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

The Parish

The parish of Soham lies in eastern Cambridgeshire forming a short stretch of the border with neighbouring Suffolk. Soham is located roughly 6 miles southeast of the cathedral city of Ely and sits on the former route of the A142 road which links Ely with Newmarket, the A142 nowadays, thankfully, bypasses the town to the east. Soham is a market town of some size, the prinicpal centre for this area of The Fens and with a long history. Said to have been founded as a consequence of the creation of a 7th century monastery by St Felix, said monastery was largely destroyed by Danish forces in the late 9th century, the remains decanting to nearby Ramsey. Strangely the site of Soham was once a lake within the Fens, a causeway was built crossing the area making transit to Ely more amenable, the layout of modern Soham closely follows the line of that causeway. Early maps show a more concentrated town, built along the Soham Lode and primarily to its north, modern developments have made Soham into a largely linear town with properties stretching along the former route of the causeway and A142 for almost 3 miles from Soham Cotes in the northwest to Down End in the southeast. Granted a market in early medieval times Soham was a centre for trade, mainly in the excellent local agricultural produce as well as a noted centre for dairy and particularly cheese production, asparagus was a noted local speciality. The wider parish is flat and fertile with large tracts of reclaimed land, the agriculture around is intense with traditional crops such as cereals supplemented with table vegetables in a more intense market gardening activity. Modern developments came to Soham, the railway line from Newmarket to Ely passing through, however Soham's station no longer operates. The Soham Lode drains the parish northwestwards soon joining the Great Ouse before heading north to the North Sea arriving through The Wash. Soham is sited at less than 10 metres above the sea, land hereabouts is extremely flat with a 10 metre contour appearing just before reaching Burwell several miles to the south. Fenland parishes with their extensive stretches of reclamation are often extensive in their acreage and Soham parish was one of the most extensive in its county, covering close to 12,000 acres it would have supported a population of around 4.100 parishioners. Even in Domesday times Soham was already an important and significant place, populated enough to be amongst the largest 20% of settlements in that book. Soham was retained directly by King William and was a wealthy holding offering an impressive 28 ploughs as well as holding 2 mills and 2 highly profitable fisheries.

The Church

St Andrew's church sits att the heart of the oldest part of Soham on the western side of High Street, the former route of the A142 as it passes through the town. The church is an interesting mix of traditional cruciform styling yet modified to a later style with a western tower. The cruciform style, a Norman 12th century favoured style, is limited to the eastern portion of the church with transepts north & south sprouting from the interface between nave and chancel whilst the western tower is appended west of the nave and away from the traditional crossing position favoured by the cruciform design. The central crossing is the best area for showing the earliest parts of the church with lavish Norman Romanesque and Early English Gothic decoration shown to good effect. The area is the earliest part of the church and dates from the late 12th century through to the early 13th. Also 12th century are the four bays of the arcade. This early church has been much modified over the centuries and work began early after its initial completion, the chancel is early 14th century and Decorated in style together with the vestry and the southern aisle, the main windows of the southern transept show a similarly dated styling too. The later additions are Perpendicular in style whence a typical clerestory was inserted, here tree-ring dating of structural members precisely dates this addition as using trees felled in or close to 1477. The major Perpendicular change is, however, the construction of the church's magnificent western tower, a landmark for several miles across the flat Fenland. Documentary evidence from will donations place its construction into the first decade of the 16th century, a late Perpendicular period. More modern changes were wrought during typical Victorian restorations, two phases are mentioned by Pevsner, the first in 1848 and aimed at the chancel, the second targeting the nave followed in 1880. Street parking is possible in High Street whilst the neighbouring supermarket might be amenable to a longer stay provided a purchase is made. The churchyard is unusual in being triangular in shape but the wider portion is for the southeastern aspecta allowing adequate aspects for the photographer to exploit.