Ashley nr. Cheveley, Ashley-cum-Silverley / Esselie

There is an entry for this Ashley [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/TL6961/ashley/] [accessed 7 July 2016], but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. The Victoria County History (Cambridge…, vol. 10, 2002) notes: "Ashley cum Silverley, usually called Ashley […] Its two ancient parishes have long been united and still longer associated. The manors were owned and assessed for tax together in 1066,[…] passed to one Norman overlord, and were reunited in the ownership of the Hospitallers in the 13th century […] In the Middle Ages Ashley and Silverley each had a parish church, and from the 13th century there was also a private chapel at the Knights Hospitallers' manor house. After the benefices of Ashley and Silverley were united in the 16th century, both parish churches were abandoned, and the chapel served in their place until a new parish church was opened in 1845. […] Ashley old church, near the Dalham road, was dedicated to ST. MARY by the 13th century. […] It was in ruins by 1705, […] and in the 20th century the only remains were low stretches of walling. The churchyard became densely overgrown after 1930 […] and was impenetrable in 1991." The entry for the new church in English Heritage [Listing NGR: TL7002661635] (1984) reports a font of 1945 in the new church.