England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Cheveley St Mary & the Holy Host of Heaven

The Parish

The parish of Cheveley lies in the extreme east of Cambridgeshire forming a stretch of the county's border with neighbouring Suffolk, the border hereabouts being curiously convoluted. Cheveley is located about 3 miles east of the town of Newmarket and sits just under a mile south of the B1063 road which connects Newmarket with Clare in Suffolk. Cheveley is a rather linear village stretching southwards from the B1063 for a quarter mile and then forming a noticeable fork with both legs lined with properties too, the easternmost leg passing the church and extending for almost a half mile further; the whole aggregates to quite a substantial village. Cheveley's history is documented in two historic properties both of which are now gone or in ruins, Cheveley Castle was a 14th century fortified hunting lodge but today only fragments of flint and rubble wall survive to head-height, Cheveley Park was one of the great 17th century mansions of the county but it too was demolished in the 1920s. Cheveley's economy is a mixture of typical arable farming and horse racing derived facilities spreading from the vicinity of Newmarket, indeed Cheveley Park is now home to several studs and stables for thoroughbreds. Cheveley is underpinned by porous chalk so there is no surface drainage until tributaries of the infant River Kennet arise to both east and south coalescing into that river near Dalham, the Kennet flows northwards and heads into the Fens to meet the Lark and then the Great Ouse in turn before reaching the North Sea through the Norfolk port of King's Lynn and The Wash. Cheveley is sited  on steadily rising ground from around 80 to 110 metres above the sea in gently rolling terrain, a few spots approach 120 metres near to Wood Ditton as the highest grounds around. Cheveley parish was quite large for non-Fenland Cambridgeshire covering just over 2,500 acres and supporting a population of close to 650 parishioners. In Domesday times Cheveley was shared between King William and Count Alan of Brittany, almost totally arable at that time it had 12 ploughs backed by a small meadow and patches of woodland home to a few pigs.

The Church

St Mary's church sits on the eastern side of High Street nestled in the fork formed by Church Lane, the church sitting within a triangular site constrained by these two roads. Whilst the church has a cruciform layout with a central crossing tower which is normally a product of Norman styling the earliest fabric at St Mary is dated to the very end of the 13th century where Early English Gothic merges in Decorated style, it might thus be termed a Transitional origin for the church. Both the crossing and the impressive tower which sits above it are dated by Pevsner to c 1300, the tower is completed, however, with a Decorated styled octagonal top which stands in a slight jarring proximity to the tall northwestern stair-turret. The transepts and the chancel, before Victorian intervention, are also from this initial Transitional build. The nave was almost totally in the later Decorated style of the first half of the 14th century but this was probably still part of a continuous build, it was modified later into the 14th or early 15th century with Perpendicular styled window replacements. The Perpendicular period also saw the addition of the northern porch as well as new roofs to the nave and northern transept. The Victorian restoration of 1871-3 was a thorough affair in which the chancel was substantially rebuilt albeit many of the 13th century features were retained or reset. A few yards into Church Lane there is a small lay-by for a car or two to park, the main entrance is at the apex of the triangular site with the church set back some way. Sadly for the photographer there are blocks of trees impacting all of the favoured southern aspects as well as a further block to the northeast leaving only a few angles for recording this church.