Exning
| Exning | |
|---|---|
 Church of St Martin, Exning | |
  Exning Location within Suffolk | |
| Population | 1,960 (2011)[1] |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Newmarket |
| Postcode district | CB8 |
Exning is a village in Suffolk, England.
It lies just off the A14 trunk road, roughly 12 miles (19 km) east-northeast of Cambridge, and 10 miles (16 km) south-south-east of Ely. The nearest large town is Newmarket.
The most conspicuous building in Exning is the church of St Martin, which is visible from the A14.
History
Local lore reputes Exning to have been the capital of the Iceni tribe and therefore the home of Queen Boadicea (Boudicca).[2]
Since the time of William the Conqueror, Exning was in Lackford Hundred. Later the hundred was a part of the Liberty of Ely. When the Liberty was revoked, the hundred and thus Exning became a part of Suffolk again. Until boundary reforms in 1894, Exning was an enclave of Suffolk totally surrounded by the county of Cambridgeshire. In the reforms the parish of Newmarket All Saints (in Cambridgeshire) was transferred to Suffolk which gave Exning a "bridge" to the rest of Suffolk.
Exning is reputed to have been the birthplace of Saint Ethelreda, to whom the cathedral at Ely is dedicated, though this is disputed.
A spring at Exning was named St Wendreda's Well, and a local legend had it that the seventh-century Saint Wendreda used its water for healing. Newmarket jockeys used to take horses there to drink before a race.[3]
During the Second World War, the headquarters of No 3 Group of RAF Bomber Command were located in Exning House. Nearby Newmarket Heath, the northwest corner of which borders on Exning, was used as an airfield for, amongst others, Stirling III Bombers of No. 75 (NZ) Squadron RAF. Little evidence remains of this chapter in Exning's history, apart from a single aircraft hangar on Heath Road, Burwell (near the "One Thousand Guineas Connect" service station on the A14 trunk road) and a memorial plaque on the racecourse.
See also
- Landwade, neighbouring village that was formerly in Cambridgeshire but now amalgamated into Exning parish
References
- ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
- ^ http://www.exningparishchurch.net/history_village.htm
- ^ Saint Wendreda: the story of a Saxon Princess at fensmuseums.org.uk, accessed 9 April 2018
External links
- Exning Parish Council
- Exning history and pictures
- St Martin, Exning
- Photos of Exning today
- Exning Cricket Club
- Exning Parish Churches
- A Walk Round Exning
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