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Cambridgeshire

Nearby places

TOFT

"TOFT, a parish in the hundred of Longstow, county Cambridge, 6 miles south-west of Cambridge, its post town, and 10 north of Royston. The living is a rectory* with the vicarage of Caldecote annexed, in the diocese of Ely, value £287, in the patronage of Christ's College, Cambridge. The church is dedicated to St. Andrew. There is a school for both sexes, which was built by the rector, and by whom it is supported."

Cemeteries

• The Monumental Inscriptions in the graveyard of St. Andrew for the years 1747-1978 are recorded in the Cambridge Records Office and are available, on microfiche, from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Publications list

Census

• The Census Records from 1841-1891 can be found in the Cambridgeshire Archives. In addition the 1851 Census for Toft is available in full transcript form, on microfiche, from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Publications list

Churches

• Here are photographs of Churches etc. in the parish:
  • St. Andrew's Church, Toft.
    • Internal view looking down the nave
    • The East Window
    • The font
  • The Methodist Church, Toft.
• The following Churches have their own websites:
  • St. Andrew's Church, Toft
  • The Methodist Church, Toft

Church History

• "The church of St. Andrew, beautifully situated, is an ancient edifice of stone, in the Perpendicular style, consisting of large and handsome chancel, nave of five bays, aisles and south porch: the chancel retains a small piscina and two aumbries, and in the south aisle is a niche and another piscina: the tower fell in 1890 while being pulled down, and was rebuilt in 1894 at a cost of £600: the nave arcade and tower arch are good examples of Perpendicular work, and the nave has a magnificent roof, with ornamented tie beams: there are some ancient benches and a plain octagonal font: in the church are memorials to the family of Eversden of Eversden: it was thoroughly restored in 1863, and has 200 sittings: in 1899 the bells were rehung at the expense of the Rev. T. Orbell M.A. then rector: the organ is a memorial to parishioners who fell in the Great War, 1914-18: in 1906 all the windows were reglazed and the walls of the chancel richly painted. The register dates from the year 1539."
• "There is a small Primitive Methodist chapel here, built in 1862. " [Kelly's Directory - Cambridgeshire - 1929]
• There is a description of St. Andrew's church on the Cambridgeshire Churches website.
• There is a description of the Methodist Church on the Toft Historical Society's website.

Church Records

• Church of England
  • Toft, St. Andrew: The original registers are at the church from 1539. Microfilm copies of the registers for baptisms, marriages and burials 1577-1908 for the years 1539-1875 reside in the Cambridgeshire Archives. Indexed transcripts for baptisms 1539-1917, marriages 1539-11916 and burials 1540-60, 1570-1918 also reside in the Cambridgeshire Archives. The Bishop's Transcripts for the years 1599-1642, 1663-75, 1702 and 1716-1873 can be found in the Cambridge University Library.
• Methodist
  • Primitive Methodist Church: Records exist for the Cambridge Primitive Circuit and Cambridge Primitive Second Circuit both of which Toft is part.

Description and Travel

• "A village library was built in 1913 by the Preston trustees. Eversden's charity of £2 yearly is distributed in bread. The land is all freehold. Toft Manor, the property and residence of G.M. Macfarlane-Grieve esq. is built of flint faced with knopped flint with stone dressings, and is one of the very few specimens of this style of architecture to be found in the county." [Kelly's Directory - Cambridgeshire - 1929]

Gazetteers

• A transcript of the Toft parish entries from Samuel Lewis's 1835 Topographical Dictionary of England,
• A transcript of the Toft parish entries from 1929 Kellys Directory of Cambridgeshire

Military History

• The War Memorial Plaque on the outside wall of the Methodist Church has been transcribed and the men researched.

Societies

• The Toft Historical Society.

Taxation

• Land Tax: records were compiled afresh each year and contain the names of owners and occupiers in each parish, but usually there is no address or place name. These records reside in the Cambridgeshire Archives for the years 1798 (on microfilm), 1829-32 and 1946-48.