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

The Parish

The parish of Toft lies in southwestern Cambridgeshire roughly 6 miles west of the county town of Cambridge. Toft sits on the B1046 road which connects St Neots through to Grantchester. The B1046 performs a complex of right-angled bends through the village which gives Toft its inverted "L" shaped structure with most properties lining the course of that road for a half mile or so. Toft, like so many Cambridgeshire parishes, would have been almost entirely arable both at the time of this transcript and also today with just a few pastures occupying the moister ground around the Bourn Brook. Modern developments have come and gone from Toft although they may well return, a railway line connecting Cambridge with Sandy in Bedfordshire has closed and been dismantled but there is a push to recreate links between Cambridge and Oxford to serve as a route avoiding London yet allowing cross-country travel. Toft is drained eastwards by the Bourn Brook which meets the River Cam at Grantchester, after passing through Cambridge the Cam meets the Great Ouse for its final cross-Fenland journey to the North Sea arriving through the Norfolk port of King's Lynn and The Wash. Toft is sited at between 30 & 40 metres above the sea on rising ground in rather gentle terrain where 72 metres forms the highest ground along which runs the A428. Covering just under 1,300 acres Toft parish was typically sized for this area, that acreage supported a population of around 350 parishioners. In Domesday times Toft was shared by 3 landholders, the largest share being with Count Alan of Brittany, collectively their assets totalled 14 ploughs and some meadows indicative that even then it was primarily an arable and productive manor.

The Church

St Andrew's church sits to the east of the main body of the village accessed from the B1046 along Church Road. Whilst the church is certainly medieval in age most of its fabric was replaced in Victorian times through a series of rebuilding events such that it is now essentially a fairly modern church. Some fabric was reused sufficient to identify the original church was Perpendicular in style and from the late 14th century. The main remaining medieval parts include the tower arch, the responds from the southern arcade and the 15th century nave roof. The first major rebuilding took place in 1863 when the chancel was rebuilt and a northern aisle was added. The western tower was rebuilt in 1894, it is suspected the original tower collapsed, and finally in 2009 a northern porch was added. Church Road has a broad verge well-used for parking sitting outside the metal gates of the churchyard, at first glance it would appear to be a difficult prospect with many large and shady trees around the church, however the southern aspects favoured by the photographer are clear of such obstacles making for a less difficult task than at first appearance.