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Information about Chesterton circa 1900

CHESTERTON is a parish and village, and the head of a poor-law union, giving its name to a hundred, and a portion of the parish, under the "Boundary Act, 1868," has been included in the parliamentary borough of Cambridge. The village is a long, straggling place on the north bank of the river Cam, a mile and a half north from Cambridge station, in the Western division of the county, petty sessional division and county court division of Cambridge, and in the rural deanery of Cambridge and archdeaconry and diocese of Ely. The parish was constituted a Local Government District in 1880, but under the provisions of the "Local Government Act, 1885" (56 and 57 Vict. c. 73), an Urban District Council has been established, and the parish divided into two wards, called the East and West. It is lighted with gas and supplied with water by the Cambridge Gas and Water Companies. The church of St. Andrew, picturesquely situated near the river, is a large and interesting embattled structure of flint, chiefly in the Decorated style with Perpendicular additions, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave of seven bays, aisles, north porch and an embattled western tower, with a beautiful octagonal spire, and containing a clock and 5 bells: the chancel was restored about 1844, when a piscina and three sedilia of Late Perpendicular work were discovered: there are remains of Late screen and a roof of the 15th century: the nave is Decorated, but has a perpedicular clerestory and roof, some of the corbels bearing shields of arms: on the spandrels between the arches and in other parts of the church are remains of frescoes, c.1300: in the north aisle is a plain sepulchral recess; and both this and the south aisle ahve finely-carved corbels: the chancel still retains some good chestnut benches, richly carved: in the churchyardare several stone coffin slabs, bearing floriated crosses: there are 650 sittings, 600 being free. The register dates from the year 1564. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £300, with residence and including 90 acres of glebe, in the gift of the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, Cambridge. St. Luke's is a district parish, formed April 1, 1881: the church, built in 1784, at a cost of £10,240, is an edifice of white brick and stone in the Decorated style, consisting of chancel, transept, nave of five bays and a tower with spire, the principal entrance being under the tower: there are 650 sittings. The register dates from the year 1874. The living is a vicarage, with an annual endowment of £3, in the gift of the Bishop of Ely, and held since 1892 by the Rev. Arthur James Micklethwaite M.A. of St. Peter's College, Cambridge. The Baptist chapel, in Chapel street, was erected in 1842, and enlarged and restored in 1863: the Wesleyan chapel, in High street, was erected in 1858. The Congregational church, in the Vistoria road, was built in 1884, at a cost of £4,000. The General Cemetry, in the Histon road, opened in December, 1843, and covering an area of four acres, has one chapel, and is under the control of a private company, the offices being at 7 Downing street, CAmbridge. Her Majesty's Prison and the Shire Hall at Castle Hill are both in this parish, for an account of which see Cambridge. The Victoria Friendly Society's Asylum, for old members of friendly societies, opened in 1841, is also here. Here was oncc an ancient fortified house, said to hanve been built by the Abbot of Vercellis; a portion of this building, massively constructed and probably a well-room, still exists. About £60 yearly from land is distributed in fuel and money. In the parish are brick and tile manufactories and boathouses, where boats for the use of undergraduates of the University are built and kept. The boathouses built by the Cambridge University Boat Club in 1882, Christ's College in 1886, Caius in 1887, Jesus in 1882, King's in 1895 and Emmanuel and Pembroke in 1896 add much to the picturesqueness of the river at this point. The Recreation Ground is situated near the church. The manor belongs to the Benson family; and the principal landowners are Trinity, St. Catherine's, Clare, Queens' and St. John's Colleges and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, Mrs. Wragg- Gurney and Mrs. E. Bell. The soil is light, and the subsoil gravel and blue clay. The chief crops are wheat, barley, beans, root and seeds. The area is 2,778 acres of land and 17 of water; rateable value, £28,575; the population in 1871 was 4,102, in 1881, 5,706 and in 1891 7,526, including 153 officers and inmates in the workhouse and 84 in H.M. Prison. The population of Chesterton St. Andrew's in 1891 was 1,828, that of Chesterton St. Luke's being then 5,698.

Parish Clerk, George Buck

SCHOOLS
St. Andrew's National (boys), erected in 1864, for 140 children; average attendance, 110; Geo. G. Buck, mast
St. Andrew's National (girls), erected in 1875, for 120 girls; average attendance, 100; Miss Caroline L. Willmot, mistress
St. Andrew's National (infants), erected in 1875, for 130 infants & enlarged in 1894 for 180 children; average attendance, 140: Miss Lilly M. Crampton, mistress
St. Augustine's National (infants), Richmond road, erected in 1899, for 200 children; average attendance, 50; Miss Eliza Townsend, mistress
St. Like's National (boys), Victoria road, erected in 1874 & enlarged 1898, for 365 children; average attendance, 312; William Henry Berridge, head master
St. Luke;s National (girls), Victoria road, erected in 1882, for 300 children; average attendance, 245; Miss Julia Robinson, head mistress
St. Luke's National (infants), Victoria road, erected in 1875, for 150 children & enlarged in 1890 for 150; average attendance, 200; Mrs. H. Berridge, head mistress

* Kelly's Directory of Cambridgeshire 1900 (London: Kelly's Directories Limited, 1900), pp.103-105.