Huntingdonshire
Contents
Nearby Places
Nearby churches
Sumeresham (xi cent.), Sumresham, Summersham (xii cent.), Summersum (xvii cent.).
The parish of Somersham lies on the eastern boundary of the old county of Huntingdonshire, and adjoins the parish of Chatteris in Cambridgeshire. The northern and eastern part of it is fenland, and here the land falls to some 2 ft. above sea level. It rises to the south and west towards Pidley and Bluntisham to a little over 100 ft.
Most of the parish is arable land but about a third of it is pasture lying in the old park. At one time there was a fair amount of woodland, but now very few spinneys remain. The soil is clay and gravel lying upon a bed of Oxford clay. There were gravel pits on the higher land, particularly to the north of the village. Bee-keeping was once a significant industry in the village.
The village stands on ground rising from the fenland and extends along the high road from Huntingdon and St. Ives to Chatteris for a distance rather more than half a mile. It is about 5 miles from St. Ives and an equal distance from Chatteris. The main road is crossed in the middle of the village by a road from the south called Church Lane, which now only leads from the site of the old palace of the bishops of Ely, but apparently at one time joined Bluntisham Heath Road, and formed the approach to the palace from the south. At the crossing, the medieval market place, which has long been disused, was probably held; here apparently also stood the cross to which there are many references in Wills of the 15th and 16th centuries.
The main road forms a wide village street, the houses on each side being mostly of white brick with roofs of tiles or slates. There is here an old barn built about the time that the bishops of Ely exchanged the manor with the Crown (1600). The church is on the west side of the road in the middle of the village, outside the northern entrance to the palace grounds.
A feast is held yearly on the 24th June (the nativity of St John the Baptist). The fair was formerly also held on that day but it is now held on the Friday before 22nd November. A reference to an almshouse in the village is found in 1486, but there is no vestige of it now.
Boundary alterations took place in 1884 and 1964, when parts were lost to Chatteris parish in Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely.
Monumental inscriptions for the parish of Somersham have not yet been recorded by the Huntingdonshire FHS. The War Memorial inscriptions for this parish are available on-line.
Census information for this parish (1841-1891) is held in the Huntingdon Records Office.
The full 1841 Census of Colne Parish is available in fiche format from the Huntingdonshire FHS as Fiche Set C114.
The full 1851 Census of Somersham Parish is available in fiche format from the Huntingdonshire FHS as Fiche Set C64.
A surname index of the 1881 Census of the St. Ives Registration District, in which Somersham was enumerated (RG11/1606, Folios 4a - 37a), and which took place on 3rd April 1881, is available as Fiche C4 from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
A full transcription of the 1891 Census of the Somersham sub-District of the St. Ives Registration District (RG12/1234) in which Somersham was enumerated, and which took place on 5th April 1891, has also been produced by the Huntingdonshire FHS (as Fiche C-11). This is available from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
OS Grid Square TL360779.
The church of St John the Baptist is built of rubble with dressings
of Barnack stone; the roof of the nave is covered with tiles and the
rest of the building with lead.
The present church was gradually
built from east to west during the latter half of the 13th century and
the first few years of the 14th century. The work of rebuilding was
doubtless influenced by the frequent residence at their palace here of the
great medieval bishops of Ely, Hugh de Northwold (1229-54), Hugh de Balsham
(1256-87) and John Hotham (1316-37).
There is no evidence of an earlier
church which probably existed on the site but the 13th century church here
consisted of a chancel, nave with aisles, and a western tower. To this nave, a
clearstory and new roof, and a new porch were added at the end of the 14th
century. The south porch was built or rebuilt in the 15th century, and the
organ chamber was added in 1885. The chancel is wholly of about 1250, except
for the roof which is 19th century. A four-centred arch was constructed over
the east window in the 15th century, and a 16th century window at the west end
of the south wall now forms an opening into the organ chamber.
Baptisms: 1558-1837 (indexed transcriptions), 1813-1843, 1843-1889,
1889-1916, 1916-1962.
Banns: 1654-1658 (indexed transcriptions),
1754-1838 (indexed transcriptions), 1824-1923.
Marriages: 1558-1837
(indexed transcriptions), 1837-1886, 1886-1959, 1959-1972.
Burials:
1563-1838 (indexed transcriptions), 1813-1848, 1849-1886, 1886-1925,
1925-1944, 1944-1966.
Bishop's Transcripts: 1604-5, 1612, 1618-19,
1625-7/1660-78, 1682-4, 1690-7/1699-1702, 1705-15, 1718, 1720, 1722-6,
1728, 1730-2, 1734-6, 1738-59/1760-73, 1776, 1779, 1782, 1785,
1789-1813/1813-24/1825-32, 1834, 1836, 1841-8.
These are available in the Huntingdon Records Office.
The Huntingdonshire Marriage Indexes include marriages from this parish. These are, at present, issued in alphabetical listings in series: 1601-1700, and 1701-1754, and are available from the Huntingdonshire FHS.
Somersham was originally in the St. Ives Registration District from 1 July 1837. Subsequently, it came under the Somersham sub-District. >From 1st April 1997, it has come directly under the Huntingdon Registration District.
A GENWEB page for Somersham is available.
somersham.info is a website that aims to fulfil two functions. It tells the history of the village in broadly chronological order. It also provides a collection, in electronic format of original source documents, most in translation, that illustrate some of the key themes permeating English History
An old map of the parish of Somersham in the 19th century is available.
The war memorial with detailed information about those who fell is available on the Roll of Honour site for Huntingdonshire.
Population in 1801 - 833.
Population in 1851 - 1653.
Population in
1901 - 1229.
Population in 1951 - 1317.
Population in 1971 -
1513.
Population in 1991 - 3617.
The parish of Somersham was part of the St. Ives Union (for Poor Law
administration).
Births and deaths registered in the St Ives
Union Workhouse (1836 - 1913) are available from the Huntingdonshire
FHS as fiche set D9.
The parish of Somersham occupies 4515 acres of land.
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