England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Castle Camps All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Castle Camps lies in the extreme southeast of Cambridgeshire forming not only a substantial part of the border with neighbouring Essex but it also very close to Suffolk too. Castle Camps is located about 3 miles southwest of the Suffolk market town of Haverhill and sits a similar distance and direction from its nearest significant road the A1017 part of the through route from Cambridge to Halstead. Whilst the village was present in post Conquest time its castle (and, indeed, the church) sit some way from the present site of the village which is largely grouped around a crossroads just over a half mile northeast of the castle site. The castle was first erected in 1068 and survived in various guises into the 17th century, all that remains now are earthworks and a fragment of wall. Castle Camps is a typical East Anglian arable farming community, today the fields are vast and dominated by cereals, beet & oil-seed. Castle Camps is drained northwestwards by the infant River Granta which makes its way to Cambridge where it meets the Cam, the latter, in turn, joins the Great Ouse and reaches the North Sea through The Wash. Castle Camps is sited at around 120 metres above the sea, making it one of the highest points in its rather low-lying county. Castle Camps parish was fairly typically sized for this area, covering close to 2,800 acres it would have supported a population of just over 850 parishioners. In Domesday times the twin parishes of Castle & Shudy Camps were mentioned in a single entry, a holding of Robert Gernon and another of Aubrey de Vere, one is tempted to assign each to one of the present villages, collectively their assets totalled 17 ploughs plus extensive, pig-infested, woodland & smaller meadows.

The Church

As mentioned All Saints' church sits over a half mile southwest of the village nestling next to the site of the former castle that gives the village its name. Whilst a church almost certainly was built here contemporary with the castle nothing of that era survives today and the first documentary record of the church is in the late 15th century. Today's church owes its origins to the great church building era of the 15th and 16th century being constructed in the Perpendicular style and with the classic layout of that period, nave, chancel and western tower. The church was, however, extensively remodelled in Victorian times and many dating details have been lost of are uncertain as a consequence. Church Lane leads southwest from the village and a small white sign in a triangular green points down the even narrower lane to the site, fortunately parking can be readily found outside the gates. The churchyard is open, uncluttered and has no major obstacles to photography.