Cambridgeshire History On The Net

HORNINGSEA (or Horningsey) is a parish and village on the east bank of the river Cam, 2 miles south from Waterbeach station on the Cambridge and Ely branch of the Great East railway and 3 ½ miles north-north-east from Cambridge, in the Eastern division of the county, hundred of Flendish, Bottisham petty sessional division, union of Chesterton, Cambridge County court district, rural deanery of Quy and archdeaconry and diocese of Ely. Across the Cam, and joining this parish to that of Waterbeach, is a bridge, built by a company formed for the purpose about 1872, and providing a means of communication with the Waterbeach railway station. The church of St. Peter is a building of stone in the Transition Norman and later styles, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and a western tower containing 5 bells : the chancel dates from about 1220 : the north arcade of the nave is Decorated, and the south Transition Norman; some of the windows are of the Late Decorated period, and have beautiful tracery : the east end of the south aisle, anciently a chantry, retains a large niche : the south porch has grotesque sculptures at the eaves : the church was thoroughly restored in 1865, at a cost of over £1,000, the chancel at the expense of St. John’s College, and the nave by subscriptions from parishioners and friends : in 1890 the tower and other portions of the fabric were repaired, at a cost of £400 : there are 250 sittings. The register dates from the year 1628. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value from patrons £200, with residence, in the gift of St. John’s College, Cambridge, and held since 1888 by the Rev. Herbert Henry Baker Ayles B.D. of that college. The parish enjoys one of the fens in Bottisham jointly with the inhabitants of that parish; as well as another fen in Quy and Horningsea. The poor’s land produces £6 yearly. Messrs. Ginn and Matthews; King’s and St. John’s Colleges ; Lieut.-Col. Henry Crawley Norris, of Swalcliffe Park, Oxon ; Frederick T.Bailey, esq . ofEye Hall, and Messrs. William Potterton Fison and Samuel Fison are the principal landowners. The soil is clayey ; subsoil, gault. The chief crops are wheat, barley and oats. The area is 1,635 acres of land and 12 of water ; rateable value, £2,095 ; the population in 1891 was 435. CLAYHITHE, a hamlet in this parish, is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Parish Clerk, Walter Saunders. Deputy Clerk, James Gotobed. National School, erected in 1841 and enlarged in 1871, for 150 children; average attendance, 68; Miss Caroline Smith, mistress; Miss Ada Belda, infants’ mistress.