Extracts from Kelly’s Directories 1900

Somersham
is a Parish and large village, on the road from St Ives to Chatteris and March, 5 miles north-east-by north from St Ives and 64 from London, with a station on the St Ives, March and Wisbech section of the Great Eastern railway, from which there is a branch line to Ramsey. The parish is in the Northern division of the county, petty sessional division and hundred of Hurstingstone, union of St. Ives, county court district of Huntingdon, rural deanery of St. Ives, archdeaconry of Huntingdon, and diocese of Ely. The village consists principally of one street, about a mile in length, running from east to west and crossed by a shorter street near the centre: it is paved out of funds derived from an estate called the " Feoffee Estate," left about 300 years ago by Mr. William Harvey, for the repairs of the churchway and other public and charitable uses, and is lighted with gas by a company formed in 1869.
The church of St. John the Baptist is an ancient structure, in the Early English and later styles, consisting of chancel, nave with clerestory, aisles, north and south porches and an embattled western tower containing a clock and 6 bells : at the east end is a fine triplet of lancets: in the chancel is a memorial window to Miss Bertha Elinor Davies Mason, and one erected in 1883 by the Rev. Frank Duerdin Perrott B.A. in memory of his mother: on the floor are three large slabs, one of which retains the brass effigy of a priest, c. 1530, vested and holding a chalice and wafer, but the inscription is lost: another slab, now placed near the font, once bore the brass effigy of a knight with five shields of arms, and probably commemorated Sir Ric ha rd Thwaytes, ob. Sept. 1467: the columns and stone work of the church were restored in 1883: the tower was rebuilt and the bells re-hung in 1902; the font was given by Dr. Ollivant, Bishop of Llandaff (1849-83), and formerly rector here: there are 500 s ittings. The register of baptisms and marriages dates from 1558; burials, 1563. The living, under the provisions of the Act 45 & 46 Vict, c, 81(1882) is now a vicarage, with the chapelries of Pidley and Colne annexed: joint net yearly value £ 260, with residence, and held since 1889 by the Rev. William Sumpter Beevor M.A. of Trinity College, Dublin.
There is a Baptist chapel, built 1812, and a Wesleyan chapel, erected in 1847. Bee-K eeping is largely carried on in the parish.
The fire engine is kept at the engine-house, church walk; the keys are held by J Pentelow and G. Williams on.
A feast is held here annually on St. John the Baptist's day, the 24th June, and a fair the Friday before the 22nd of November. The privilege of holding a market in the village every Thursday was granted to the Bishops of Ely by Richard I, but the proximity of the superior market at St Ives has rendered this market defunct.
Charities:
Perne's gift provides £ 1 3s. 4d. yearly for the poor and the Sunday school, and 10s for a sermon, which sums are paid by St. Peter's College, Cambridge; there is also the interest of £20 to be given to the poor annually, as well as about £ 1 10s. yearly, the bequest of W. P. Wilson, on St. Thomas' day; the feoffee estate consists of two cottages and 20 3r. 16p. of land.
Somersham was once celebrated for its chalybeate spa, and the well may still be recognised in a field near the St. Ives road.
A short distance southward from the church formerly stood the palace of the Bishops of Ely, the ruins of which have been pulled down; the site is now occupied by a residence called " Somersham Park Farm," and held by Mr. Francis Riggall: it was the residence of the Moseley family for three-quarters of a century, and the late Jeremiah Moseley esq. who died in 1875, lived here for many years. The fine meadows which extend from the village to Cuckoo bridge at the foot of Somersham heath are still called " The Parks." The trustees of the late John Garrard Elgood esq. are lords of the manor.
The principal landowners are Cambridge University, the Mason family, the Rev. George Thomson Johnston M.A. late rector of Broughton, John Nix esq. William Robert Gamul Farmer esq. of Nonsuch Park, Cheam, Surrey, Mrs. Barlow and W. E. Roberts esq. The soil is gravel and clay; subsoil, Ox ford clay. The area is 4,515 acres: assessable value, £5,290; and the population in 1901 was 1,255.
Sexton : Thomas Medcalf
Public establishment: Fire Engine House, Church walk, Albert Briggs, supt.
Police Constable: Orris Henry Storey
Volunteers.
4th (Hunts) Volunteer Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment (F Company); Capt. C. A. Lees; W. G. Evans, sergeant instructor.
A school board of 5 members was formed Sept. 25, 1885, William Arthur Watts, Broadway, St, Ives, clerk to the board; Stephen Feary, attendance officer.
Board, formerly National School (mixed), erected in 1747, for 200 children; average attendance, 115 boys & girls; Edward Parkinson, master; Miss Morris, mistress; the endowment of the National School consisted of £200 South sea annuities, now £ 216 5s. £3 per cent. Reduced, £100 Turnpike Trust & the rent of 11 acres of land, producing together £22 yearly, which amount is applied in providing two scholarships of £10 each, awarded annually to two scholar from this school. Board (infants), built in 1901 for 110; average attendance, 100; Miss Mary Johnstone, mistress.
Railway Station: Alfred Margeson, station master