Christchurch - History Notes

Where to find Christchurch, Cambridgeshire, U.K.

According to local legend, before the church was built, the village was called "Brimstone Hill" after the
Brimstone butterfly which is found in the area.

From Kelly's 1883 Directory of Cambridgeshire:

"Christ Church is an ecclesiastical parish of Upwell, in the Isle of Ely, 4 miles south from the mother
church, and 3 east from Stonea station of the Great Eastern railway; the church is a cruciform building
of brick, with coloured facings, consisting of chancel, chancel aisles, nave, transepts, and bell turret
with one bell: there are two small stained east windows.

The register dates from the year 1866. The living is a rectory, gross yearly value �1,591 7s 2d, with 6
acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of Charles Watson Townley,esq. and held since 1862 by the
Rev. George Metcalfe, M.A. of Clare College, Cambridge.

The population of Christchurch ecclesiastical parish was 803.

EXMOOR (or Eusimoor, or Euximoor) is 4 1/2 miles south (of Upwell); Lakes End is 5 miles south;
Tips End, 5 miles south."

From Kelly's 1908 Directory of Cambridgeshire:

"The population in 1901 of Christchurch ecclesiastical parish was 840, there was a mixed Public
Elementary School which erected in 1865 with places for 150 children but the average attendance
was 113.
Benjamin R. Skyrme was the master and J.H. Haigh of March was correspondent for the committee.
The attendance officer was Samuel Dye of Tilney St. Lawrence, King's Lynn.

For various listings of residents of Christchurch & Euximoor in 1883, 1896,1908 and 1925,
please go to Christchurch - Lists of Residents

Parish Registers

The Parish Registers for Christchurch, apart from the ones still in use, are held at the County Record Office,
Shire Hall, Cambridge.

Baptisms - 1863-1947
Marriages - 1865-1974
Burials - 1865-1947
Banns - 1889-1934

They have not been microfilmed.
The Parish Registers for Upwell and Emneth are held at the Fenland Museum, Wisbech and they have been microfilmed and indexed!

BUT as I have a few photocopies of pages from the Christchurch Parish Registers (relevant to my
CAWTHORN family research) but containing other names and dates as well, I have transcribed these names
and dates for all to see. Go to Transcripts

September 2002 The Christchurch Parish Registers have now been transcribed and are available on CD or by download
from the Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Family History Society [dates covered as above.]

The Parish Church - A new church was built at Brimstone Hill in 1864 for the Southern part of the parish and called
"Christchurch".

Christchurch War Memorial - World War 1 Roll of Honour with detailed information plus World War 2 Names.

The Methodist Chapel � The Village Shop � The Pubs! � Tips End Road � Upwell Road � The Townley School � The Rectory & Dorothy L. Sayers

Newscutting [+ transcription] about Christchurch, the village shop, and Euximoor; found in Australia after the death of an uncle
of my CAWTHORN cousin, Beth.

Transciptions from the Wisbech Standard regarding Christchurch:
Jubilee Sports day at Christchurch - Wisbech Standard, May 10 1935
Electricity for Christchurch - NOT an economic proposition - Wisbech Standard, April 24 1936
Sunday School Outing to Hunstanton - Wisbech Standard, August 10 1962.

Christchurch Sports Day, 8 July 1920 - as reported in the Wisbech Standard, July 16, 1920.
Christchurch Hospital Sunday - as reported in the Wisbech Standard, July 24 1925.

Upwell & Outwell - so much of Christchurch's early history is tied up with Upwell through
the Beaupre family and the church.

Some of the illustrations used on the above pages come from a set of postcards c.1905, which were published by my Great-Grandfather, John Cawthorn.
The earliest postmark is 1909 and if you wish to read the messages from the cards, click on the postcard link.
The rectory postcard appears to have been sent by the Rev. Townley's wife to her (?)sister in London.

June 2001 - 2 more early views of Christchurch can now be found on the Fenprint webpages.
Both are of Church Road - one by the church wall; the other opposite the village shop with "The Dun Cow" in the background.

There is also a book about a neighbouring Fenland village "Three Holes"

Even more so as all originals are in my possession - be it book, photo, postcard, etc.

No uploading to another website is permitted without express permission from myself.

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This page created August 2000
Udated 20:32 05/05/2020