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Longstanton is a village and civil parish in
South Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district of Cambridgeshire, England, with a population of 162,119 at the 2021 census. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of Chesterton Rural District and South Cambri ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, north-west 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 ...
city centre. Longstanton occupies . Longstanton was created in 1953 from the two
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 ...
es of Long Stanton All Saints and Long Stanton St Michael. While the village is called Longstanton, the alternative form Long Stanton is still in use, for example when referring to the separate pre-1953 parishes, or to the current ecclesiastical parish.


History

For most of its history Longstanton was split into two parishes: the larger Long Stanton All Saints to the north and the smaller Long Stanton St. Michael to the south. The two may have been seen as distinct by 1086, when 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 ...
referred to a "Stantone" and a "Stantune", and were certainly so by 1240, distinguished in ''Liber Memorandorum Ecclesie de Bernewelle'' as "Stanton" and "the other Stanton". The two villages were not formally amalgamated until 1953 and the two church parishes were permanently united in 1959. The first known reference to the village, dating back to 1070 AD, calls the village "Stantona", meaning "an enclosed settlement of stoney ground." By the time of the Domesday Book "Stantone" was one of the most populous villages in the area, with 67 peasant tenants being recorded. By 1563 this had dwindled to 42 families, and the settlement had been overtaken in size by other nearby villages such as Chesterton. The population fluctuated between 400 and 600 for several centuries; in the 1901 census there were 340 inhabitants of Longstanton All Saints parish and 93 inhabitants of Longstanton St Michael's parish (population of Longstanton was 443).


Hatton Family

The Hatton family dominated Longstanton as largest landowner and resident squires until the early 19th century. Sir Christopher and his mother Alice in 1633 sold their manors, named as Long Stanton, Cheyneys, Walwyns, and Colvilles, to his uncle Thomas Hatton, 1st baronet. The estate descended with the Hatton baronetcy. Title and estates were inherited by Thomas Dingley Hatton, who succeeded to the baronetcy in 1811 and died in 1812, when the title became extinct. At inclosure in 1816 the Long Stanton estate was owned jointly by his six sisters, being divided shortly afterwards among three who were unmarried, Frances, Elizabeth Ann, and Anne, who received 888 a., 550 a., and 318 a. respectively. By will proved 1838 Frances left most of her share to Anne for life, with remainder to their distant relative Rev. Daniel Heneage Finch-Hatton, chaplain to Queen Victoria. Under Anne's will, proved 1842, her enlarged estate was settled on Elizabeth Ann for life, and it was only under Elizabeth Ann's will, proved 1845, that Daniel Finch-Hatton obtained possession. He was succeeded after his death in 1866 by his son Edward Hatton Finch-Hatton, who dispersed the land by sale in 1874 but appears to have retained the manorial rights until he died in 1887. His brother and heir William Robert Finch-Hatton (d. 1909) was followed by his eldest son George Daniel, after whose death in 1921. The three open fields of Longstanton All Saints and of Longstanton St Michael's were inclosed in 1816.


Village Sign

The village sign of Longstanton erected in 1981 to mark the marriage of the Prince of Wales, features a golden hind, from the crest of the Hatton's, on top was the coat of arms of the Hatton. The name of
Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...
's ship, in which he sailed around the world, was changed from 'Pelican' to the 'Golden Hind' in recognition of the patronage of Sir Christopher Hatton, Lord Chancellor to Queen Elizabeth I, who was first cousin to John Hatton of Longstanton, Lord of the Manor of All Saints. John eldest son's Sir Thomas Hatton had a 22 acre park in the parish of All Saints surrounding his manor house, Hatton Park. The village was transformed by the opening of RAF Oakington in 1940, resulting in the building of three new housing estates in the village and a trebling of the population. Although the airfield was in Oakington, all of the hangars, housing and other buildings were in Longstanton. Two bomber squadrons operated from RAF Oakington for the rest of the Second World War. There was also a photographic reconnaissance unit and a meteorological unit for a time during the war. Following the end of the war, the airfield was used by transport squadrons until 1950 and then by air training schools. The cemetery at the church of Longstanton All Saints contains a number of graves of servicemen who died either during or after the war. The graves are tended by the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...
. After 1946 the older pupils went to schools elsewhere but the growth of the village soon outpaced the accommodation available. New buildings, called Hatton Park School, were opened in 1954 on the site of the Hattons' manor house. The site became an army barracks in 1975 and on its closure in 1999 most of the housing was sold to private owners. The barracks buildings were used from 2000 to 2010 as an Immigration Reception Centre by the
Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...
.


Government

Longstanton has its own civil parish council with eleven parish councillors. Longstanton is represented on South Cambridgeshire District Council by two councillors and on
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 ...
by one councillor for the Longstanton, Northstowe and Over electoral division. Longstanton is in the parliamentary constituency of St Neots & Mid Cambridgeshire, 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 ...
since 2024 by Ian Sollom.


Geography

The village itself lies on a low gravel ridge (approximately to above mean sea level) but most of the parish lies on West Walton formation and Amptill Clay formation mudstone. Longstanton is immediately adjacent to the new town of Northstowe, which is planned to contain 10,000 homes and have a population of 26,000. The new town was proposed , and will be built on land to the north and east of Longstanton (including the former RAF Oakington site). In 2012 outline planning consent was granted for the first phase of 1,500 houses, a new primary school and some local road improvements. The work to build a new primary school started in 2015. In 2021 a new
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 ...
of Northstowe was created from part of Longstanton and part of Oakington and Weswick; it is envisaged that the Longstanton, Oakington, and Northstowe will remain separate parishes even when the new town is complete.


Demography

The population of the village was recorded at 1,700 living in 772 households in the 2001 census. The development of new housing at Home Farm started circa 2005 and the population had increased to 2,657 in 1,095 households in the 2011 census. In the census of 2011, 92.4% of people described themselves as white, 2.0% as having mixed or multiple ethnic groups, 4.6% as being Asian or British Asian, and 1.0% as having another ethnicity. In that same census, 55.6% described themselves as Christian, 33.7% described themselves as having no religion, 6.5% did not specify a religion, 1.9% described themselves as Muslim, and 2.3% described themselves as having another religion.


Historical population

Census: Long Stanton All Saints 1801–1951, Census: Long Stanton St Michael 1801–1951, Census: Longstanton 2001–2011


Culture and community

Longstanton has a Village Institute (built in 1926) and a small number of shops and businesses, including a local supermarket that was opened in 2014 and a post office. There is a medical practice, dental practice and two veterinary practices. The recreation ground has facilities for football, cricket, and tennis. The bowls club was formed in 1985 at which time the bowls green was constructed. There is also a children's play area that was re-fitted with new equipment in 2015. Longstanton is on the route of the Pathfinder March and approximately 300 walkers and runners take part each year in an event to commemorate the work of the
Pathfinder Pathfinder, Path Finder or Pathfinders may refer to: Aerospace * ''Mars Pathfinder'', a NASA Mars Lander * NASA Pathfinder, a high-altitude, solar-powered uncrewed aircraft * Space Shuttle ''Pathfinder'', a Space Shuttle test simulator Arts and ...
reconnaissance squadrons, some of whom were based at RAF Oakington. The village contains one public house, the Black Bull, which is over 300 years old. A number of public houses in the village have closed including King William IV, Railway Tavern, The Red Cow (closed 1908) and The Hoops (closed in 1983).


Cultural references

Long Stanton station was immortalised in the
Flanders and Swann Flanders and Swann were a British comedy duo and musicians. Michael Flanders (1922–1975) was a lyricist, actor, and singer. He collaborated with Donald Swann (1923–1994), a composer and pianist, in writing and performing comedy music, comic ...
song " Slow Train". A fictional Longstanton Spice Museum is mentioned in the British comedy series '' I'm Alan Partridge''.


Education

The village has a primary school and is in the catchment area for Northstowe Secondary College, and
Swavesey Village College Swavesey Village College is a village college and Academy (English school), academy school in the village of Swavesey in south Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011, Swavesey Village College became an Academy and established the Cambridge Meridian A ...
.


Transport

Long Stanton railway station on the Cambridge and Huntingdon line operated between 1847 and 1970. Despite surviving the Beeching Axe, passenger services to Long Stanton were ended in 1970. The route of the railway was developed as the
Cambridgeshire Guided Busway The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway is a guided busway and Bus rapid transit that connects Cambridge, Huntingdon and St Ives, Cambridgeshire, St Ives in Cambridgeshire, England. It has the longest guided busway in the world, surpassing the O-Bahn B ...
, the world's longest
guided bus Guided buses are buses capable of being steered by external means, usually on a Bus lane, dedicated track or roll way that excludes other traffic, permitting the maintenance of Public transport timetable, schedules even during rush hours. Unl ...
way. The busway opened in August 2011 and there is a stop with a park-and-ride car park at Longstanton close to the site of the old railway station. There are frequent daily services from Longstanton to Cambridge and St Ives along the busway. A bus service links Longstanton and surrounding villages with Cambridge. A by-pass on the B1050 around the northern and western sides of Longstanton was opened in 2008. The A14 trunk road forms the south west boundary of the parish of Longstanton Regional cycling route 24 and national cycling route 51 both pass through Longstanton. Longstanton is on the route of the long-distance, , Pathfinder Long Distance Walk.


Religious sites

Longstanton is unusual among English villages in having two
mediaeval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and t ...
churches - a reminder of its history as two parishes. The larger of the two churches, All Saints Church, is in the centre of the modern village and dates from the mid-14th Century, when it replaced an earlier church which was destroyed by a fire. It closed in 2003 due to a collapse of the ceiling, but reopened in 2007 after £10,000 was raised for repairs. It is a Grade I
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 ...
. St Michael's Church, situated towards the south of the village, is the smaller and older of the two churches, having been built around 1230. It is notable as a rare example of a church with a
thatched Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge ('' Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
roof (one of only two surviving in Cambridgeshire), and is a Grade II* listed building. It has not been used for regular worship since the amalgamation of the parishes, and is now maintained by the
Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...
. Churches modelled after its architecture have been built as far away as
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
(see Church of St. James the Less) and
South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...
. A Wesleyan chapel was built in 1826 for the Cambridge circuit and later joined the Cottenham circuit in 1877, rejoining the Cambridge circuit in 1952. The chapel, which is located on Over Road, closed in 1970.


References


External links


Longstanton village siteLongstanton & District Heritage Society
{{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire District