Benwick 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 ...

in the Fenland 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 in the historic

Isle of Ely The Isle of Ely () is a historic region around the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. Between 1889 and 1965, it formed an Administrative counties of England, administrative county. Etymology Its name has been said to ...

. It is approximately from

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

and from

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 population of Benwick was recorded as 1137 in the

United Kingdom Census 2011 A Census in the United Kingdom, census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Inter ...

with 452 households. The River Nene (Old Course) (part of the

Middle Level Navigations The Middle Level Navigations are a network of waterways in England, primarily used for land drainage, which lie in The Fens between the River Nene, Rivers Nene and Great Ouse, and between the cities of Peterborough and Cambridge. Most of the a ...

) passes through the village, which is thus accessible by boat from the inland waterways network in England.

History

The settlement's name is derived from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''bean'' or ''beam'', and ''wic'', meaning "farm where beans are grown" or "farm by a tree-trunk." Benwick's High Street is built on a roddon; the silt banks of the old West Water river. The earliest records of village refer to a garrison built in Benwick by Geoffrey de Mandeville in 1143. In 1221, Benwick had 15 tenants and by 1251, 32.'North Witchford Hundred: Doddington'
A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 4: City of Ely; Ely, N. and S. Witchford and Wisbech Hundreds (2002), pp. 110–116. It used to be in the parish of Doddington, one of the largest parishes in England. Under the Doddington Rectory Division (Amendment) Act 1856 ( 19 & 20 Vict. c. ''1'' ) it was divided into seven rectories. H. C. Darby, in his ''Drainage of the Fens'', records that in 1611 a scholar from the continent, toured the Isle of Ely, noting that the houses in Benwick were all surrounded by water, like islands, and the inhabitants were occupied with fishing and fowling. In 1774 the

Earl of Orford Earl of Orford is a title that has been created three times. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1697 when the naval commander Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell was made Earl of Orford, in the County of Suffolk. He was cre ...

remarked of Benwick that "the number of children crossing near a cottage and a school added much to the scene, in appearance much like the best Flemish Landscapes". In 1737, it was reported: In 1864 the village lock-up was demolished and sold. From 1898 to 1966 Benwick was the terminus of the Benwick goods railway which ran from Three Horseshoes junction at Turves, on the Ely to

line. The station was on the road to

Whittlesey Whittlesey (also Whittlesea) is a market town and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, England. Whittlesey is east of Peterborough. The population of the parish was 17,667 at the 2021 Census. Toponymy W ...

. There was never a passenger service on the line, except a special enthusiasts train on 9 September 1956. ''Benwick Bygones'', a book on the History of Benwick was published in 2008 by Adam Keppel-Garner and Janet Fountain.

Listed buildings in Benwick

Governance

There are three tiers of local government covering Benwick, at

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

and

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

level: Benwick Parish Council, Fenland District Council and

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 ...

. The parish council meets at the village hall on High Street. Benwick is part of the parliamentary constituency of North East Cambridgeshire; the current Member of Parliament is Steve Barclay.

Religion

Records exist of an early chapel to St James, where an

indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission bef ...

for repairs was granted in 1518, whilst the earliest recorded church was built around 1637 but unconsecrated. The Parish Church of St Mary's was started in 1850 and opened in 1854. Designed by Samuel Sanders Teulon, it was built on the site of the earlier unconsecrated church. St Mary's was built of Norfolk carr stone with

Caen stone Caen stone () is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in north-western France near the city of Caen. The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about 167 million years ...

facings, costing £2,500 to build. The tower contained two bells and a clock was added in 1871. In 1966 the tower was removed and the clock loaned to March Museum. Over time the church moved more and was condemned. The last service was held in 1980 and in 1985 the church was demolished. The font and doorway from the parish church are now at St Jude's, Westwood, Peterborough. A Wesleyan

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Chapel was built in 1833; a plain square building to seat 150. An organ was installed in 1923. The chapel fell into disuse in 2006 and was subsequently sold and demolished. A

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

chapel was first built in 1818 on land endowed from Gideon Gascoigne; at first just a preaching place as the church was not formed until 1858. The chapel was whitewashed and thatched but in 1873 was recorded as being in a dilapidated state. A new chapel opened in 1874. The chapel was demolished in 1963. After years of fundraising, in 2012 a church room was built as an extension to the village hall.

Demography

At the time of the 2011 census, Benwick parish had 1137 inhabitants – 548 males and 589 females, living in 452 households.The Benwick Bugle: September 2013. Available Online: https://issuu.com/benwickbugle/docs/16._september-october

References

Bibliography

* * Fountain, J and Keppel-Garner, A (2008). ''Benwick Bygones'' (1 ed.). Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Victoire Press.

External links

Benwick
{{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire Fenland District