Tydd St. Mary

Description and Travel

Tydd St. Mary is both a village and parish about 105 miles north of London, about nine miles east of Spalding and five miles north of Wisbech and a mile south of the A17 trunk road. It includes the hamlet of Tydd Gote (part of which is in Cambridgeshire). The parish sits like a cap on top of Cambridgeshire, with a short tail trailing off to the southwest. Sutton Bridge parish lies to the northeast and Tydd St. Giles (in Cambridge) lies to the south. The River Nene forms a portion of the eastern boundary and the South Holland Main Drain a portion of the northern border. The area is flat and marshy Fen land and covers over 4,600 acres.

Tydd Gote (or Gowt) is a hamlet in the parish, about a half mile south of Tydd St. Mary and it lies partly in Lincolnshire and partly in Tydd St. Giles, Cambridgeshire. If you are planning a visit:

• The parish is home to a Football Club that formed in the 1970s.
  
  
• See our touring page for visitor services.
  
  

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Census

• Tydd St. Mary is part of the Long Sutton sub-district of the Holbeach Registration District.
  
  
• Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
  
  
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
  
  

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Church History

• The Anglican Church is dedicated to St. Mary.
  
  
• The church has some portions of the structure dating back to around 1200.
  
  
• Here is a photo of St. Mary's Church taken by Ron Cole (who retains the copyright):
  
  

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Church Records

• Parish registers exist from 1540.
  
  
• We have a partial Register Extract for St. Mary's. Your contributions would be appreciated.
  
  
• The Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City has the parish register on microfilms covering 1540 to 1987 and the Bishop's transcripts from 1561 to 1851 on another microfilm. Parish register printouts are also available on microfilm from the FHL.
  
  
• Check the marriage and burial indexes available for the East Elloe Deanery.
  
  
• The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel here, as did the Primitive and Free Church Methodists who built theirs in Tydd Gote. For information and assistance in researching these chapels, see our non-conformist religions page.
  
  
• Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
  
  

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Civil Registration

• Tydd St. Mary was part of the Long Sutton sub-district of the Holbeach Registration District.
  
  
• Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which started in July, 1837.
  
  

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Maps

• The national grid reference is TF 4418.
  
  
• You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer #235 map, which has 2.5 inches to the mile scale.
  
  
• See our Maps page for additional resources.
  
  

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Military History

• The Royal Flying Corps opened an airfield here in August 1917.
  
  
• The airfield was closed in May 1919 and returned to agricultural use.
  
  
• The field is now listed under the Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust.
  
  

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Names, Geographical

The name Tydd is from the Old English tydd, or "shrubs or brushwood".
[A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991]

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Occupations

• Woad was harvested and processed in this area until the 1920's. See "Woad in the Fens", Norman T. Wills, published by L.J. Ruskin & sons (3rd Ed. 1979).
  
  

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Politics and Government

• This place was an ancient parish in Lincolnshire and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
  
  
• The parish was in the ancient Elloe Wapentake in the South Holland district in the parts of Holland.
  
  
• This Civil Parish was reduced in size when Central WIngland Civil Parish was created in Noivember, 1897.
  
  
• In April, 1932, the Civil Parish borders were changed by 16 acres transfered to Sutton Bridge Civil Parish and 28 acres received from that same parish.
  
  
• On that same date, this Civil Parish gained 139 acres from Tydd St. Giles Civil Parish in return for 103 acres given to that same parish.
  
  
• You can contact the local Parish Council concerning civic or political issues, but they are NOT staffed to assist you with family history searches.
  
  
• For today's district governance, visit the South Holland District Council site.
  
  
• The parish is also part of the Fenland District Council.
  
  

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Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• After the Poor Law Reform Act in 1834, the parish became part of the Holbeach Poor Law Union.
  
  

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Population

Year	Inhabitants
1801	607
1811	629
1831	960
1841	920
1851	1,107
1871	974
1881	928
1891	837
1901	821
1911	854
1921	1,026
1951	911
1971	687

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Schools

• The Free School was founded in 1740 by Dame Martha Trafford, who left £165 to fund it. It was enlarged in 1888.
  
  
• A National School for infants was built here prior to 1900.
  
  
• The parish school, built in 1961, is in the south end of the village and the address is:
  Churchway
  Tydd St Mary
  Wisbech PE13 5QY
  ENGLAND
  Tele: 01945 420269
  
  
• The school has a website, but no family or school history data.
  
  
• For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.
  
  

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