Peter Nancarrow produced an excellent website on the history of the village for STREAM, the fundraising group for the fabric of St Laurences Church, in 2001. (Link at the top).
Did you know the first refuse collection in the village was 6th May 1949?
The first Foxton person to register for a driver's license was William Reginald Ward Asplen of Foxton Hall, 17 March 1904.
Want to know how the village population has changed since 1801 (pdf 7kb)
Foxton was enclosed or as the Act says Inclosed in 1830 the transcript is here
Other items of historical or archaeological interest are also available.
From Kelly's Directory - Cambridgeshire, 1929
"The church of St. Lawrence is an ancient edifice of flint in the Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, north porch and an embattled western tower containing a clock and 5 very fine toned bells, made by Miles Graye in 1654 the eastern triplet is a very beautiful specimen of Early English work, and the other windows retain some fragments of good 14th century glass: there is a large double piscina in the chancel and opposite it a singular recess like a sedile: the rood staircase is in perfect condition: in the north aisle are two Decorated brackets, and in the south aisle a piscina: the font is of very early date: in the latter part of the 14th century the church possessed the privilege of sanctuary: it was restored in 1881, at a cost of £3,000, and has 250 sittings. The register dates from the year
1671.There is a Wesleyan chapel here.
A cross of Cornish granite was erected in 1922, on a site given by Dr Briggs as a memorial to the men of the parish who fell in the Great War, 1914-18, in whose memory also a recreation ground of about 3 acres was opened. A charter granted to the De La Hayes in 1325 gave them the privilege of holding a market here and two fairs, one at the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, the other at the feast of St. Andrew; this charter was confirmed in 1326; but there is now only one fair, which is held at Easter."
Transcribed from Robert Gardners, History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Cambridgeshire 1851:-
Foxton Parish, which is situated on the river Rhea contains 1682 acres; its population in 1801 was 399, in 1831, 403 and in 1841, 452 souls. The amount of assessed property is £1018. The principal landowners are John Bendyshe, Esq., Miss Elizabeth Hurrell, and Mrs. Mary Metcalfe.
Manors, - The principal manor, called Bury, or Foxton Chatteris, belonged to the nuns of Chatteris, and was purchased of Henry VIII, by Sir Ralph Warren, the daughter and heir of whose son brought it in marriage to Sir Oliver Cromwell, who gave it to his son-in-law Sir Henry Palavicini. It was afterwards in the family of Hatton of Long Stanton, and the Mitchels, and in 1786 it was purchased of Thomas Parker, Esq., by Richard Bendyshe, Esq., the present proprietor. The manor of Mortimer's, from the family of that name who held it in the reign of Edward I., after having passed through the families of Radcliffe, Harlyng, Chamberlayne, and Scrope, was purchased about the year 1700 of the latter family by Thomas Bendyshe, ancestor of John Bendyshe, Esq. the present proprietor.
There were anciently two smaller manors or regalities here, one of which was called Wimbish, which now belong also to Mr Bendyshe.
The Village of Foxton, which was formerly a market-town, by virtue of a charter granted to the family of De la Hayes, who possessed a manor here in 1325, stands about 7 miles south from Cambridge, and the same distance N.E. from Royston. This charter gave the privilege also of holding two fairs annually on the feasts of SS. Peter and Paul, and of St. Andrew, and was confirmed in 1366.
The Church, dedicated to St. Lawrence, is supposed to have been built about the year 1456, and is in excellent repair, with all the ancient open seats. The living is a vicarage in the deanery of Barton, patronage of the bishop of Ely, and incumbency of the Rev. Joseph Walter Berry, M.A. It was valued in the K.B. at £11. 2s. 11d., and is now worth £100. per annum. The church was formerly appropriated to the almonry of Ely; it now belongs to the dean and chapter, under whom the rectory is leased by Miss Hurrell and Mrs. Metcalfe.
The Charities consist of 6a. 2r. 10p. of land, let to 24 labourers for 5s. per rood, and 2s. extra for tithes.
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Berry Rev.J.W.,M.A. vicar Farmers Fletcher John Fletcher William Gifford William Heffer William Park William Salmon William |
Salmon Joseph Sanxter Frederick Spark Peter Underwood Elizabeth Warren William
Traders Bateson John, blacksmith |
Gifford Dd., bricklayer Ilett Thos., shopkeeper Neale Chas., vict. Blackmoor's Head Pearse John, shopkeeper Pink John, carpenter Speed Fred, tailor and beer retailer |
Letters are received through the Cambridge Post Office
A General view of the agriculture of Cambridgeshire
by Charles Vancouver June 1794
Foxton
The herbage in the enclosures here, indicate a warm, and gentle soil, but the land appears to be greatly annoyed, by pollard trees, which give the appearance of an old dilapidated forest. Some of the buildings also, appear in a delapsed state. On the north side of the village, very good turnip land; on the south, a tender, well stapled white loam, lying upon a chalk; thence ascending the hill, the soil loses its strength, and staple, but descending towards Foulmire and Triplow, the staple encreases, and the chalky land is lost, in a brown, gravely loam, lying upon a gravel. Cinquefoil is cultivated by Mr. Hurrell, whose sheep appear to be of a superior quality, though of the Cambridgeshire breed. His lambs are early, very thriving, and some of them fat.