Waterbeach
| Waterbeach | |
|---|---|
 Waterbeach village sign | |
  Waterbeach Location within Cambridgeshire | |
| Population | 5,166 (2011)[1] |
| OS grid reference | TL496654 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CAMBRIDGE |
| Postcode district | CB25 |
| Dialling code | 01223 |
| Police | Cambridgeshire |
| Fire | Cambridgeshire |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
Waterbeach is a large English village on the edge of The Fens, 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Cambridge in the South Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire. It has grown recently as a dormitory settlement to Cambridge.
Contents
History[edit]
Village[edit]
Waterbeach is on the Car Dyke, a Roman waterway whose course can be traced as far as Lincoln. Recent archaeological investigations have found extensive evidence of Roman settlement at the southern end of the village.
Waterbeach appears in the Domesday Book as Utbech. In the 12th century, the Knights Templar were at Denny Abbey to the north of the village. The parish contains a number of Scheduled Ancient Monuments including Denny Abbey (which houses the Farmland Museum), the site of Waterbeach Abbey (to the south of the present church) and part of the Car Dyke.
The lawyer/politician John Yaxley acquired an estate at Waterbeach by 1610 and lived there. He and Edward Aungier of Cambridge purchased the manors of Waterbeach and Causeway from the Crown for £900 in 1614.[2]
RAF Waterbeach and Army Barracks[edit]
A Royal Air Force station, RAF Waterbeach, was built on the northern edge of the village in 1940, operating under RAF Bomber Command. After the Second World War, the station was operated by RAF Transport Command and then RAF Fighter Command until 1966, when the site transferred to the Royal Engineers and became Waterbeach Barracks. The small Museum has now closed, though its collection has been saved[3] and put into storage for a few years.
The barracks closed on 28 March 2013, after a move by all the remaining Army units to RAF Kinloss in Scotland and to RAF Wittering in 2012–2013. The site is being used to provide 6,000–10,000 new homes.[4][5]
Today[edit]
Waterbeach expanded considerably in recent years due to the economic growth in the region and has become increasingly a dormitory for Cambridge.[citation needed] The village has several shops and businesses. There is a small industrial estate at the edge of the village and a number of small companies have premises in the village itself. Waterbeach Community Primary School has approximately 300 pupils. It is adjacent to Waterbeach Independent Lending Library.
An Anglican parish church dedicated to St John the Evangelist, a Baptist church famous for its connection with Charles Haddon Spurgeon,[6] and a corps of the Salvation Army are present in the village, as is a primary school. Active community groups include the Scouts and Girl Guides, the Army Cadet Force, several playgroups and a play scheme, and a Community Association. The Denny End industrial estate and Cambridge Innovation Park accommodate several businesses, such as the Milton Brewery and A&R Cambridge Ltd. To the south-east is a small Woodland Trust nature area called Cow Hollow Wood, which was created in 2000 to celebrate the Millennium.[7]
Transport[edit]
Waterbeach railway station is on the Fen Line between Cambridge and Kings Lynn. The village lies close to the busy A10 road that links London to King's Lynn. A bus service operates through the village, linking Cambridge to the towns of March, Wisbech and Littleport and the small city of Ely.[8] A proposal to move the railway station; moving it closer to the development at the Barracks was approved by the local planning committee in 2018.[9]
An Ordnance Survey map from the 1920s shows an agricultural tramway running north from Clay's Farm on Joist Fen to Middle Farm, between the railway and the River Cam, opposite the ferry to Upware.
Gallery[edit]
Waterbeach railway station
1945 aerial photograph of RAF Waterbeach
Signpost in Cow Hollow Wood
Notable people[edit]
In birth order:
- Richard Jugge (died 1577), the Royal Printer generally credited with inventing the footnote, was probably born in Waterbeach.[10]
- Robert Masters (1719–1798), a writer, historian and cleric, served as Rector of Waterbeach in 1775–1784.
- William Keatinge Clay (1797–1867), an antiquary and cleric, served as Rector of Waterbeach from 1854 until his death in 1867.
- Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1797–1867), the eventual Baptist pastor of Metropolitan Tabernacle, served his first pastorate at Waterbeach Baptist Church, when he was 17 years old.
- David Stafford-Clark (1916–1999), a psychiatrist, poet and author, served with the RAF Bomber Command at Waterbeach during World War II.
- Terry Hale (born 1936), a player for Cambridgeshire County Cricket Club (1957–78), was born in Waterbeach.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
- ^ History of Parliament Retrieved 9 July 2017.
- ^ "Museum's collection is saved". Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ^ "Waterbeach Barracks closes to make way for housing". Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- ^ "First tranche of Army unit moves confirmed". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
- ^ Waterbeach Baptist Church, History Archived June 17, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Cow Hollow Wood | Explore woods | The Woodland Trust". www.woodlandtrust.org.uk. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- ^ "Waterbeach". Oliver Merrington. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- ^ "Waterbeach on track for new railway station". South Cambs District Council. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
- ^ "Jugge, Judge, Richard (JG531R)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
Sources[edit]
Bibliography[edit]
- Hamlin, John F. & Oliver J. Merrington (2011, updated 2014) At the 'Beach: the story of Royal Air Force Waterbeach and Waterbeach Barracks. Peterborough: GMS Enterprises (available from Waterbeach Military Heritage Museum) ISBN 1-904514-63-4
- Clay, William Keatinge (1852) A history of the parish of Waterbeach in the county of Cambridge. Cambridge: Deighton Bell. (Cambridge Antiquarian Society. Octavo series ; Vol.4).
- Masters, Robert (1795) A short account of the parish of Waterbeach: in the diocese of Ely. London: publisher unknown.
External links[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Waterbeach. |
