Great Chishill () is a village and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, now in the parish of Great and Little Chishill, in the

South Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district of Cambridgeshire, England, with a population of 162,119 at the 2021 census. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of Chesterton Rural District and South Cambri ...

district, in the county of

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, England. The village is about east of the county boundary with

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

and about east of Royston. In 1961 the parish had a population of 293. The 2011 Census recorded Great and Little Chishill's population as 678. The parish was part of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

until 1895, when the county boundary was revised. On 26 January 1929 the parish was renamed from "Great Chishall" to "Great Chishill". On 1 April 1968 the parish was abolished to form "Great and Little Chishill". The highest point of the current administrative county of Cambridgeshire, above sea level, is about east of St Swithun's parish church. However, as Great Chishill was historically a part of Essex (having been moved in boundary changes in 1895), the historic county top of Cambridgeshire is about to the east of Great Chishill close to the village of

Castle Camps Castle Camps was a Norman Castle located in what is now the civil parish of Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire. Owners Castle Camps was originally a Saxon manor, belonging to Wulfwin, a Thane of King Edward the Confessor. After the Norman invasion, ...

where a point on the disused RAF airfield reaches a height of above sea level (grid reference TL 63282 41881). The highest point of Essex, Chrishall Common and the

triple point In thermodynamics, the triple point of a substance is the temperature and pressure at which the three Phase (matter), phases (gas, liquid, and solid) of that substance coexist in thermodynamic equilibrium.. It is that temperature and pressure at ...

, Essex and Hertfordshire are near each other about south of Great Chishill.

Toponym and manors

The

place-name Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for a proper nam ...

"Chishill" or "Chishall" is derived from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''Cishella'', meaning "gravelly hill". The ''

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

'' of 1086 records that in the reign of

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex. Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeede ...

Ulfeih, a freeman, had held ''Cishella'' and Sired, a freeman, had held Little ''Cishella''.

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

granted Cishella to Henry de Farers and Little Cishella to Count Eustace of Boulogne. Great Chishill was divided into five manors, the Manor of Cardens, alias Bassets Hall, the Manor of Belknaps, the Manor of Tewes alias Lisles, the Manor of Friers alias Chishall-Grange and the Manor of Chishall alias Over Chishall-Hall. There is still a farmhouse, Hall Farm, on the latter site, on the east side of the village.

Church and chapel

Church of England

The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

of St

Swithun Swithun (or Swithin; ; ; died 863) was an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester and subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. His historical importance as bishop is overshadowed by his reputation for posthumous miracle-working. Accordin ...

was founded in 1136 by Geffrey de Magnaville under the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

Walden Abbey. The first recorded vicar was Anselm De Flempton, 14 May 1327. The church is built of

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

with

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and

clunch Clunch is a traditional building material of chalky limestone rock used mainly in eastern England and Normandy. Clunch distinguishes itself from archetypal forms of limestone by being softer in character when cut, and may resemble chalk in lowe ...

dressings. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and part of the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

are 13th-century. The nave has north and south

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s. The south arcade is of four bays and was built about 1275. The chancel was rebuilt about 1330. The north arcade is later, and is

Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...

. The lower part of the west tower was also 14th-century, and the upper part was 15th-century. But the tower collapsed in 1892 and was rebuilt in 1897. At the same time the nave and aisles were

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004, by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard Aus ...

under the direction of the architect

Francis Penrose Francis Cranmer Penrose Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (29 October 1817 – 15 February 1903) was an English architect, archaeologist, astronomer and rowing (sport), sportsman rower. He served as Surveyor of the Fabric of St Paul's Cathedral ...

. In August 1892 the architect Alfred Hoare Powell cycled from Barrington to see the collapsed tower. He wrote home "The tower was all built of flints and had an iron band all round it which the vicar and churchwardens agreed in thinking very unslightly and so removed it!! with such consequences". The west tower has a

ring (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

of five bells. William and Philip Wightman of London cast the treble, second, third and fourth bells in 1686. Thomas II Mears of the

Whitechapel Bell Foundry The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bells ...

cast the tenor bell in 1841. A new ringing floor was inserted in the tower in 2000. The church is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. St Swithun's parish is part of the

Diocese of Chelmsford The Diocese of Chelmsford is a Church of England diocese, part of the Province of Canterbury. It was created on 23 January 1914 from part of the Diocese of St Albans. It covers Essex and part of East London. Since 1984 it is divided into three ...

United Reformed

A Congregational chapel was established in 1694. On the 22 February 1789 a fire broke out in its vestry house in Barley Road and quickly spread throughout the village, destroying many houses and setting light to the tower of St Swithun's parish church. There were no deaths. The Congregational chapel was rebuilt 1894. It is now a

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theolog ...

Economic and social history

Windmill

Chishill windmill is about west of the village on the B1039 road to

Barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

. The first surviving record of a mill here is from 1592. The first recorded owners were the Cooke family and the first recorded miller was Joseph Rule in 1677. The last miller was William Pegram, who stopped working the mill in 1951. The present windmill is a

post mill The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single central vertical post. The vertical post is supported by four quarter bars. These ar ...

, possibly rebuilt in 1819 with materials from a previous mill dating from 1726. A

stud Stud may refer to: Animals * Stud (animal), an animal retained for breeding ** Stud farm, a property where livestock are bred Arts and entertainment * Stud (band), a British progressive rock group * The Stud (bar), a gay bar in San Francisco * ...

inside the mill is inscribed "1712". The main post was renewed in 1868 and patent sails were fitted about 1912. It is a Grade II* listed building. In the 1960s

Cambridgeshire County Council Cambridgeshire County Council is the county council for non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county, which additionally includes the City o ...

bought the mill, conserved it and opened to the public. After the

Coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

2010 spending review A spending review, or occasionally a comprehensive spending review, is a governmental process in the United Kingdom carried out by HM Treasury to set firm expenditure limits and, through public service agreements, define the key improvements that ...

the council closed the windmill to the public. In February 2012 it transferred the freehold of the mill to the Great Chishill Windmill Trust, which planned to restore the mill and reopen it to the public. After seven years the restoration of the Mill was completed at a cost of £100,000; raised from donations and grants from both the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and Historic England. The mill was formally opened on 8 June 2019 by pop star

Sam Smith Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. In 2012, they rose to prominence when they featured on Disclosure (band), Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch (song), Latch", which peaked at number eleven on ...

, who grew up in the village and worked at the local shop in

Trades and amenities

In 1886

Kelly's Directory Kelly's Directory (or more formally, the Kelly's, Post Office and Harrod & Co Directory) was a trade directory in Britain that listed all businesses and tradespeople in a particular city or town, as well as a general directory of postal addresses ...

of Essex recorded that the parish had bakers, butchers, wheelwrights, bricklayers, dressmakers, six farms in Great Chishill and one in

Little Chishill Little Chishill is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Great and Little Chishill, in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is south of the village of Great Chishill. In 1961 the par ...

, with their attendant labourers. There were two public houses: the White Horse and The Plough (now The Pheasant). There was a shop and post office and a parish school for 100 children. The shop closed in the late 1970s and the school on 2 April 1971. The Pheasant pub is still trading. The village has a playing field and sports pavilion, and a village hall built in 1982. Two farms are still worked in Great Chishill and one in Little Chishill. The

1991 Census It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union collapsed, leaving fifteen sovereign republics and the CIS in its place. In July 1991, India abandoned its policies of dirigism, license r ...

recorded 237 dwellings and a population of 634 in Great and Little Chishill parish. The ''

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

'' records that on 10 September 1983 Ben Palmer, a local farmer, and Owen North, the local baker, produced loaves of bread from the wheat in the field in 40 minutes 44 seconds.

References

https://www.saffronwaldenreporter.co.uk/news/saffron-walden-s-sam-smith-wins-oscar-5336550

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Great & Little Chishill
{{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Former civil parishes in Cambridgeshire Highest points of English counties Hills of Cambridgeshire Villages in the United Kingdom South Cambridgeshire District