way Field, which with Burn Hill
Field is mentioned in the Parliamentary Survey of
1649. (fn. 7) In 1353 the men of Witcham bound themselves not to claim rights of common in Heathcroft, (fn. 8)
now an unidentified area.
In 1649 the demesne included 45 and 55 acres
respectively in Burn Hill and Market Way Fields; also
40 acres of pasture at Swarm Haugh Closes in the
south-east corner of the parish by Wentworth crossroads, and four closes comprising 15¼ acres near the
site of the manor house. (fn. 9)
The final inclosure took place under an Act of
1838. (fn. 10) The award mentions Market Way Field south
of the village and Burn Hill Field on the east of the
parish, together with Wardy Way and West Fields
north and west of the village and Littlebury Field
between the village and Burn Hill Field. Wardy Way,
now represented by Wardy Hill Road, first occurs in
1311. (fn. 11)
An area of 1,032 acres (excluding roads, drains, &c.)
was inclosed and divided amongst 74 proprietors. The
principal allottees were the Dean and Chapter of Ely
who received 157 acres. These were divided amongst
3 lessees, of whom William Saberton obtained the
largest share. Robert Poole received an allotment of
114 acres and Thomas Saberton 78 acres in his own
right and 2½ acres jointly with Elizabeth his wife. (fn. 12)
Witcham possesses several interesting secular buildings. These include the Hall, an 18th-century building,
'gothicized' early in the 19th century, with casement
windows and an embattled parapet. It has a gateway
and barn. A farm-house 150 yards west-south-west of
the Hall is probably of the late 16th century, with some
mullioned and stone-framed windows.
MANOR
The date at which WITCHAM was
given to the church of Ely is not known.
The Domesday commissioners found, however, that it had always formed part of the demesne of
the church. When given and in 1086 it was worth £5.
In 1066 it had been valued at £7. This reduction in
value was due no doubt, here as elsewhere in the Isle,
to Hereward's rebellion. In 1086 it was assessed at
4 hides 1 virgate. Two hides were in demesne, with
2 ploughs and enough land for another. There were
12 sokemen with 2 hides less 1 virgate, who could not
grant away their land without the abbot's permission,
2 villeins with 10 acres and 2 bordars with 5 acres each.
These 16 men had 4 ploughs. There were also 4
cottars and 5 serfs. (fn. 13)
Witcham remained with the convent after the formation of the see in 1109, and experienced the uneventful
history of such villages. The only landmarks in its
history are the usual ones in Ely conventual manors-
the grant of free warren to the prior in 1252, (fn. 14) its
confirmation together with that of other manorial perquisites in 1417, (fn. 15) and the formal transfer to the dean
and chapter in 1541. (fn. 16) In 1302-3 Thomas de Lenne
is stated to have held 1/12 fee in Witcham of the Bishop
of Ely. (fn. 17) The bishop was lord presumably in his capacity of titular head of the convent, for there is no other
evidence of episcopal interests in Witcham. The same
fraction of a fee was held by de Lenne's successors,
Hervey Pelet and Thomas Laushille, in 1346. (fn. 18)
The convent seem to have kept the manor in hand
all through the Middle Ages, and many grants to them
in frank almoin of property in Witcham are recorded
in documents in the Dean and Chapter muniment
room at Ely. (fn. 19) Most of them are quite small in amount.
In 1343 Edward Chesewyk granted 4 acres in return
for half a gallon of convent ale daily. (fn. 20) More important
grants, for which licences to acquire in mortmain have
been preserved, were made in 1314 and 1364. (fn. 21) The
former, comprising 7 messuages, 163 acres of land and
19 of meadow, and 21s. of rent, in Witcham and Ely,
came from Geoffrey de Fresyngfeld, a relative of the
then prior. In 1371 it was stated that the convent had
recently acquired three parcels of land, 'Crispestenements', 'Fotestenements', and 'Huythecroft', value £1
annually, without licence. (fn. 22)
Witcham was not, however, a very valuable manor.
In 1291 it was assessed at £27 13s. 10¼d., (fn. 23) a figure
slightly below that for Wentworth. The 'Long Roll'
of 1324-5 (fn. 24) shows a demesne of 2 carucates, producing
£23 19s. 3½d. Expenses in that year amounted to
£21 14s. 3½d. As at Witchford there was considerable
trade in wool and fells, 85 skins being sold. A mid14th-century extent (fn. 25) shows a total value of only
£11 7s. 8d., including a mill worth £2. The manorial
dovecote needed repairs to the value of £2 6s. Later
accounts show in some cases rather higher figures.
Total receipts in 1367 were £23 10s. 11d., including
1s. 4d. (with 3s. 4d. in arrears) from a small fishery at
'Pylgrymesee', (fn. 26) and in 1452 £17 11s. 2d. (fn. 27) On the
other hand certain ministers' accounts at the Public
Record Office, whose detachment from the Ely series
has not been accounted for, return £9 16s. (1429),
£5 17s. (1435), £8 3s. 4d. (1437 and 1466). (fn. 28) A roll
of 1527-8 (fn. 29) shows receipts of £13 19s. 10½d., the
lowest sum received from any of the convent's Cambridgeshire manors except Mepal and Wisbech Murrow. In 1541, when taken over by the dean and
chapter, the net receipts were £12 16s. excluding the
rectory. (fn. 30) Out of this were allowed 1s. 6d. as contribution to Aldreth causeway, £1 for bailiff's fees, and
£2 13s. 4d. pension to a former vicar. The manor
house was let to William Gibson for £5 6s. 8d. a year.
The Parliamentary Survey of 1649 (fn. 31) shows that the
manor house had been pulled down: its site was a 4acre close of pasture with a 'great barne' of timber,
thatched. The fines were arbitrary, but usually paid
on a yearly valuation. The tenants had the right to fell
timber, and courts leet and baron were held. The
yearly value was stated at £11 6s. 4½d. The £5 6s. 8d.
yearly rent for the site of the manor was resumed in
1661, when Michael Holman of Chatteris (q.v.) had
a 21-year lease. From the early 18th century the
Wright family were tenants at the same rent. The
manorial estate then comprised 67 acres of arable, 60 of
pasture, and 10½ of old inclosure (including meadow).
An area of 191 acres in Byal and Widden Fens was let
to the same tenants at the additional rent of £3 5s. 6d.
The fines for renewal were £45 in 1710 and 1717
and £60 in 1724. (fn. 32) The size of the estate was much
reduced during the 18th century, terriers of 1745 and
1766 showing only 45 acres apart from the site of the
manor house. (fn. 33) In 1785 Richard Wright, the then
lessee of the manor, was drawing £123 7s. 6d. a year
in rents from his sub-tenants. (fn. 34) Subsequent lessees
include Mrs. Elizabeth Martin (1851) (fn. 35) and William
Saberton (1863). (fn. 36) The latter, a member of a family
still represented in the district, was a prominent farmer.
The Church Commissioners, representing the Dean
and Chapter of Ely, retain the lordship. (fn. 37)
CHURCH
The church has always been in the gift
of the Prior and Convent or Dean and
Chapter of Ely. Its value was £10 in 1217
and £13 6s. 8d. in 1254. (fn. 38) It was given by one of the
early bishops of Ely to the chamberlain to provide
clothing for the monks, an arrangement confirmed by
Bishop Northwold, who instituted a vicarage probably
just before his death in 1254. (fn. 39) The appropriation was
confirmed by Bishop Balsham in 1276. (fn. 40) In 1291 the
rectory was returned at £13 6s. 8d. and the vicarage
at £4 13s. 4d. (fn. 41) In 1535 the value of the vicarage had
risen to £8 10s. 11d.: (fn. 42) the rectory was not separated
from the other spiritualities of the convent but seems
to have decreased in value, as it was let six years later
to Nicholas Kyme for £7 10s. only. (fn. 43) A long series of
beneficial leases of the rectory, at £5 18s. with 4
quarters of wheat, exists at Ely. (fn. 44) The first recorded
lessee is John Thorogood, who was succeeded in 1618
by John Millett of Barley (Herts.). After the Restoration the lessees changed frequently until 1696.
William Papworth then took the rectory and his family
retained it until 1794. Terriers of 1745 and 1766
show 58 acres of glebe in 54 pieces. Another one of
1773 shows the same area of arable and 45 acres of
fen. In 1808, when the rectory was leased to Thomas
Maylin, the rent was raised to £6 13s. 8d. and 4
quarters of wheat. (fn. 45) The net value of the rectory
seven years later was £386 5s. 6d., the glebe (103½
acres) being worth £151 11s. 3d., and tithes £310 9s.
The vicar's stipend was then £39 18s., raised in 1820
to £42 and before 1851 to £100 net. (fn. 46) The rectorial
tithe had then been commuted for £595, the vicarial
for £116. In 1863 the glebe comprised 106 acres. (fn. 47)
In 1851 there was a Sunday school of 27 children. (fn. 48)
Plan of St. Martin's Church
The church of ST. MARTIN consists of chancel,
clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch, and west tower.
The material is rubble with much repair in brick; the
roofs are tiled; the chancel was formerly thatched. The
earliest part of the fabric is the chancel, which belongs
to the first half of the 13th century, and the tower is
of approximately the same date. The aisles were added
early-in the 14th century, and about fifty years later
a new east window was inserted in the chancel. In the
15th century the porch was added, the chancel arch
rebuilt, and new windows inserted in the lateral walls
of the chancel. In the latter part of the 17th century
the west side of the tower was partly rebuilt in brick.
The church escaped Victorian restoration and has been
carefully repaired in recent years.
The chancel has a three-light east window with
flowing tracery much renewed and a hood-mould; on
either side are traces of former lancets. There are angle
buttresses with one set-off. In the north wall are two
plain lancets and a 15th-century two-light window
with cinquefoiled heads under a square label; also a
blocked 13th-century doorway with continuous chamfer and a hood-mould. There is in the south wall a
buttress with one set-off. The fenestration of this wall
consists of a 15th-century two-light with cinquefoiled
heads under a square label, which has been much renewed on the exterior, then a plain lancet, and finally
a two-light window with cinquefoiled main lights and
trefoiled tracery under a square label. There is an
internal string-course of 13th-century date. The 15thcentury chancel arch is two-centred and of two orders
with semi-octagonal responds having moulded caps and
bases. There is a double piscina with cinquefoiled
heads and a plain octagonal central shaft; the central
part of the heads has been renewed. There is a bracket
on either side of the east window.
The nave has early 14th-century arcades of 5 bays
on the south and 4 on the north; the first 2 bays on
the south are on a smaller scale than the rest. All the
arches are two-centred and of two orders with octagonal columns having moulded caps and bases; the
columns on the north are more slender than those on
the south and may be rather earlier; the eastern arch
has been grooved for the insertion of a screen. The
responds are semi-octagonal except the western on the
south, which is in the form of a large corbel. The clerestory consists of three windows on each side, of three
lights with trefoiled heads and a quatrefoil above under
an external hood. The tower arch is of two orders
with continuous chamfers and a hood-mould; it is prob
ably of 14th-century date and above are indications of
a larger 13th-century arch. There is a foliated cross,
probably of the 14th century, on the east gable of the
nave.
The south aisle has been much repaired with brick.
The east window is of three cinquefoil-headed lights
under a square head. There is a south-east angle buttress with no set-off and a similar one on the south; at
the south-west is a plain buttress with one set-off. The
first two windows on the south are of early 14thcentury date and consist of two plain lights; the remaining window on the south is a modern two-light
with cinquefoiled heads under a square label; there is
a plain lancet in the west wall, partially blocked in
modern times. There is a plain brick parapet, probably
of 17th-century date.
The porch has an outer doorway with a two-centred
arch of two orders springing from semi-octagonal responds having moulded caps and bases; there is a plain
hood-mould. There are straight angle buttresses largely
of brick. In the east wall is a blocked two-light window
under a square label, and in the west wall a single light,
also blocked. The plain inner doorway of early 14thcentury date has a continuous chamfer.
The north aisle has an east window of three irregular
lights with trefoiled heads. There are diagonal buttresses at the north-east and north-west of one set-off
and a similar one on the north, all much repaired with
brick. The lateral fenestration consists of a trefoiled
two-light with quatrefoil above, next a plain two-light,
and finally a window similar to the first. The plain
north doorway has a continuous chamfer. The west
window is a plain single light. There is old coping on
the east and west walls, but no lateral parapet. On the
sill of the north-east window is a piscina and there is
a bracket on the east wall.
The massive tower is of three stages. The west face
and the return walling on the north and south were
rebuilt, or at any rate refaced, in brick in 1691, as
appears from the date cut on a brick beneath the west
window. There is an original lancet on the west of the
ground stage but no doorway. The second stage has
a lancet on the north and south, the former now
blocked, and the top stage a lancet on the north, south,
and west. There are diagonal buttresses on the west
with three set-offs, mainly of brick. The embattled
parapet is of brick with stone dressings, and there is
a small leaded cap.
The chancel has a modern braced rafter roof; the
nave roof is of queenpost construction and modern
except for the wall posts and brackets, which rest on
stone corbels with demi-angels; the aisles have plain
lean-to roofs, probably of 17th-century origin but much
renewed; the porch roof is ancient and of collar-braced
construction; there are some old timbers in the tower
ceiling.
The 13th-century font has an octagonal bowl, the
sides of which are carved with human heads alternating
with grotesques and in one case a censing angel; it
rests on five shafts with moulded caps and bases. The
chancel screen is of very light construction and probably
of early 16th-century date; the uprights do not run
through in the ordinary manner. On the top is part of
the parapet of the loft, with cinquefoil-headed openings; there are two bays on each side of the doorway
with traceried heads. The wainscot has applied tracery
which is largely modern, as is the base beam. The
double doors, which do not extend above the level of
the wainscot, are carved with arabesques above the
transome. There is a most interesting stone pulpit of
15th-century date in the south-east angle of the nave,
with its original base and stone steps; the three exposed
sides have cinquefoiled heads, and the base is connected
with the first column of the arcade by a contemporary
dwarf wall. In the south-east angle of the nave, above
the pulpit, are traces of wall paintings which are partly
medieval and partly of the 17th century, the latter consisting of texts and borders in a fragmentary condition.
At the west end of the nave is some 15th-century
seating with plain poupée heads. There is a 17thcentury communion table and good early 18th-century
altar rails with turned balusters. In the base of the
tower is a dilapidated oak chest, probably of 14thcentury date. Most of the windows have clear glass,
some of which is in rectangular leading.
The plate includes a silver chalice and paten, of
1669, and a silver salver of 1699, the gift of Dorothea
Taylor. (fn. 49)
The tower contains one bell by C. and J. Mears,
1849.
The registers begin in 1663 and are complete.
NONCONFORMITY
In 1851 the vicar (Revd.
F. W. Packer) complained that
'this parish has been greatly
neglected: and Dissent consequently has much prevailed, and laxity of principle'. A Wesleyan Methodist
chapel had been established in 1813, and a Primitive
Methodist chapel post 1840. (fn. 50) The former chapel
was rebuilt in 1898: (fn. 51) the latter has not been otherwise
encountered. In 1851 there were congregations of 90
and 19 at these chapels respectively. The former also
had a Sunday school of 40 children. (fn. 50)
SCHOOLS
John Fernley was licensed as schoolmaster for the parish of Witcham in
1582. (fn. 52) In 1798 Witcham parish contained two schools, kept by Mary Alison (Anglican)
and Mary Remington (Nonconformist). Neither was
licensed, and the latter seemed likely to close owing to
lack of support. (fn. 53) The National Society report of 1846
described a school which was open both weekdays and
Sundays, with 69 children in attendance, 32 on Sunday
only. There were a master and a mistress, who received
£5 and £1 19s. a year respectively, but 'a schoolroom
is wanted and the funds to support it'. (fn. 54) This deficiency seems to have been fatal: no school is mentioned
in Gardner's Directory (1851) and no existing provision was reported when the question of a National
Society grant for a church school was taken up in 1870.
A school providing 90 places, with a teacher's house,
was built and opened in 1873. The National Society
granted £40 towards the total cost of £537 13s., of
which about two-thirds was raised by subscription. (fn. 55)
The land was bought from Clare College for £20. The
school was reclassified for 73 children (53 mixed, 20
infants) in 1910, and again in 1939 for 35 juniors and
infants, the reduction being due to the abandonment
of the previous infants' classroom. There were 30
children on the roll in 1948. (fn. 56)