LITTLE SHELFORD is a parish on the Cam, about half a mile west from Shelford station on the Bishop's Stortford and Cambridge branch of the Great Eastern Railway and 5 south-by-east from Cambridge, in the Western division of the county, hundred of Thriplow union of Chesterton, petty sessional division and county court district of Cambridge, rural deanery of Barton and archdeaconry and diocese of Ely. The church of All Saints, formerly belonging to the de Freville family, lords of the manor, is a curious and interesting building of stone in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, embattled nave, south chapel, south porch and a western tower of the Decorated period containing 5 bells: the nave incorporates some Norman work: both chancel and nave have wagon roofs: the south chapel, which is on a higher level than the rest of the building, is entered by several steps and has an elaborate niche, piscina, bracket and a singular hagioscope: in the chapel are memorials to the Ingle family, afterwards Finch, and on the floor are two small but beautiful brasses, with effigies, to Robert de Freville, ob. 1393, and Claricia his wife; and to his son Thomas de Freville, ob. 1405, and Margaret his wife ob. 1410: in the chancel, under a richly moulded ogee canopy, with crockets and flanked by pinnacled buttresses, is a large and very beautiful altar tomb, of the Late Decorated period, with recumbent effigy in armour and inscription in Norman-French, to Sir John Freville, and near it a recessed monumental arch, of the Decorated period, now inclosing a Perpendicular doorway leading into the sacristy: the font is Decorated, and consists of an octagonal basin on four engaged shafts: the chancel stalls have traceried panels and a cresting, the panels being enriched with the ermine spots and crescents of the Freville arms: in the nave is a small brass effigy of a priest, assumed to represent John Cate, rector, ob. 1445: on one side of the arch leading to the chapel is a brass inscription, claiming the chapel as the property of the lords of the manor: there are two tombs of late date, one of which is to Francis Worsley, and bears his arms; the other displays the coat of Manning: near the porch are a number of coffin slabs of the 12th century, and a Runic slab, built into the wall: the church was thoroughly restored in 1878-9, at a cost of £1,686, and affords 150 sittings: in the churchyard is a cross, which has also been restored. The register of baptisms and burials dates from the year 1686; marriages, 1688. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £300, derived from 252 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of St. Catharine's College, Cambridge, and held since 1892 by the Rev. Edwin Trevor Septimus Carr M.A. of that college. Here is a Congregational chapel. The charities amount to nearly £4 yearly. Shelford House is the property of the Wale family, but now (1900) vacant. The Wale family is frequently mentioned in the history of this and adjoining counties: Sir Thomas Wale was created K.G. by Edward III. in 1352, being the 18th knight in the first creation of that order: a protection was given under the hand of General Fairfax to Thomas Wale esq. of Little Bardfield, in 1648, and there is an obelisk in the adjoining parish of Harston to Gregory Wale esq. 1739. Charles John Clay esq. M.A., J.P. of Newnham, who is lord of the manor, the trustees of the late Col. Robert Gregory Wale, and Hamer Towgood esq. are the principal landowners. The soil is gravelly and chalky; the subsoil, gravel and clay. The chief crops are wheat, barley and oats. The area is 1,196 acres ; rateable value, £2,399; the population in 1891 was 494.
The children of this parish attend the schools at Great Shelford
Carrier to Cambridge - Litchfield, Mon, Wed, & Sat
* Kelly's Directory of Cambridgeshire 1900 (London: Kelly's Directories Limited, 1900), pp.184.