England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Croxton St James

The Parish

The parish of Croxton lies in the extreme west of Cambridgeshire forming a small peninsula of Cambridgeshire land into neighbouring Huntingdonshire, it is also not too far away from Bedfordshire. Croxton is located roughly 5 miles east of the Bedfordshire market town of St Neots and sits on and south of the A428 road which links St Neots with Cambridge. Croxton is an estate village, the medieval village site having been expunged to create the parkland setting for its 18th century manor house. A few properties gather around a crossroads at the northwestern corner of the estate and a few more line the High Street which leads south from the A428 toward the church. Like most estate villages control lay in the hands of single individuals who discouraged inbound migration resulting in no formal village being created. The economy of the parish was intricately connected with the needs of the estate and largely concerned arable farming. Croxton is drained westwards by a series of small brooks which eventually feed into the River Great Ouse at St Neots, here water turns north, crosses the Fens and reaches the North Sea through the port of King's Lynn and The Wash. Croxton is sited at around 50 metres above the sea in gentle terrain which rises gradually eastwards to around 65 metres at nearby Caxton Gibbot crossroads. Croxton parish at around 2,000 acres was fairly typically sized for its area, within that acreage it would have supported a population of close to 250 parishioners. In Domesday times Croxton was shared by two landholders, the greater portion held by David D'Argentan with a smaller holding with Hardwin, collectively their assets of 18 ploughs together with some meadows was unremarkable but mildly profitable.

The Church

St James' church sits within the parkland of Croxton Park estate accessed from the A428 by the High Street and which is prominently signed from that road. The church stands within the bumps and lumps of the original lost village site indicating it once stood at the heart of its former community. The core of the church dates from the 13th century in the Early English Gothic style of that century, although it should be noted that during late 20th century rebuilding a 12th century scalloped capital was found and reused. Both nave and chancel together with the 3-bay arcades were seemingly built as a single build of the 13th century. It was not until the early 16th century when further work took place, the existing chancel was shortened and the western tower added. An inscription on the northern doorway of that foreshortened chancel carries the date 1622 but probably refers to repair rather than build. It was not until relatively modern times that restoration took place, a short phase in 1869 being followed by more substantial work in 1904 when the southern aisle was rebuilt and in 1907 the northern porch received similar rebuilding. A prominent sign on the northern side of the A428 indicates the accepted route into the park passing through some typical "estate" properties en route. The church is found opposite an ornamental lake and is tightly sheltered within trees that restrict the angles available to the photographer markedly, a difficult church to adequately record given the tight clustering of those trees.