Tydd St Giles

The derivation of the name 'Tydd' is said to come from the Saxon 'Tid' or 'Tide',[2] as the village was home to an important sluice used for draining the Fens. Although many Fenland names derive from Anglo-Saxon words, a few scattered around Wisbech include Anglo-Saxon words referencing the native British population. Although the village is old enough, it does not appear in the Domesday Book, because the village was in the liberty of the Bishop of Ely.[3]

Tydd St Giles was founded in the late 11th century with the building of the church of St. Giles in 1084 on a natural rise in the land of the Fens. The church was built of Barnack stone, known to be the gift of the Bishop of Peterborough.

The village had three guilds: the Guild of our Lady (1350), the Guild of the Holy Cross (1385) and the Guild of St Giles (1386).

The village is completely low-lying, with an average altitude of zero metres.[4] The village is roughly square shaped (formed by the four main roads of Church Lane, Hockland Road, High Broadgate and Newgate Road). The eastern side of the village is dominated by the Norman church. The western side of the village is dominated by the Community Centre, a large blue roofed barn-like structure.

The civil parish of Tydd St. Giles also includes the hamlets of Foul Anchor,[5] and part of Tydd Gote which lies partly in Tydd St Giles[6] and partly in Tydd St Mary in Lincolnshire.[7] the village has no direct "A" road access, but is joined to the A1101 by the B1165. Tydd St Giles is in the (old) Wisbech postal district, and is the northernmost settlement in Cambridgeshire. It is also the northernmost, and last, parish in the Diocese of Ely. This is enhanced by the fact that the traditional county and diocesan bound is Eau Dyke, to the north of the village.

Eau dyke is the only natural watercourse in the village, as it follows the course of the old Cat River. Across the southern boundary of the village runs a part of the North Level Main Drain. The drain is a vital part to the draining and continuing existence of the Fens. The drain then joins the River Nene at Foul Anchor, after passing through a pumping station, that brings the water up to the level of the river.

Although the village is officially recorded at an altitude of zero metres, the age of the settlement, and the vowels "i" and "y" in the village name suggest that it stands on a low mound that would have been above the surface of the fen. It is certain that the village was inhabitable before the 16th and 17th Century draining of the fen, because of the age of the church.

A survey of 1868 described it thus: "TYDD ST. GILES, a parish in the hundred of Wisbech, Isle of Ely, county Cambridge, 5 miles north-west of Wisbech, its post town, and 6 from St. Mary Sutton. The preparation of woad for dyeing is carried on. The construction of the Bedford Level canal, which is 100 feet wide and 30 feet deep, has greatly improved the quality of the land. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely, value £653, in the patronage of the bishop. The church is dedicated to St. Giles. The parochial charities produce about £80 per annum. There is an endowed school, and the Independents have a chapel."[8]

The first level of local government in the village is Tydd St Giles Parish Council, the village (as of 2022) is in Roman Bank Ward of Fenland District Council.[9]

The village is in the North East Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency. The local polling station is in the community centre to the west of the village.

The Norman church dedicated to St. Giles, dominates the eastern side of the village. The church, although extensively redesigned in the 19th century (see below), still retains its Norman architecture and feel. The West Window was designed by Alan of Walsingham, the designer of the famous "octagon" lantern on Ely Cathedral, this rare clear glass medieval window (which survived the depredations of Oliver Cromwell) fills the whole of the western end of the building. All of the woodwork and pews in the church are later Victorian additions.

In the Lady Chapel there are still some remnants of the church's original medieval stained glass, the rest of the church's stained glass is Victorian. The East Window shows the life and passion of Jesus Christ, while the North-Western Window depicts the church's (and village's) patron saint, Saint Giles and St. Paul (one of the patrons of the Church of Ss. Peter & Paul in Wisbech).

The outer southern wall of the church still has the remains of a medieval sundial, which was in use when the church was a cell of the priory in Wisbech.

The War Memorial for the parish of Tydd St. Giles and Foul Anchor commemorates twelve men who died in the First World War and three dead from the Second World War.

An inscription reads: "Fallen from this parish in the Great Wars 1914–18 and 1939–1945."

The village is home to a local charity, Brigstock & Wren (B&W). B&W was recognised as a charity in 1910, to help people in the parish. At the time of the charity's founding it managed 29 acres (12 ha) of land and three cottages in Tydd St. Giles, B&W also controlled 12 acres (5 ha) of land in Sutton St. Edmund. The aid from B&W generally comes in the form of money, although sometimes items will be bought for applicants considered worthy of aid. The committee of B&W consists mostly of local landowners, all elected by the wider membership. The parish priest is an ex officio member of the committee.

B&W was originated in the British attack on the Dutch in Sole Bay in 1672. One of the officers involved was Matthew Wren, son of the Bishop of Ely. In his will (written just before the attack), Wren left 15 acres (6 ha) of Low Marsh to the poor of the village. By 1837, the Charities Commissioners also acknowledged that John Brigstock had left land to the poor in 1667, although Brigstock never owned the land. He had merely controlled the land for an older charity (whose name is now lost), and his name was on the deeds[3]

The village is home to a microbrewery, Tydd Steam, founded in 2007. The plant can produce 2500 litres per brew. It is in a renovated and converted barn, formerly used as a garage for two of the farm's steam ploughs, now kept in the Museum of Lincolnshire Life in Lincoln.[14]

In 2018 Tydd Steam won a Campaign for Real Ale silver award for one of its beers.[15]

The village has seven listed buildings in its "historic centre" (around Church Lane and Kirkgate).[16] Two of these are the Church and Tower. Also included are the "Old School", a Victorian primary school building and school master's house on Church Lane, which has fallen into disrepair. The Old Tithe house (also on Church Lane) is a Grade I listed building, that was part of the parish properties (and used as a parish hall). For centuries it was not used, but was bought by a local member of SPAB, and restored. The other notable building is the Grade 1 listed Elizabethan manor house (Tydd Manor).[3]

On Hockland Road is Paget Hall, a Grade II listed building and former rectory. It was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott for his brother Rev'd Canon John Scott, then Rector of the parish. It was built in 1868, about the time the church was renovated.[17] The Wisbech Chronicle (8 August 1868) described it: "A new Rectory house now occupies the site of the mean and dilapidated tenement which formerly stood upon it; and when we say that it was designed by Mr Gilbert Scott, it will be inferred that it is an ornament to the place, as well as a convenient and commodious abode for the Incumbent. Standing upon elevated ground, among clumps and avenues of trees in which it is encircled, it presents a picturesque and striking appearance, and gives an air of life and importance to its surroundings".

The village has a school - Kinderley County Primary School. It was opened in 1987 following the merger of Colvile school in Newton-in-the-Isle and Tydd St Giles School, in 1990 it had 84 children on the school roll, with a capacity of 90.[16]