Abbotsley is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

within the

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England, which was historically a county in its own right. It borders Peterborough to the north, Fenland to the north-east, East Cambridgeshire to the e ...

district of

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.Huntingdonshire District Council: Abbotsley

It is three miles from

St Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...

and 14 miles from the county town 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 ...

. At the time of the 2001 census, the resident population was 425 people living in 164 households.Cambridgeshire County Council: 2001 census profile: Abbotsley
increasing to a population of 446 at the 2011 Census, however its population decreased to 420 in the 2021 census.

History

The village's name is derived from 'woodland clearing of a man called Ealdbeald' (Old English personal name ''Eadbald'' + ''lēah'') The name is recorded as ''Adboldesl’'' in the 12th century, as ''Adboldeslee'' and ''Albedesleg'' in the 13th century, ''Albo(t)deste(g)'', ''Albo(t)desley'' and ''Abbodesle'' in the 13th-14th century, and ''Abbot(t)esle(y)'' from late 13th to late 15th century. Twenty to twenty first centuries In 1876, the village of Eynesbury and part of the rural parish were included in the district controlled by the Local Board of

. A further rearrangement was made in 1895, when Eynesbury was divided into two civil parishes. The urban portion of 394 acres was now called the parish of Eynesbury, and included in the St Neots Urban District; the rest, with 2,641 acres of land, formed the parish of Eynesbury Hardwicke. in 2010, the parish of Eynesbury Hardwicke was abolished, and divided between Abbotsley and

Government

As a civil parish, Abbotsley has a parish council. Abbotsley parish council comprises seven councillors, a chairman and clerk. The second tier of local government is

Huntingdonshire District Council Huntingdonshire District Council is the local authority for the district of Huntingdonshire in Cambridgeshire, England. The council is based in the town of Huntingdon. The district also includes the towns of Godmanchester, Ramsey, St Ives and ...

which is a

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''s ...

of Cambridgeshire and has its headquarters in Huntingdon. Abbotsley is a part of the district ward of ''Gransden and The Offords'' and is represented on the district council by two councillors. The highest tier of local government for Abbotsley is

Cambridgeshire County Council Cambridgeshire County Council is the county council for non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county, which additionally includes the City o ...

which has administration buildings in Cambridge. Abbotsley is a part of the

electoral division An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provid ...

of ''Buckden, Gransden and The Offords'' and is represented on the county council by one councillor. Abbotsley was in the historic and

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until 1973 in Northern Ireland, 2002 in the Republic of Ireland. They are now abolished, although most Northern ...

until 1965. From 1965, the village was part of the new administrative county of

Huntingdon and Peterborough Huntingdon and Peterborough was a short-lived administrative county, administrative and Geographical counties of England, geographical county in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. It existed from 1965 to 1974, when it became part of Cambridgesh ...

. Then in 1974, following the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, Abbotsley became a part of the county of Cambridgeshire. At Westminster, Abbotsley is in the parliamentary constituency of

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...

. Since 2024 the village has been represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

Ben Obese-Jecty Benjamin Obese-Jecty (, born September 1979) is a British Conservative politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon since 2024. Early life Obese-Jecty's father was originally Ghanaian and came to Britain on the SS ''Apapa' ...

(Labour).

Geography

Abbotsley village is 14 miles from the county town of

and 47 miles from London. It is on the B1046 road between

Great Gransden Great Gransden is a civil parish and village in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. In 2001, the parish population was 969, which rose to 1,023 at the 2011 Census. It lies 16 miles (25 km) west of Cambridge and 13 mile ...

and

. The elevation of the parish is between 22 and 60 metres (72–197 feet) above sea level. The subsoil is Oxford and Ampthill clay.

Demography

Population

In the period 1801 to 1901 the population of Abbotsley was recorded every ten years by the

UK census Coincident full censuses have taken place in the different jurisdictions of the United Kingdom every ten years since 1801, with the exceptions of 1941 (during the Second World War), Ireland in 1921/Northern Ireland in 1931, and Scotland in 2021. ...

. During this time the population was in the range of 287 (the lowest in 1801) and 498 (the highest in 1871). From 1901, a census was taken every ten years with the exception of 1941 (due to 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 ...

). All population census figures from report ''Historic Census figures Cambridgeshire to 2011'' by ''Cambridgeshire Insight''. In 2011, the parish covered an area of The ethnic group of all residents was white; 78% described themselves as Christian.

Landmarks

A war memorial which stands in the churchyard commemorates Abbotsley men who died in the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

s. 19 buildings in Abbotsley are listed (including the church). Among them are four houses along Blacksmiths Lane, nine houses along the High Street, a

red telephone box The red telephone box is a telephone kiosk for a public telephone designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect responsible for Liverpool Cathedral. The telephone box is a familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom, its associa ...

and a table tomb in the churchyard.

Religious sites

St Margaret's Church has stood in Abbotsley since around 1300, though there was a church in the village as early as 1138. The current building was restored in 1854 and 1861 and the tower in 1884; it is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. Abbotsley is part of the deanery of

and

diocese of Ely The Diocese of Ely is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury. It is headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely. There is one suffragan bishop, suffragan (subordinate) bishop, the Bisho ...

.Diocese of Ely

Culture and community

A village hall is used for meetings, events and private functions. An annual Feast Week and

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin that is often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops. ...

Festival is held to raise money for maintenance of the village hall. Residents construct themed scarecrows and place them outside their houses for a week while there are various fundraising events held.

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. He received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, BAFTA Fellowship in 2013 and was knig ...

, the writer,

Monty Python Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...

comedian and TV personality, was married at Abbotsley Church.

Neighbouring parishes

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Huntingdonshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire