- source: Family History Library Catalog
- the text in this article is based on an article in Wikipedia
Ashley is a village in the modern civil parish Ashley cum Silverly in the East Cambridgeshire District of Cambridgeshire, England, about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Newmarket. The modern village consists of the two ancient parishes of Ashley and Silverley. Ashley cum Silverly covers 2,250 acres (910 ha) and in the 2011 UK census had a population of 749.
The former ancient parishes of Ashley and Silverley have both been redirected here.
History
Ashley and Silverley were both mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. At that time Silverley had a total population of 22 households and had land for 8 plough teams. The Domesday Book does not give the population of Ashley, but Ashley only had land for 4 plough teams.The tenant-in-chief in both Ashley and Silverley was Aubrey de Vere.
In the 13th century, the manors of both Ashley and Silverley were owned by the Knights Hospitallers of Chippenham. Silverley was the larger of the two villages and so the villages at that time were known as "Silverley cum Ashley". However, since the Hospitaller's manor house was situated in Astley, by the end of the 13th century the villages became known as "Ashley cum Silverley".
Following the dissolution of the monasteries in 1540, the Crown gave the manor at Ashley to Edward North of Kirtling.
The ecclesiastical parishes of St Mary in Ashley and of All Saints in Silverley were united c.1550. There was a church dedicated to St Mary in the village of Ashley by the 13th century that was abandoned in the late 16th century and was in ruins by 1705. In Silverley there was a church dedicated to All Saints by 1447 that was also abandoned in the 16th century and by 1752 only the tower and some bits of wall remained. The tower remains to the present day.
There was a Hospittaler chapel in the village of Ashley that was dedicated to St. John and from c. 1550, this chapel was used as the parish church for Ashley and Silverley. A new parish church dedicated to Holy Trinity was opened in 1845; in 1872 when it was enlarged and then dedicated to St Mary. Following that the Hospittaler's chapel was used as a school; it was demolished c.1956.
There are some pictures and a description of the church at the Cambridgeshire Churches website.
Research Tips
- Original historical documents relating to Cambridgeshire are now held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at Shire Hall, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 4GS
- The Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Family History Society has transcribed the parish registers for many if not all the ancient parishes of Cambridgeshire and these can be purchased from the Society as separate pdfs.
- A History of the County of Cambridge. Seven volumes from British History Online (Victoria County Histories). This is by far the most complete history of the parishes of the county to be found online. From the numbering it would appear that some parts of the county are yet to be published online, but the first two volumes for any county are of little interest to the genealogist. The chapters are ordered by the divisions of the county called hundreds, but each parish is listed in the volume's content page.
- A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 3, the City (Cambridge) and University of Cambridge (published 1959)
- A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 4, City of Ely; North Ely and South Ely, Witchford and Wisbech Hundreds (the cathedral city and liberty of Ely and the rural areas to the west and northwest, including the port of Wisbech) (published 2002)
- A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 5, the Hundreds of Longstowe and Wetherley, west of Cambridge (published 1973)
- A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 6, the three Hundreds of Chilford, Radfield and Whittlesford (in the south of the county, on the border with Essex) (published 1978)
- A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 8, Armingford and Thriplow Hundreds (south and west of Cambridge) (published 1982)
- A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 9, Chesterton, Northstowe, and Papworth Hundreds (the suburban and rural areas to the north and northwest of Cambridge) (published 1989)
- A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 10, Cheveley, Flendish, Staine and Staploe Hundreds (northeastern Cambridgeshire) (published 2002)
- GENUKI has a page on Cambridgeshire and pages for each of the ecclesiastical or ancient parishes in the county. These give references to other organizations who hold genealogical information for the local area. Each parish page includes a map of the parish provided by Open Street Maps.
- The FamilyTree Wiki has a series of pages similar to those provided by GENUKI which may have been prepared at a later date.
- A Vision of Britain through Time, section "Units and Statistics" for each parish and borough leads to analyses of population and organization of the county from about 1800 through 1974.
- Map of Cambridgeshire divisions in 1888 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
- Map of Cambridge divisions in 1944 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
|
