INTRODUCTION TO THE VILLAGE

HISTORY

    The name Wood Ditton is thought to have originated from 'the wood at the end of the ditch'. In the middle ages vast woodlands covered the clay lands to the south and west of the village. The Devil's Ditch, the 7 mile long Anglo-Saxon earthworks, ran from the edge of those woodlands in a north-westerly direction to the village of Reach, in the swampy, undrained fenlands. It would have provided a virtually impenetrable barrier to cattle stealing or incursions by hostile forces coming from Romanised Britain in the west. Local legend has it that the Ditch was thrown up overnight, but such is the height of the embankment (over 50 feet in places) it is likely that the work took an army of men several years to complete. For more about its history and an account of the Ditch as it is today select here
Strong evidence exists of ancient settlements in the area. For an example go the Multimap.com web site select here. This shows the area known as Dane Bottom, just on the eastern side of the Devil's Ditch where the Icknield Way path runs across on its way to Wood Ditton Church. The markings still clearly visible suggest the possibility of a settlement or garrison, to defend the Icknield Way crossing of the Ditch.

The following notes have been taken from parish records dated 1850 and records of the Cheveley Estate made in 1896.

Before the Norman Conquest the Manor of Wood Ditton (Ditone) belonged to Canute the Great but afterwards King William I held Ditton Manor and it was farmed by William de Nowers. The Manor was later divided into two separate Manors, Ditton Valence and Ditton Camois which were successively and collaterally held by the families of de Valence Earls of Pembroke, and de Camois.

It can be said of the two original families that Lord Camois was famous for commanding the left wing of Henry V's Army at Agincourt. William de Valence, Earl of Pembroke "who was half brother on the spindle side to Henry III" was a valiant soldier and mighty hunter.
During the reign of Edward III Ditton Camois was held by William de Pulteney "by the service of a pair of gilt spurs". The Manor was then worth £20 per annum.
Around 1500 it came into the hands of the Cotton family who successively held it for most of the 16th century, having received knighthoods for military services to Kings Henry VI and VII.
Jasper Tudor (Earl of Pembroke) held Ditton Valence around 1450, followed by the Oldhall family, Henry VIII and Sir Giles Capel.
The Wendy family owned both Manors during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Dr Wendy was physician to Henry VIII and witnessed his last will and testament.

Under James I rule the Coningsbury family became the Manor holders, being descendants of Judge Coningsby at the time of Henry VIII. Thomas Coningsby backed Charles I but was imprisoned by the parliamentarians in 1643. In 1652 his son, also named Thomas married Barbara, daughter of Ferdinando Georges, "a merchant from Barbadoes, who contrived to possess himself of some of the Coningsby estates. The misdeeds of Georges resulted in ruinous loss to his son-in-law from which he could never extricate himself". After lengthy litigation the estates were restored to the original owners and Lord Coningsby supported William of Orange in his Irish campaign. Roger and Mary Coningsby sold Valence to the Duke of Somerset in 1736.
The Viscounts Scudamore held Ditton Camois from the time of Charles II until in 1736 both Manors were bought by Charles Duke of Somerset to add to his already very extensive land holdings in the area.
Other names associated with Manor holdings are Pakenham, Lovayne and Benstead but no specific periods for them are known.

From around 1750 to the end of the 19th century the principle Lords of the Manor of Wood Ditton were the Manners family, who from the middle ages had been the inheritors of the title of Earl and later Duke of Rutland. John Manners (1721-1770), Marquis of Granby and eldest son of John the 3rd Duke of Rutland, had received the lands in marriage with Frances, the eldest daughter by the second marriage of Charles the 6th Duke of Somerset. Horace Walpole, a contemporary writer, said of the marriage: "she had squandered much money on fripperies and her allowance of 4000l had to be set aside for two years to pay off her debts. He was in debt to the sum of 10000l". Nevertheless he and the Marchioness enjoyed a high life style, having become the owners of several Manors in addition to Camois and Valence. John Manners became a Lieutenant-general and the Member for Cambridgeshire in 1754. He was a very popular figure in the country and many inns were given the name 'Marquis of Granby' in his honour (including one in Wood Ditton).
Subsequently the ownership of the lands remained with successive Dukes of Rutland and the Manners family until Lord John James the 7th Duke (died 1906)
The last of the family dynasty to occupy Cheveley Park Mansion was Colonel Lord George John Manners M.P. for Cambridgeshire and Lady Adeliza Manners. After Lord George died in 1874 his widow and son continued to live in the Mansion until Col Harry McCalmont (1861 -1902) bought the estate in 1892 after having previously leased it.
Harry McCalmont, who in 1888 inherited around four million pounds from an uncle, became a significant local figure. As the new owner of much of the land previously in the hands of the Manners family he also assumed the title of Lord of the Manor. He became Member of Parliament for Newmarket and a Justice of the Peace and distinguished himself as a soldier in the South African campaign. He also earned much respect as a well known local sportsman and benefactor. In 1899 he paid for extensive repairs and improvements to Wood Ditton Church and also made generous contributions to Cheveley Church. He continued to build houses with distinctive architectural features that had originally been designed for the 6th Duke of Rutland's employees. Two pairs of these houses stand along the Stetchworth Road, two pairs in Ditton Green and another pair in The Street, Saxon Street. They are still known by the older people as 'The McCalmont houses'. The inscription 'H McC' or 'D R' on the front indicates whether they were built during the Duke's or McCalmont's ownership.
After the death of Harry McCalmont in 1902 and eventually his widow, the estate broke up into various ownerships and Cheveley Park Mansion was demolished in the nineteen twenties.

Up to World War II Wood Ditton depended heavily on agriculture as it had for centuries, with the majority of the male population working on the land or associated trades. An 1881 census showed that 107 men out of the 140 working population were agricultural labourers.
After the end of the war, with increasing mechanisation the drift to other work outside the village accelerated. However a census of village occupations carried out by Wood Ditton school children in the mid nineteen-fifties still showed farming as the main employment (36), stud workers 18, road workers 9, drivers 8, factory workers 8, carpenters 7, garage workers 4, railway workers 3. Interestingly there were also 2 shoemenders, 1 blacksmith, a coal merchant and a fishmonger.

The parish of Wood Ditton once included a large part of the town of Newmarket, south-east of the High Street. County boundary changes in 1895 moved the Suffolk and Cambridgeshire border and this reduced the part of the parish in Newmarket town to the area south-east of the railway line, which is the position today.

The following passage taken from the Introduction to the book 'Memorial of a Country Vicar' by the Rev. Josiah Walker, B.C.L. vicar of Wood Ditton 1847 - 1882 gives an idea of what Wood Ditton was like at the time he took over the vicarage.
"The population of 1400 souls lay scattered widely, sometimes in small clusters or hamlets, sometimes in detached knots of one or two cottages, over an area of nearly five thousand acres, intersected by some twelve miles of wild and muddy road. There was no school, but a petty-dame school or two here and there; there was no parsonage house, but a tumble-down cottage tenanted by labourers; the church stood alone in its beauty, far away in the fields from all but a single farmhouse and one row of half-a-dozen cottages. Everything which should be in evidence or an instrument of Church work had to be provided, and - though the whole parish belonged to the Duke of Rutland, whose kindly sympathy and regard were with Mr Walker to the close of his life - those who know anything of country life can understand the weight lying on clerical shoulders when the lord of the soil is a great non-resident nobleman, obliged to trust his work and influence to paid agents on his several estates."
"The vicarage house was built, new and handsome schools rose up; the services of the Church gained new life and beauty".

Local family names that go back at least to the beginning of the 19th century include Daines, Briggs, Burling, Bye, Chapman, Clayden, Coe, Gardner, Gent, Hazlewood (or Hazelwood), Isaackson, Jaggard, Jeffrey, Jennings, Starling, Surrage, Simonds (or Symonds), Taylor, Tilbrooke, Turner, Wallage, Wilson, Wiseman, Woollard and Wright. Jaggardes were recorded living in the village in the 16th century.
The Three Blackbirds public house (formerly known as 'The Blackbirds') is thought to date from the 17th century as do the adjacent three terraced cottages. Rose Abbey Farmhouse is also very old. The Beeches, Ditton Green has deeds going back to the 18th century and Parsonage Farm has surviving Tudor parts. The old flint house in West End that was the village shop and sub-post office up to the nineteen forties was built in 1833. Wood Ditton school, now a private residence, was built in 1847 as a 'national school' and by 1850 had about 120 children attending. The old red brick vicarage, now known as Hambleton House, was built about the same time as the school.
Woodditton Stud was founded in 1851, for a brief history and pictures of the stud select here
Up to the late nineteen forties most of the villagers drew their drinking water either from wells or from the several village taps, one of which is pictured right. This one, by the gate to Rose Abbey Farmhouse, is in original condition except that it cannot be used.

'The Great English Burglar'
Mark Jeffrey came to be known as 'The great English burglar' when he ended his days in Launceston Tasmania. He and his brother were born in Wood Ditton where they spent their early life before falling into crime. Read about the tragic life of this remarkable man who lived to repent his ways and give a warning to the younger generation. select here

The Kilbourne Connection
The first half of the 17th century was a period of great turbulence in the country with the population's loyalty divided between the King, Charles I, and the Parliamentarians. The English Civil War culminated in the execution of Charles I in 1649. What must life have been like in Wood Ditton during those times? In 1632 the then Churchwarden, Thomas Kilbourne, made the brave decision to start a new life in one of the newly formed settlements in New England. There are now many descendants of Thomas and his wife Francis (Moody) in the U.S.A. One of them, Donald Kilburn, has researched the family history and its Wood Ditton connection, to read some of his findings and unanswered questions select here

For an insight into life in the village at the end of the 19th century see extracts from The Parish Magazine of 1898 select here

Memories of Camois Hall The old hall was demolished in the nineteen sixties after becoming too costly to maintain. Go to the special page select here

The Revd. Stanley Austin
Those old enough to remember the Revd. Stanley Austin M.A., vicar of Wood Ditton from 1925 to 1937, will recall an intellectual but somewhat eccentric vicar who lived with his sister at the vicarage. He was a friend of the great equestrian artist Sir Alfred Munnings and he had a passion for horse riding and the hunt, often visiting his parishoners on horseback. His horse was known as "Roarer" from the noise it made when galloping. Jack Scrivener recalls him acquiring the local title of "the flying parson" as he had a friend who sometimes brought him home from Cambridge in a small Moth biplane, landing in a field near the vicarage. He was a keen sportsman and sometimes invited visiting tradesmen to engage him in a round or two with the boxing gloves in his stable.
In 1937 Stanley Austin moved to the parish of Withersfield and was eventually buried in front of the church, near to the road, "so that he could hear the Thurlow Hunt gallop by."
The following anecdote is told in a book by Michael Brander:
When burying one of his old friends at the end of the last war on a bitter, freezing, hard morning, when the slings slipped, letting the coffin fall with a resounding crash into the grave, the Rector relieved the tension by words not in the order of service: "Poor old Charles. You never took a toss like that out hunting."

Herbert Cook (1918 - 2004)
Herbert was born in Wood Ditton and, apart from his years in the army before and during the war, spent most of his life in the village. He died in January 2004 aged 85 and is buried in Wood Ditton churchyard. Herbert was a deep thinking man who cared about his village and the environment. He was also an artist and a poet of considerable talent. Thanks to Herbert's daughter April we are able to reproduce two of his more serious and contemplative poems. The first one "In Autumn's Time of Year" written in 1986, was read at his funeral service. The second entitled "Why" is as relevant today as it ever was. To read them now select here

Roll of Honour for the men of the parish lost in two World Wars. select here
A letter from one of the village men written shortly before he died. select here

Wood Ditton during World War II.The war in Europe officially ended on 8th May 1945, and the war with Japan on 15th August of the same year. Read what life was like in the village during those five terrible years, select here

'Dad's Army' the Home Guard of 1940 - 1944.
April 2003 Sonny Cates is the only living member of the Wood Ditton & Saxon Street platoon during the Home Guard's early years. Read his story select here
Since this article was written another surviving member of the Wood Ditton Home Guard has spoken up. Jim Hazlewood was born in the village and was a member of the platoon in 1943, just before going into the army. Jim now lives in the Liverpool area

Saxon Street
    Saxon Street probably had its origins as an Anglo-Saxon settlement alongside the Roman road, Icknield Way, which skirts the hamlet, 'Street' suggesting Roman connections. The Doomsday Book records the place as Sextone, and Saxham in later records. The early history of land ownership is probably very similar to that of Wood Ditton.
Saxon Hall, or Saxton Hall as it was originally known was a separate Manor with very early origins, probably going back to the 11th century, its lands extending into part of present day Newmarket. The present owners have retained the title, although the existing house was built in the mid-20th century on the site of an older house. In the 17th century Saxton Hall was associated with the great horse-racing personalities Lord Sidney Godolphin and William Tregonwell Frampton. The former was Lord of the Manor of Saxton Hall and the latter, known as 'The Father of the Turf', lived there as his tenant.

For pictures of old Saxon Street select here

Wood Ditton probably taken in the early nineteen thirties, before the kerbs and paths were laid.
Another picture supplied by Jim Hazlewood, who was born and spent his early life in Little Ditton.

The old 'Marquis of Granby' pub together with the British Legion Hall
affectionally known as 'The Legion'. The Granby was situated on the unofficial
dividing line between 'Big Ditton' and Little Ditton. It was demolished in the
early nineteen eighties and the site is now occupied by private housing.
Picture by courtesy of Dale Steggles

Early O.S. Map 1836 - Note village title 'Wood Ditton'
and the absence of many familiar present day buildings

Family History and Genealogy Many people these days have an interest in tracing their family roots but this can be a very painstaking and time consuming pastime. We are indebted to Debbie Byrne of Stuntney who has had several years experience of researching this subject and gives this advice:

www.ancestry.co.uk a brilliant site through which you can access all the England and Wales censuses from 1841-1901, the Scottish censuses of 1841 & 1851,and all the civil registrations of birth death and marriages in England and Wales from 1837 to the 1900s. It is a pay per view site but they do offer a 14 day free trial during which you get unlimited access to the records. There are various payment options (I currently pay about £10 per month for unlimited access). Very easy to use. and I've found it invaluable.

www.1837online.com Again this is a pay per view site which gives access to all the civil registrations in England and Wales from 1837 to the 1900s and the 1861 & 1891 England and Wales Censuses. It is not so easy to use as ancestry .co.uk and it is easier to waste money looking at the wrong details. It is, however, the site you must use to order birth marriage and death certificates which are often vital to identify the parents of ancestors and so get back another generation. This site also has a lot of military records including births and marriages of forces serving overseas dating back to the 1800s.

www.familysearch.com Another good site and this time it's free! It gives access to the International Geneaological Index compiled from parish records around the world. The details go back, in some cases, to the 1500s and up to about 1840 and show christening dates with the names of parents and marriage dates with the names of spouses. There is also free access to the 1881 England and Wales census

There are other sites such as GENUKI which give details of the area of interest and links to other sites such as family history societies. The sites above, though, are great for getting the basics of who lived when and where. The only problem wiith family history is that not everyone got married or had their children christened and it wasn't compulsory to register births, deaths and marriages until 1870. However, the later generations can usually be found on the censuses.

Extract from Parish Magazine, 1898	Village personalities
The Church	More Wood Ditton history pictues
Saxon Street history pictures	Stetchworth history pictures
Go to Newmarket Local History Society page	Links to related sites
British History (Wood Ditton) An excellent site for in depth information on the history of the village	History notes on St Mary's Church & the Devil's Ditch by Ben Colburn and Mark Ynys-Mon
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