England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Orwell St Andrew

The Parish

The parish of Orwell lies in southwestern Cambridgeshire roughly 7 miles north of the town of Royston. Orwell sits immediately east of the A603 road, a linking road which connects the A1198 (following the ancient Roman Road of Ermine Street) through to Cambridge. Orwell is a mid-sized village formed around a "Y" shape of lanes with the parish church forming the apex of that fork. The village has expanded in modern times southwards when previously only the High Street & Fisher's Lane formed a more linear settlement. To the southeast on the banks of the River Cam sits the small subsidiary hamlet of Halton which once had its own church but is now subsumed. Like most Cambridgeshire parishes Orwell is an arable farming parish, the flood-plain of the Cam gave a few pastures as variation, however, from the normal cereals, root crops and oil-seed which dominates this fertile region. The Cam, also known as the Rhee in this stretch, drains the parish northeastwards passing through Cambridge and into Fenland where it meets the Great Ouse for the final stretch to the North Sea arriving through the port of King's Lynn and The Wash. Orwell sits on gently rising ground from 20 metres above the sea at Halton to 40 metres at the parish church, land rises still further northwestwards reaching 78 metres immediately north of Wimpole estate. Orwell parish was typically sized for its area covering 1,850 acres which would have supported a population of around 600 parishioners. Domesday Orwell was shared by no fewer than 8 landholders yet held only 22 households, the assets of 6 ploughs backed by small meadows and 2 mills indicate a small rural farming settlement.

The Church

St Andrew's church sits on the northern edge of the village on the northern side of the 3-way junction where Fisher's Lane, High Street & Town Green Road all meet. There are sufficient remains to determine that once the church that sat here in Norman times was a simple aisleless affair, 12th century fabric in the western wall of the nave is testament to that early church. The basal stage of the western tower too is early with Early English Gothic fabric of the 13th century evidenced by the lancet windows. The remainder of the nave shows build progressing in 3 distinct phases through the 13th and into the 14th centuries as the former church was expanded and made more elaborate. The southern side of the nave is from the early 14th century Decorated period with Perpendicular windows indicative of early replacements. Also Perpendicular is the clerestory which is typical of that era. The church's final flourish was the creation of its splendid Perpendicular chancel which moved Pevsner to describe it as a "masterpiece", made light & airy by the large windows, especially the 5-light east window, it is a complete example of the style at its best, we must thank the rector of the time Richard Anlaby who is credited with financing the work. As he died in1396 that gives an excellent end date for the majority of the build. Only the topmost stage of the tower was added before the typical Victorian restoration of 1881 - 1883 which was largely directed at the southern door & porch. High Street is adequately sized for on-street parking. The churchyard is sited above road height with a shallow 6-flight set of steps for entry, the churchyard is open & uncluttered with no obstacles for the photographer.