Tydd St Giles - Geography

Geography

The village is completely low-lying, with an average altitude of 0 metres. 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, and part of Tydd Gote which lies partly in Tydd St Giles and partly in Tydd St Mary in Lincolnshire. 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 northern-most settlement in Cambridgeshire, it is also the northern-most, 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 0 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.