Burwell, Cambridgeshire
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Burwell 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
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, some 10 miles (16 km) north-east 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 ...
. It lies on the south-east edge of the Fens. Westward drainage is improved by Cambridgeshire lodes (waterways), including Burwell Lode, a growth factor in the village. A population of 6,309 in the 2011 census was put at 6,417 in 2019.


History


Etymology

The name "Burwell",
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
in origin, refers to a fort ''(burh-)'' close to a spring ''(-well)''.
British History Online ''British History Online'' is a digital library of primary and secondary sources on medieval and modern history of Great Britain and Ireland. It was created and is managed as a cooperative venture by the Institute of Historical Research, Universit ...
: 'Burwell', A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 10: Cheveley, Flendish, Staine and Staploe Hundreds (north-eastern Cambridgeshire) (2002), pp. 334–341. URL
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18903
Retrieved 13 October 2010.
The first record of the name dates from 1060. It appears in the 1086
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 ...
as Burewelle, Burwella and Burwelle. There is a spring in the south of the village, close to remains of the 12th-century Burwell Castle, and evidence of previous settlement on or near the castle site. Old maps sometimes name the village in the plural, "Burwells". which may refer to a pair of parishes: Burwell St Mary and Burwell St Andrew, or to a distinction between the High Town round the churches in the south of the village and the newer North Street and Newnham parts, separated by a causeway.


Early settlement

There is evidence of prehistoric human activity in the vicinity of Burwell. Flint tools such as axes dating from the
Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...
and
Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...
have been found on the west side of the village. Other burned and worked flint has been found close to the spring, dating from the late
Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
, but most of the activity in the area at the time seemed to have been on the fen to the west of the village, where a large number of flint and stone tools discovered on a raised piece of ground suggest there was already settlement before the onset of the https://uploadpie.com/NASxMyBronze Age. During the Neolithic,
peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...
began to form on the fenland round the village, which partly buried the prehistoric sites. Activity on the fen continued into the
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 ...
, as did activity close to the spring but they were joined by increasing activity on the
heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...
in the south of the parish, where barrows are known to have existed. The southern part of the parish is also the highest ground within it, and is close to the ancient
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 ...
. As Burwell entered the
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 ...
, activity on the fens to the west appears to have decreased as the conditions became more marshy. However, ditch systems and enclosures were found there during excavations in 1969 and 1995. Activity near the spring continued, with evidence of a burial in a nearby ditch. Settlement was revealed in 2005 on the eastern edge of the village. Settlement close to the spring continued after Roman colonisation of Britain. Evidence has been found north of St Mary's Church. Roman archaeological remains have been found round the village, including pottery, vessels and bowls, a lead vat, and coins perhaps relating to a villa in Ness Road, north of the village. Evidence of another villa in the same area comes in roof tiles from the 2nd century CE, although findings here and there cover the 2nd to 4th centuries. Reach Lode on the north-west edge was probably of Roman construction, as was the original Burwell Lode, since been replaced.


Waterway

The village is located at the head of Burwell Lode, a human-made waterway that connects it with the
River Cam The River Cam () is the main river flowing through Cambridge in eastern England. After leaving Cambridge, it flows north and east before joining the River Great Ouse to the south of Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely, at Pope's Corner. The total distanc ...
. The present course, laid out in the mid-17th century, replaced an older route that was probably Roman in origin.''The Canals of Eastern England'', (1977), John Boyes and Ronald Russell, David and Charles, The lode splits in two at the village, each branch serving a series of basins, warehouses and wharves located at the bottom of long strips of land, with merchants' houses at the far end of them.''The River Great Ouse and tributaries'', (2006), Andrew Hunter Blair, Imray Laurie Norie and Wilson, The village and lode gained importance with the opening in the 1850s of the Burwell Chemical Works owned by T. T. Ball. By the 1890s, this had become the Patent Manure Works owned by Colchester and Ball. About 10,000 tons of goods a year were shipped along it, using three steam tugs and a fleet of lighters. Prentice Brothers Ltd built barges in the village until 1920, and continued repairing them there after they bought the fertiliser factory in 1921. The factory was later owned by
Fisons Fisons plc was a British Multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical, scientific instruments and horticultural chemicals company headquartered in Ipswich, United Kingdom. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a cons ...
. Boats continued to be used to move the fertiliser to Fenland farms until 1948. Commercial use of the lode ceased in 1963, when the traffic in
sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...
stopped.


Burwell Castle

The village is the site of an unfinished
castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
in Spring Close, whose final wall was knocked down by the Fire Brigade testing a fire hose in the 1930s, but the dry
moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...
is still visible. It was built during "
The Anarchy The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Duchy of Normandy, Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adel ...
", the mid-12th-century conflict in the reign of King Stephen. Despite a settlement that the throne would pass to
Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...
on Stephen's death, the Barons took the opportunity to fight their own battles. Of these, Geoffrey de Mandeville was notably troublesome. After turning against Stephen, he set up an impregnable base around Ely, from which he attacked towns such as
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 ...
. So the king ordered castles be built to surround him. The few known potential sites of these included Rampton (Giant's Hill), Ramsey (Booth's Hill), Burwell, and possibly Knapwell. At Burwell, a moat was constructed and the stone keep partially built when Geoffrey attacked and was mortally wounded. His revolt then collapsed and the castle was left unfinished. The narrow lane along the side of the church next to Spring Close, where the Castle stood, is named Mandeville.


Barn Fire

On 8 September 1727, a travelling
puppet show Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a performan ...
was filled with onlookers in a Burwell barn in what is now Cuckolds Row, near the centre of the village. The doors were nailed shut to stop further people getting in, an act that led to tragedy. Richard Whittaker, a
hostler A hostler ( or ) or ostler was traditionally a groom or stableman who was employed in a stable to take care of horses, usually at an inn, in the era of transportation by horse or horse-drawn carriage. In the twentieth century the word came to b ...
employed by the owner of the barn came back to feed the horses. He seems to expect to be admitted free but was not. He made his way to the stable, clambered over a partition with a candle lantern and peered in to watch. The candle set fire to the hay within. It was reported that with no way to escape, 80 of the 140 people inside perished in the ensuing blaze. Whittaker was tried at Cambridge Assizes in 1728, but acquitted. The ''Newcastle Courant'' reported on the fire The victims were buried in the
churchyard In Christian countries, a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church (building), church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster S ...
of
St Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under various titles such as virgin or queen, many of them mentioned in the Litany of Loreto. ...
's, at the opposite end of the High Street, beneath a stone engraved with a blazing heart and angels' wings. An inscription on the reverse, added in 1910 when the stone was restored, states: "To the memory of the 78 people who were burnt to death in a barn at Burwell on Sept 8th 1727." Inside the church is a separate memorial to two other victims, John and Ann Palmer. On 8 September 2005, a memorial plaque was unveiled at the site of the fire. The ''Ipswich Journal'' of 26 February 1774 reported how "an old man who died recently near Newmarket who just before his death confessed that he set fire to a barn at Burwell, Cambridgeshire on the 8th of September 1727 when no less than 80 persons lost their lives and that having an antipathy to the puppet showman was the cause of him committing the action." That man was Richard Whittaker.


Governance

Burwell is a
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 ...
and thus has a parish council to deal with matters within the village. These include the maintenance and provision of both
village hall A village hall is a public building in a rural or suburban community which functions as a community centre without a religious affiliation. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is a building which is owned by a local gover ...
s, the recreation ground, playgrounds, and allotments. The Parish Council convenes at the Jubilee Reading Room on The Causeway. Burwell parish lies within Burwell
ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
and provides three councillors to
East Cambridgeshire East Cambridgeshire (locally known as East Cambs) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in the cathedral city of Ely. The district also contains the towns of Littleport and Soham and surrounding rural a ...
District Council, which convenes at The Grange, Ely. A larger Burwell
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 ...
provides one councillor to
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 ...
, convening at Shire Hall in
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 local government boundary has varied over the years. At parish level, the boundary followed Devil's Dyke through the neighbouring village of Reach, bisecting it until it was turned into a new parish in 1961. The other boundaries of Burwell parish have also changed slightly over the years, most clearly on the south-eastern edge, where part of it including some of
Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of ...
passed to Newmarket when the boundary was adjusted to follow the A14 bypass in 1993. The boundaries with Newmarket and Exning parishes follow the boundary between the counties of Cambridgeshire and
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
. As elsewhere in England, a system of Hundreds covered Cambridgeshire until the 19th century. Burwell included the south-west edge of Staploe Hundred, along with the nearby parishes of
Chippenham Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...
, Fordham,
Isleham Isleham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Cambridgeshire. It is part of the Fens. It has three pubs. Geography Isleham is located in the Fens of south-east Cambridgeshire. The western parish boundary is formed by the Cro ...
, Kennett,
Landwade Landwade is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Exning, in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is 4 miles north of Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket. It was one of the smallest ...
,
Snailwell Snailwell is a small village and civil parish in East Cambridgeshire, England around north of Newmarket. History The parish of Snailwell covers an area of in the extension of eastern Cambridgeshire that surrounds the town of Newmarket in Suffo ...
,
Soham Soham ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of East Cambridgeshire, in Cambridgeshire, England, just off the A142 road, A142 between Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely and Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket. Its population ...
and Wicken. East Cambridgeshire District Council came into being in 1974 under 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 ...
. Before the reorganisation, Burwell had lain inside Newmarket Rural District since 1894. Between 1875 and 1894, this was part of a larger Newmarket
Rural Sanitary District Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...
which also encompassed
Moulton Rural District Moulton was a rural district in Suffolk, England from 1894 to 1935. It covered the area to the east of the town of Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket. The district was created in 1894 as the part of the Newmarket rural sanitary district which lay i ...
in neighbouring
West Suffolk West Suffolk may refer to the following places in Suffolk, England: * West Suffolk (county), a county until 1974 * West Suffolk District, a local government district established in 2019 * West Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency), an electoral di ...
. The boundaries 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 ...
itself also changed over the years up to 1974. Before
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 ...
joined the county in 1974, Burwell fell within
Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely was, from 1965 to 1974, an administrative county, administrative and Geographical counties of England, geographical county in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. In 1974 it became part of an enlarged Cambridgeshire. ...
, covering the southern and eastern parts of today's county. Between 1888 and 1965, the village fell within a smaller
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 ...
of Cambridgeshire, covering only the southern part of the present one.


Geography


Climate


Clunch quarry

Until the mid-20th century, a building material known as
clunch Clunch is a traditional building material of chalky limestone rock used mainly in eastern England and Normandy. Clunch distinguishes itself from archetypal forms of limestone by being softer in character when cut, and may resemble chalk in lowe ...
– a soft rock which is one type of
chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...
limestone – was dug in Burwell. Remains of the open quarry can be seen either side of Bloomsfield. This was worked from 1252 to 1952 and used on many of the houses in Burwell. It remains the name of a local community magazine.


Priory Wood

Burwell has a small area of woodland planted in 1998 as a community project to mark the coming millennium. It is owned and maintained by the Woodland Trust. The official name comes from an ancient priory, which also gave its name to local roads such as Priory Close and Abbey Close.


Population


Notable people

In birth order: * Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex (died 1144) was mortally wounded at Burwell in the rebellion against
Stephen, King of England Stephen (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne ''jure uxoris'' from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 ...
. * Edward Fitzball (born Ball, 1792–1873), a London playwright specialising in
melodrama A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...
, was born in Burwell. * William Wickins (1862–1933), Anglican Archbishop of Calcutta and
Honorary Chaplain to the King An Honorary Chaplain to the King is a member of the clergy within the United Kingdom who, through long and distinguished service, is appointed to minister to the monarch of the United Kingdom. When the reigning monarch is female, Honorary Chaplain ...
, was a curate in Burwell. * Marjory Stephenson (1885–1948), a biochemist specialising in microbial metabolism, grew up in Burwell. She became one of the first two women members of the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
in 1945. * Eric Ennion (1900–1981), natural historian and broadcaster, was a GP in Burwell for 20 years. * Thomas Malcolm Charlton (1923–1997), civil engineer and science historian, retired to Burwell in 1979. *
John Louis Mansi John Louis Mansi (born John Patrick Adams; 8 November 1926 – 6 August 2010) was a British television and film actor whose career spanned the years from the early 1950s to the early 1990s. Born in London to an Italian father and an Irish moth ...
(1926–2010), actor, lived in Burwell in the 1980s. * Lawrence Harvey (born 1972), formerly of the
Turks and Caicos Islands national football team The Turks and Caicos Islands national football team represents Turks and Caicos Islands in international football, and is controlled by the Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association. History Having formed a football association in 1996 an ...
, has worked in Burwell as a quantity surveyor.


Culture and community


Carnival

The village hosts an annual carnival in June, which raises money for charity. A parade travels from Margaret Field in the south of the village to the Recreational Ground, where stalls and fairground rides are present.


Twinning

The village is twinned with Lizy-sur-Ourcq and Mary-sur-Marne and with a small town, Ocquerre. All three are situated in France; Lizy is mentioned on signs as you enter the village. Visits from Burwell to the twins are organised by the Burwell Village Twinning Association. A plate marking the twinning is located on a wall outside the Year 3 classroom at the village primary school, Burwell Village College (Primary).


Philanthropy

The villages holds an annual Christmas Eve fund raising event which is run by business executive James Pryor. The annual event raises money for local causes.


Transport

Road access to Burwell is mainly along the B1102 Cambridge to Mildenhall road, which runs the length of the village, and the B1103, which links the village with Newmarket. The A14 passes along the southernmost edge of Burwell parish on the Cambridgeshire–Suffolk border, but cannot be joined without leaving the parish. Bus transport is provided by
Stagecoach in Cambridge Stagecoach East is a bus operator providing local and regional services across the East of England, operating in the counties of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. The company is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group and is headquartered and regist ...
route 10 running through the village between Cambridge and Newmarket. Stagecoach took over what used to be Cambus in the mid-1990s, Cambus itself having split from the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company in 1984. Eastern Counties absorbed Burwell and District in 1979, the local bus company having provided transport to nearby Cambridge, Newmarket and Bury St Edmunds, and to destinations further afield, such as Great Yarmouth and Felixstowe. Between 1884 and 1965,
railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
, in the south of the village, was served by the
Cambridge to Mildenhall railway The Cambridge to Mildenhall railway is a closed railway between Cambridge and Mildenhall, Suffolk, Mildenhall in England. It was built by the Great Eastern Railway, and opened in two stages, in 1884 and 1885. Traversing thinly populated agricultu ...
. The station closed to passengers in 1962. Although nothing of it remains, its earlier presence is acknowledged in the names of the streets Railway Close and Station Gate. There was also a halt on Newmarket Road to the south-east of the village, where the B1103 still goes over a former railway bridge. To the north of the village, temporary tramways provided access from the nearby Ipswich to Ely Line to the local brickworks, situated near the Lode. Burwell Lode is navigable up to the edge of the village at Anchor Lane. The Lode joins Reach Lode in the north-west corner of the parish before they flow into the
River Cam The River Cam () is the main river flowing through Cambridge in eastern England. After leaving Cambridge, it flows north and east before joining the River Great Ouse to the south of Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely, at Pope's Corner. The total distanc ...
at Upware, 5 miles from Burwell.


Education

Burwell contains a nursery, a
Montessori The Montessori method of education is a type of educational method that involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing ...
and a playgroup for
pre-school A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space Learning space or learning setting refers to a physical s ...
children. The old school house on the High Street, a listed building dating from 1864, is now a private residence. Children attend Burwell Village College (Primary) up to the age of 11 and then go to secondary schools at either
Soham Soham ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of East Cambridgeshire, in Cambridgeshire, England, just off the A142 road, A142 between Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely and Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket. Its population ...
or Bottisham.


Burwell Museum

The museum shows life through the centuries on the edge of the Cambridgeshire fens. Opened in 1992, it occupies a collection of buildings, some reconstructed from other sites, such as an 18th-century timber-framed barn, and others built in local style mainly with reclaimed materials, such as the wagon sheds/granary display area. The displays are set out as "scenes" (resembling stage sets) with groups of artefacts making up each, to give an idea of how, where and when items were used. Themes and exhibits cover agriculture, period rooms and household items, military life, a blacksmith's shop, a reconstruction of a Roman potter's workshop, a Victorian school room, and vintage vehicles, carts and farm equipment. The museum is a regular venue for school trips. Eight local schoolchildren appeared in 2012 in a TV programme about the Cambridgeshire
fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires ...
s that was filmed here. The neighbouring Grade II*-listed windmill, Stevens' Mill, forms part of the museum and opens with it. It was probably built about 1820. It stayed in the Carter family until 1884, when it was sold to George Mason, who had been the tenant miller. By the 1920s, the mill, at one time powered also by steam, was owned by the Stevens family. When Warren Stevens retired in 1955, the mill became redundant and fell into disrepair. The Burwell Museum obtained funding of £400,000 from Heritage Lottery Fund to restore it.


Religion

Burwell has a large, Grade I-listed parish church in the High Street in the south of the village. Dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, the church is in
Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...
style and dates back to the 15th century, although some parts are older. At the northern end of the village, Burwell has a Baptist church. Located near St Mary's, Trinity is a small church founded by a merger of the Methodist and United Reformed communities in 1988. The nearest Roman Catholic church is Our Lady and St Etheldreda in Newmarket. The village has a number of former churches converted to other uses. The cemetery in Ness Road has a small non-denominational chapel.


Sport

Burwell Swifts F.C. play
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
in Division 1A of the ''NMC''
Cambridgeshire Football League The Cambridgeshire County Football League, currently styled as the Adcock Cambridgeshire County League for sponsorship purposes, is a football league competition covering Cambridgeshire and western parts of Suffolk, Norfolk and northwestern part ...
, with a reserve team in Division 3B. Burwell Tigers F.C. play association football in Division 5A of the ''NMC''
Cambridgeshire Football League The Cambridgeshire County Football League, currently styled as the Adcock Cambridgeshire County League for sponsorship purposes, is a football league competition covering Cambridgeshire and western parts of Suffolk, Norfolk and northwestern part ...
. There are two youth football clubs: the Burwell Swallows and Burwell Tigers. Burwell
Cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
Club is based on Tan House Lane, with a 1st XI in the East Anglian Premier League.


Media

The village has a community magazine, ''Clunch'', dealing with news on a village level. The village is in the catchment areas of the ''
Cambridge News The ''Cambridge News'' (formerly the ''Cambridge Evening News'') is a British daily newspaper. Published each weekday and on Saturdays, it is distributed from its Milton base. In the period December 2010 – June 2011 it had an average daily c ...
'' and '' Newmarket Journal'' newspapers, and the radio stations BBC Radio Cambridgeshire and Heart East. For television Burwell is in the BBC East and
ITV Anglia ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...
regions. Among several books on the village is an illustrated ''Memories of Burwell'' by Frank Czucha published in April 2017, available locally.Bibliograph
Retrieved 8 September 2017.
/re
Burwell Community Radio
started broadcasting in 2020 and serves the village with a number of specialist music, documentary, interviews and community features.


See also

* HMS Burwell (H94)


References


Notes


Sources


External links


Burwell Parish Council
{{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire East Cambridgeshire District