Stretham, Cambridgeshire

Historical Description

Stretham, a parish, with Stretham Fen and the hamlet of Thetford in the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, 4 miles S by W from Ely. It has a station on the Ely, Haddenham, Sutton, and St Ives branch of the G.E.R., and a post, money order, and telegraph office under Ely. Area of Stretham, 3997 acres of land and 22 of water; population, 1055. Area of Thetford, 1078 acres; population, 221. Population of the ecclesiastical parish, 1276. There is a parish council consisting of seven members. A stone cross, believed to be about 500 years old, stands on the highroad near the church. The living is a rectory, with the chapelry of Thetford annexed, in the diocese of Ely; net value, £585 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Ely. The church is an ancient building of stone in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, S porch, and a western tower with spire. It was restored at a cost of £4000 in 1876. There is an ancient church at Thetford, and there are Baptist and Wesleyan chapels at Stretham.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Stretham from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Stretham (St. James))

Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Cambridgeshire is available to browse.

Maps

Online maps of Stretham are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Cambridgeshire papers online:

• Cambridge Independent Press
• Cambridge Chronicle and Journal
• Huntingdon, Bedford & Peterborough Gazette

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitations of Cambridgeshire 1575 and 1619 is available online.