Bury, Cambridgeshire

Bury
OS grid reference	TL284841
District	Huntingdonshire
Shire county	Cambridgeshire
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom

Bury – in Huntingdonshire (now part of Cambridgeshire), England – is a village near Ramsey north from Huntingdon and St Ives.

History

Bury and Hepmangrove, under the name of Bury-cum-Hepmangrove, appear to have originally been separate manors but were united for certain purposes before the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538.

The parish lies to the south of Ramsey and is of a very irregular shape, projecting a considerable distance into the fen on the east side of the road from Ramsey to St Ives. The land rises on both sides of the Brook which runs through the parish from north-east to south-west from 16 ft. above ordnance datum at the Brook to 66 ft. on the north-east side, and 50 ft. on the south-west. All of the fenland and much of the highland is ploughed. The soil is a strong black loam and the sub-soil is clay. The main crops are wheat, oats, beans and peas on the highland, and potatoes, celery, sugar-beet and ordinary cereals on the fenland.

Originally, Bury was a chapelry of Wistow but by 1178 it became the parish with Wistow as its chapelry. (However, Wistow regained its separate identity by 1351). Bury also gained Upwood, and Little Raveley until a separate eccesiastical parish was formed in 1746. Bury also gained part of Ramsey parish in the 16th century at the Dissolution.

Hepmangrove seems originally to have been connected with the Ramsey parish, and the Brook running through the village of Bury formed the boundary between it and Bury. From the deeds relating to the tenaments and lands situated within its boundaries, before the Dissolution, it appears to have been a populous suburb of Ramsey. Both Bury and Hepmangrove lay within the Banlieu.

Bury and Hepmangrove now forms one village. They still retain several 17th century half-timbered thatched or tiled cottages, some of which have been refaced with brick, but most of the houses are of brick with slate or tiles roofs. The former ancient stone bridge of one arch which crossed the Brook was replaced in 1925 by a wider bridge. The north-west side of the bridge is in Hepmangrove, in which the greater part of the village lies. The former Railway Station of Ramsey was in Bury parish.

Church

The church of the Holy Cross is built of rubble with Barnack stone dressing, and the roofs are covered with slates and tiles. It consists of a chancel, nave, north aisle, west tower and (formerly) a western chapel.

An early 12th century church which stood here probably consisted only of a chancel and nave; the east and west walls of the nave of this church survive. Early in the 13th century, the north aisle with its nave arcade was added, and in the middle of the same century the western tower was built. Possibly owing to defects in the foundations, the north wall of the north aisle was rebuilt in the 14th century. About 1400, considerable alterations were again made. The chancel and the south wall of the nave were rebuilt and new windows inserted in the north aisle.

Towards the end of the 15th century, the large chapel west of the tower was built, possibly as a Lady Chapel. The chancel was shortened by about 13 ft, probably in the 16th century as may be seen by the remains of two windows at the eastern angles of the church. The porch was built and the church restored in 1889.