Dry Drayton 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 ...

about 5 miles (8 km) northwest 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 ...

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, listed as Draitone in the Domesday Book in 1086. It covers an area of .

History

The ancient parish of Dry Drayton formed between the Roman

Via Devana Via Devana is the name given to a Roman Road in England that ran from Colchester in the south-east, through Cambridge in the interior, and on to Chester in the north-west. These were important Roman military centres and it is conjectured that th ...

(now the A14) to the north, and the Cambridge to St Neot's road to the south, covering an area of 2421 acres. In 1966 around 350 acres were removed from the north west of the parish to create the new civil parish of

Bar Hill Bar Hill is a purpose-built village with a population of 4,000 about 4 miles (7 km) northwest of Cambridge, England on the A14 road, just east of the Prime Meridian. History Prior to the building of the Bar Hill settlement the area was ...

. Now completely cleared of ancient woodland, the village has been used for arable farming for centuries. Listed as ''Draitone'' 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 ...

, the village became known as Dry Drayton by the start of the 13th century to distinguish it from

Fen Drayton Fen Drayton is a small village between Cambridge and St Ives, Cambridgeshire, St. Ives in Cambridgeshire, England, and between the villages of Fenstanton and Swavesey. The village has a primary education, primary school, village hall, nursery, ...

(5 miles to the north west) and the fact that it was susceptible to times of drought. The name "Drayton" means "farmstead where drays or sledges are used".

Church

The parish church in the village has been dedicated to St Peter and St Paul since the 15th century. The building dates from the 13th century, and consists of a chancel, an aisled and clerestoried nave with north porch, and a three-storey west tower. The tower is the oldest part of the present building and dates from the 13th century, as does the majority of the chancel and nave, though the church was

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004, by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard Aus ...

in the 19th century. The plain octagonal font dates from the 13th century.

Village life

Dry Drayton has an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church, a

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 ...

church, a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

and a

cricket ground Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field, at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails (small sticks) balanced on three stumps. Two players from the ...

. The village has one remaining public house, The Black Horse, that opened around 1780. Former pubs include the Three Horseshoes, that opened in the mid-18th century and closed in the mid-20th century. Away from the village was the Five Bells, that opened in the early 19th century where the

Oakington Oakington is a small rural village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Oakington and Westwick, in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England, dating back to Roman times. It is north-west of Cambridge. ...

road met the Huntingdon turnpike (now the A14). It became a farmhouse in the first decades of the 20th century. The village High Street once was the main focus of the village but with expansion the focus has moved towards the area closer to the field called 'The Park', despite not being a play park or recreational area. Most of the village services and shops closed following the opening of the

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

superstore in Bar Hill.

Dry Drayton is connected to Bar Hill by a cycle path and pedestrian path known as "The Drift".Dry Drayton - Domesday Reloaded
/ref> There is currently a campaign to improve the cycling facilities between Bar Hill, Dry Drayton, Madingley and Cambridge by providing an off-road cycle trac
www.bhddmadcycle.com

Nearby villages

to the northeast * Hardwick to the south *

Madingley Madingley is a small village near Cambridge, England. It is located close to the nearby villages of Coton and Dry Drayton on the western outskirts of Cambridge. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 210. The village was k ...

to the southeast *

to the north

References

External links

DryDrayton.net Village websiteDry Drayton Village Hall website
{{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire District