St Neots
Coordinates: 52°14′N 0°16′W / 52.23°N 0.26°W
| St Neots | |
 St Neots sign |
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 St Neots
St Neots shown within Cambridgeshire |
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| Population | 30,580 (2011) |
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| OS grid reference | TL185605 |
| - London | 49 miles (79 km) S |
| Civil parish | St Neots |
| District | Huntingdonshire |
| Shire county | Cambridgeshire |
| Region | East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ST. NEOTS |
| Postcode district | PE19 |
| Dialling code | 01480 |
| Police | Cambridgeshire |
| Fire | Cambridgeshire |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | Huntingdon |
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St Neots /sɨnt ˈniːʊts/ is a town and civil parish in the county of Cambridgeshire, England, next to the Bedfordshire county border. It lies on the River Great Ouse in the Huntingdonshire District, 15 miles (24 km) west of Cambridge and 49 miles (79 km) north of central London. St Neots is the largest town in Cambridgeshire (Cambridge and Peterborough are both cities) with a population of 30,580.[1] The town is named after the Cornish monk Saint Neot whose bones were stolen from the village of St Neot on Bodmin Moor and concealed in the nearby priory of the same name.
Pilgrimage to St Neots brought prosperity for the town, and it was granted a market charter in 1130. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the town enjoyed further prosperity through corn milling, brewing, stagecoach traffic and railways. After the Second World War, the town and its industry grew rapidly as London councils paid for new housing to be built in the town to rehouse families from London. The first London overspill housing was completed in the early 1960s. Up until 1974 St Neots was part of Huntingdonshire. Today, St Neots is a thriving commuter town.
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Today [edit]
Today, St Neots is a thriving dormitory, commuter and market town. The modern town incorporates Eynesbury (originally the main settlement and the oldest part of the town) and two areas across the river, Eaton Ford and Eaton Socon, which were originally separate villages across the county boundary (formed by the River Great Ouse) in Bedfordshire. Already the largest town in Cambridgeshire, after the cities of Cambridge and Peterborough, St Neots continues to grow rapidly due to a demand for modern housing and the town's transport links.
Technology-based industries are located in some of the town's light industrial estates, and there is a gas turbine power station at Little Barford on the edge of the town. Recent development has added Eynesbury Manor, Loves Farm, and the Island, Little Paxton bringing the population above 30,000. It is projected that the population of the town will be 40,000 by 2020.
Local geography [edit]
St Neots lies close to the south-western boundary of Huntingdonshire District, in the valley of the River Great Ouse, partly on the flood plain and partly on slightly higher ground a little further from the water. The Great Ouse is a mature river, once wide and shallow but now controlled by weirs and sluices and usually constrained in a well-defined channel.
Tributaries entering the Great Ouse in the town are the River Kym, Hen Brook, Duloe Brook and Colmworth Brook. The area is generally low-lying. The Riverside Fields, an amenity area adjacent to St Neots Bridge, is designed as a flood buffer area, and is under water at times of flood, protecting dwelling and commercial property from flood.
St Neots developed at the site of a ford where overland routes converged. This was replaced by a medieval bridge, and today there are two further crossings just outside the town, one to the north and another to the south.
The soil is mainly light, overlying gravel beds, and gravel extraction is one of the local industries. Older disused gravel pits form useful nature reserves and amenity areas at nearby Paxton Pits and at the Wyboston Leisure Park. Away from the river, the higher land is mainly a heavy clay soil with few large settlements. Much of the land is used for arable farming.
St Neots is close to Cambridge and Bedford.
Transport [edit]
Road [edit]
St Neots is bypassed by the A1 which links the town by road with London to the South and Peterborough to the North, while the nearby A14 provides access to the Midlands and East Anglia.
Until the three-mile £8m A45 St Neots Bypass opened in December 1985 (subsequently re-designated as the A428), traffic to and from Cambridge had to pass through the town centre.
The A421 begins at Black Cat Roundabout on the A1 just South of the town, connecting with Bedford and Milton Keynes, and carrying much of the traffic between Oxford and Cambridge.
Public transport [edit]
St Neots railway station is located on the East Coast Main Line and provides half-hourly trains south to London and north to Peterborough. The station is managed and served by First Capital Connect. Journey times to London King's Cross typically range from 35 to 55 minutes.
Regular local buses are provided by Stagecoach in Huntingdonshire and Go Whippet. St Neots is served by the cross country X5 service that runs between Cambridge and Oxford.
There is also the Route 66, run by Stagecoach which goes into Huntingdon.
Air [edit]
St Neots is within an hour's drive from London Luton Airport and London Stansted Airport
 The route and location of the St Neots (Southern) Foot and Cycle Bridge. |
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| Location | Cambridgeshire |
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| Geometry | KML |
Cycling [edit]
St Neots is on Route 51 of the Sustrans national cycle route that connects Colchester and Oxford via Harwich, Felixstowe, Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Sandy, Bedford and Milton Keynes.
Recent developments [edit]
St Neots (Southern) Foot and Cycle Bridge [edit]
A new foot and cycle bridge across the River Great Ouse has recently been completed, connecting the communities of Eaton Socon and Eynesbury. A public consultation on the scheme was held in 2003 with public exhibitions held in December 2008. The new bow string arch bridge has a span of 346 m (including access ramps), and includes street lighting and improvements to the connecting cycle paths. The scheme was supported by Cambridgeshire County Council, Huntingdonshire District Council and is a Sustrans Connect2 project. The bridge had an estimated construction cost of £3.5 million with Sustrans contributing an additional £700,000.[2] The construction started in January 2011 and was completed on time and within budget during September 2011. The use of a Compulsory Purchase Order for the necessary land was approved. The route of the cycle way has to connected Shakespeare Road, in Eaton Socon, to Barford Road, in Eynesbury and follows the southern boundary of St Neots Community School.[3]
Proposed developments [edit]
Future developments include the construction of a new step-free footbridge at St Neots railway station, linking the Loves Farm housing development and Rowley Park Stadium to the railway station and the rest of the town, as well as providing lifts to all platforms. A district centre is also proposed for the Loves Farm development, along with provision for a supermarket and small retail outlets.
A multi-screen cinema is currently being built on the site of an old refuse tip, firestation and carpark close to the town centre. Turnstone Estates have been appointed as the developer, with Britannia Construction constructing the £8,000,000 project.
History [edit]
Although Roman and even pre-Roman finds have been made in and around St Neots, there was no significant settlement until Saxon times. Early developments were in Eynesbury, Eaton Socon and Eaton Ford, which still exist as part of the town today; and Maltman's Green and Crosshall Ford which are no longer recognised.
The Normans rebuilt the Priory near the river and the town of St Neots grew up against its southern wall.
Sport and leisure [edit]
St Neots has a non-League football team St Neots Town F.C. who play at Rowley Park Stadium. The town also has a local Rugby club St Neots RUFC and rowing club St Neots Rowing Club. A cinema, theatre and restaurant complex has recently been given approval by Huntingdonshire District Council and is due to open in spring 2013.
Notable residents [edit]
- High jumper Robbie Grabarz 2012 Helsinki European Championship Gold and Summer Olympics (London 2012) Bronze Medallist, lived in Saint Neots and attended Longsands Academy
- England/QPR/Aston Villa footballer and Aston Villa manager John Gregory attended St Neots' Longsands Academy. One of his iconic 'Admiral' England shirts from the 1980s is in the St Neots Museum in the centre of St Neots Town
- Rob Harris, guitarist with the band Jamiroquai.
- John Bellingham, the only man to assassinate a British Prime Minister (Spencer Perceval on 11 May in 1812), lived in St Neots. He had been unhappy that he was unable to obtain compensation for being unfairly imprisoned in Russia. He was found guilty and hanged on Monday, 18 May 1812.[4]
- Australian evangelist Pastor Peter Foxhall was born in St Neots.
- Olympic swimmer Mark Foster lives in St Neots.[5]
- The St Neots Quads became famous as the first surviving quadruplets in Britain. They were born 28 November 1935
- Actress Rula Lenska was born in St Neots.
- Fencer Graham Paul, who competed at four Olympic Games.
- Leicester City Footballer Lee Philpott who also attended Longsands Academy
Expansion [edit]
St Neots has undergone two major expansion projects within recent years; at Loves Farm to the east of the railway line with some 1,250 new homes, and on the site of the former Samuel Jones paper mill at Little Paxton. Further expansion is currently underway to the south of town in the Eynesbury area.
Nearby settlements [edit]
- Cities - Cambridge
- Towns - Bedford, Biggleswade, Godmanchester, Higham Ferrers, Huntingdon, Raunds, Royston, Rushden, Sandy, St Ives, Stevenage, Thrapston
- Villages - Abbotsley, Bolnhurst, Buckden, Caxton, Chawston, Colesden, Colmworth, Croxton, Diddington, Duloe, Eltisley, Gamlingay, Graveley, Great Paxton, Great Staughton, Hail Weston, Keysoe, Keysoe Row, Kimbolton, Little Barford, Little Paxton, Little Staughton, Offord Cluny, Offord D'Arcy, Perry, Pertenhall, Roxton, Staughton Green, Staughton Highway, Southoe, Staploe, Stonely, Tempsford, Toseland, Wyboston, Yelling
See also [edit]
- History of St Neots
- Saint Neot (historical person)
- St Neots railway station
- St Neots Town F.C.
References [edit]
- ^ Huntingdonshire District Council : Area population statistics Retrieved 2013-04-19
- ^ "St Neots (Southern) Foot and Cycle Bridge". Cambridgeshire County Council. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
- ^ "St Neots (Southern) Foot and Cycle Bridge Briefing Note". Cambridgeshire County Council. 2008.12. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
- ^ Bell, John (2002), The St Neots assassin, BBC Cambridgeshire, ISBN 1-899558-01-2
- ^ "Foster covets first Olympic medal". BBC News. 15 July 2008. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
External links [edit]
- Town Council
- / Local Community Website
- St Neots Community Pages (residents' forums)
- Churches
- Football Club
- St Neots Rowing Club
- Museum
- The Priory Centre
- Train times
- St Neots Citizen, a local spoof news site
- Local bus times
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