Thriplow () is a village in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, England, south of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. The village also gives its name to a former Cambridgeshire hundred.

History

The parish of Thriplow covers , roughly spanning the land between the former London to Cambridge coaching road (now the B1368) and the Royston to Newmarket road (now the A505). The presence of

tumuli A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found through ...

in the south of the parish suggests an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

settlement, and a barrow to the east of the village contains a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

burial. The village itself probably existed in Romano-British times (around AD 150). The

Icknield Way The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern and eastern England that runs from Norfolk to Wiltshire. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills. Background It is generally said to be, withi ...

to the south of the village was probably an important factor in the village's growth. Listed as ''Tripelan'' in around 1050 and ''Trepeslau'' in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, the name "Thriplow" means "Hill or tumulus of a man called Tryppa". Tryppa is believed to have been a Bronze Age chieftain who may be buried in the tumulus just southeast of the church.Thriplow Website
/ref> In 1647 the

New Model Army The New Model Army or New Modelled Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 t ...

camped on Thriplow Heath (often referred to in contemporary accounts as "Triploe Heath") after its refusal to disband during its dispute with Parliament. Thirteen Thriplow residents are recorded to have perished in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and three in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In recent times the hamlet of Heathfield has built up in the southeast of the parish alongside the

Imperial War Museum Duxford Imperial War Museum Duxford, also known as IWM Duxford or simply Duxford, is a branch of the Imperial War Museum near Duxford in Cambridgeshire, England. Duxford, Britain's largest aviation museum, houses exhibits, including nearly 200 aircraf ...

, with most of the housing dating from the 2000s. Its population (around 600) is now larger than that of Thriplow village (around 440). On 1 April 2021, the civil parish was renamed "Thriplow and Heathfield".

Church

There has been a church in Thriplow since at least the 12th century. In 1284 the tithes of Thriplow Church were used to found

Peterhouse Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

in Cambridge, and the first recorded vicar, John de Hyndrayngham, was installed in 1299. The parish church of

St George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...

(dedicated to All Saints until the 19th century) dates from the late 13th century and consists of a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

with a north

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

, north and south

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

s, a central tower with short spire, and a nave with south porch. The tower and spire date from the 14th century. The south porch was rebuilt by Gilbert Scott in 1877. The

iconoclast Iconoclasm ()From . ''Iconoclasm'' may also be considered as a back-formation from ''iconoclast'' (Greek: εἰκοκλάστης). The corresponding Greek word for iconoclasm is εἰκονοκλασία, ''eikonoklasia''. is the social belie ...

William Dowsing mutilated the church screen in 1644. The parish is now held with that of

Fowlmere Fowlmere is one of the southernmost villages in Cambridgeshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 1,206. It is very close to the Imperial War Museum Duxford, and southwest of the city of Cambridge. History ...

, and no vicar has lived in Thriplow since 1936.

Village life

Thriplow has one public house, The Green Man, which has been open since the first half of the 19th century. As of 1 October 2012, The Green Man has been operated as a

limited company In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...

and owned by 71 local shareholders. Former pubs include The Fox, on the east side of Church Street, open in the early 19th century; it burned down in 1919. The Red Lion at the north end of Middle Street burned down around 1941 with the site taken by the village hall in 1958. The village shop last operated as an independent commercial concern between 1997 and 2000. After that there were several failed attempts to continue the shop as a business, and the management was finally taken over by the Thriplow Village Shop Association in June–July 2007. The village has a recreation ground, a primary school, a village hall, a cricket ground and a Church. The smithy on the village green was still open in the early 1960s but was given to the village in 1964 as a museum. It opens twice a year when the

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

gives a demonstration of traditional skills. Thriplow also contains two

sites of special scientific interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

: Thriplow Meadows and Thriplow Peat Holes.

Notable people

Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd (8 October 1929 – 26 February 2023), was a British politician who served as a member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich and West Bromwich West from 1973 to 2000. A member of the Labour Party, she served ...

, the first female Speaker of the House of Commons, lived in Thriplow in her later years; her funeral was held at St George's Church, where she is buried.

The Thriplow Daffodil Weekend

This tradition started in 1969, to raise money for repairs to the church, and has run each year since (except for 2001 when the weekend was cancelled due to

foot-and-mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious disease, infectious and sometimes fatal virus (biology), viral disease that primarily affects even-toed ungulates, including domestic and wild Bovidae, bovids. The vir ...

, and 2020/21 when it was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

). The event is organised by the Daffodil Weekend Trust and raises funds for a different charity each year, with the charity for 2014 being Home Start. There are numerous attractions during the weekend including heavy horses giving dray rides, children's entertainment, sheepdog working, open gardens and stalls. New for 2014 was a miniature steam railway on the Cricket Meadow, and over the last two years, the weekend has hosted a Taste of Thriplow.

References

External links

thriplow.org.uk Official Parish Council Website

Thriplow Society

The Green Man Website

The Green Man Facebook PageThriplow Daffodil Weekend
{{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire District