Cambridgeshire
Suffolk
Contents 
Nearby Places
Nearby churches
"WOOD DITTON is a parish and village, 3½ miles south from Newmarket station on the Cambridge and Bury branch of the London and Yorth Eastern railway, in the hundred of Cheveley, Newmarket union, petty sessional division and county court district, rural deanery of Cheveley, archdeaconry and diocese of Ely. In pursuance of the Cambridgeshire and West Suffolk (Newmarket) Confirmation Order, 1895, that part of Wood Ditton parish in Suffolk was added to Newmarket All Saints for civil purposes, but remains administratively in West Suffolk."
"There is a Congregational chapel here. The Earl of Ellesmere M.V.O. Sir Alec Black bart. J.P. Sidney Taylor esq. and the Jockey Club are the principal landowners. The soil is various; subsoil, clay and chalk. The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats and beans. The area is 4,768 acres; the population in 1921, chiefly distributed in the hamlets of Ditton of Green, Little Ditton and Saxon Street, was 848, and in the ecclesiastical parish, 777."
"By an Order in Council, gazetted August 15th, 1911, part of Wood Ditton ecclesiastical parish, containing at the date of census a population of 462, was transferred to All Saints, Newmarket, ecclesiastical parish."
"SAXON STREET is a considerable hamlet about 1½ miles east from the Wood Ditton church. The church here, a plain structure of red brick, was erected in 1877 by Lady Adeliza Manners (d 1904) as a memorial to her husband, Lord George John Manners, of Cheveley Park, d. Sept 8,1874 divine service is held here every Sunday afternoon by the vicar of Wood Ditton. There is also a Primitive Methodist chapel, rebuilt in 1884."
[Kelly's Directory - Cambridgeshire - 1929]
The Monumental Inscriptions in the graveyard of St. Mary are recorded in the Cambridge Records Office for the years 1703-1982. These inscriptions are also available on microfiche from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Bookstall.
The Census Records from 1841-1891 can be found in the Cambridge Record Office. In addition the 1851 Census for Wood Ditton is available in full transcript form, on microfiche, from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Bookstall.
"The church of St. Mary is an ancient edifice of flint in the Early English style, with Perpendicular additions, and consists of chancel, clerestoried and embattled nave, aisles, south porch and a western tower, which has been restored, and contains 5 bells: the church was restored and reseated in 1897-99 by the late Col. H. L. B. McCalmont M.P. at a cost of £5,000 and affords 250 sittings. The register dates from the year 1567."
[Kelly's Directory- Cambridgeshire - 1929]
Wood Ditton, St. Mary: Records of baptisms 1567-1966, marriages 1567-1971, burials 1567-1929 and banns for 1755-1812, 1845-1934 reside in the Cambridge Record Office, indexed transcripts exist for these records for the years 1567-1812. The parish register transcripts, 1567-1812, are available on microfiche from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Bookstall. The Bishop's Transcripts for the years 16569-1641 and 1663-1836 can be found in the the Suffolk Record Office, microfilm copies being held at the Cambridge Record Office for the years 1569-1641, 1663-99.
Saxon Street, Holy Trinity: A register of baptisms only is held at the church for from 1937.
Wood Ditton Primitive Methodist Church: Records exist for the Wickhambrook Primitive Circuit of which Wood Ditton is part.
The Wood Ditton with Saxon Street community website for anyone with an interest in the village, whether resident, or with present or past connections.
Two courts cover Wood Ditton as follows:
Archdeaconry Court of Sudbury: Jurisidiction in various parishes including Ashley cum Silverley which were in the diocese of Norwich until they were transferred to the diocese of Ely in 1837.
Records are held at the Suffolk Record Office covering Wills, 1439-1857, administrations, 1544-46, 1568-93, 1605-12, 1630-1858, inventories, 1573-76, 1617, 1625, 1640, 1650-1747. Index to wills to 1535 are published in Proceedings of Suffolk Institute of Archaeology, volume 12 and of all records to 1700 in the Index Library of the British Records Society, volumes 95 and 96.
Consistory Court of Norwich: Record are held at the Norfolk Record Office. Wills 1370-1857, administrations, 1370-1499, 1549-1640, 1666-1857, inventories, 1584-1846. There is an index to wills covering 1370-1857 published by the Norfolk Record Society, volumes 16, 21, 34, 38 and 47.
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 Cambridge Record Office for the years 1710, 1798 on microfilm, 1829-32, 1878-88 and 1931-48.
Find help, report problems, and contribute information.
[Last updated: 2 April 2005 Martin Edwards]