Madingley is a small village near

Cambridge, England Cambridge ( ) is a 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 United Kingdom census, the population of ...

. 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 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 ...

at the 2011 Census was 210. The village was known as ''Madingelei'' 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 ...

of 1086, a name meaning "Woodland clearing of the family or followers of a man called Mada". Madingley is well known for its 16th-century manor house, Madingley Hall, which is owned by the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Madingley Hall

The village is home to Madingley Hall, which was built by Sir John Hynde in 1543 and occupied as a residence by his descendants until the 1860s. It is surrounded by parkland.

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

rented the Hall in 1860 for her son Edward (the future King Edward VII) to live in while he was an undergraduate at the

. The family sold the Hall in 1871 to Henry Hurrell. It was then sold to Colonel T. Walter Harding in 1905. In 1927, he died and left it to his only son, the zoologist Ambrose Harding, who moved there with his wife and adult children. His daughter Rosamond Harding, notable musicologist and music historian, lived there for 20 years until her late father's trust sold it to the university.

University of Cambridge

The Madingley Hall estate, including its surrounding park and farmland have been owned by the University of Cambridge since 1948, and still is today. It is now the official home of their Institute of Continuing Education. In addition to its extensive English gardens, the Madingley Hall estate includes 1150 acres of countryside which are maintained by the university.

Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial

The Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial is a major military cemetery and memorial for American servicemen, dedicated in 1956. It is situated on the southern edge of the parish of Madingley and close to the city 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 ...

. 3,811 American military dead from

World War II 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 ...

are buried in the cemetery. In addition, the names of 5,127 are inscribed on the ''Wall of the Missing'', Americans who lost their lives but whose remains were never recovered or identified. Most of these died in the years-long

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...

or in the strategic air bombardment of Northwest Europe. The entire 30½ acres used for the American Cemetery and Memorial were donated to the

United States government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

by the University of Cambridge following World War II.

Village life

The village's former

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, ''The Three Horseshoes'', is now a restaurant though it still has a bar that serves beer. The village has an independent pre- preparatory school which caters for reception to year-two students. There is also a village church, where services are held weekly. The church has a 12th-century canonical sundial on the south wall. The village has two cricket teams, both playing in the Cambridgeshire Cricket Association leagues and one cricket team playing in the Cambridge Business House Midweek League.

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