Needingworth is a village 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. Needingworth lies approximately east of

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...

and just west of the

Prime Meridian A prime meridian is an arbitrarily chosen meridian (geography), meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. On a spheroid, a prime meridian and its anti-meridian (the 180th meridian ...

. Needingworth is in 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 ...

of Holywell-cum-Needingworth. Needingworth is situated within

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England, which was historically a county in its own right. It borders Peterborough to the north, Fenland to the north-east, East Cambridgeshire to the e ...

which is a

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''s ...

of Cambridgeshire as well as being a historic county of England. The village is attached to

Holywell Holywell may refer to: England * Holywell, Bedfordshire * Holywell, Cambridgeshire * Holywell, Cornwall * Holywell, Dorset * Holywell, Eastbourne, East Sussex * Holywell, Gloucestershire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Ho-Hoo#Hol, location in ...

by a single road, connecting the two villages.

Government

Needingworth is part of the civil parish of ''Holywell-cum-Needingworth'', which has a parish council. The parish council consists of fourteen councillors and has a parish clerk; the parish council normally meets once a month. Needingworth was in the historic and

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 Huntingdonshire until 1965. From 1965, the village was part of the new administrative county of

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 ...

. Then in 1974, following 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 ...

, Needingworth became a part of the county of Cambridgeshire. The second tier of local government is

Huntingdonshire District Council Huntingdonshire District Council is the local authority for the district of Huntingdonshire in Cambridgeshire, England. The council is based in the town of Huntingdon. The district also includes the towns of Godmanchester, Ramsey, St Ives and ...

which is a

of Cambridgeshire and has its headquarters in Huntingdon. Huntingdonshire District Council has 52 councillors representing 29 district wards. Needingworth is a part of the district ward of ''Earith'' and is represented on the district council by two councillors. District councillors serve for four-year terms following elections to Huntingdonshire District Council. For Needingworth the highest tier of local government is

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 ...

which has administration buildings in Cambridge. Cambridgeshire County Council consists of 69 councillors representing 60 electoral divisions. Needingworth is part of the electoral division of ''Somersham and Earith'' and is represented on the county council by one councillor. At Westminster Needingworth is in the parliamentary constituency of North West Cambridgeshire, which is 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 ...

Shailesh Vara Shailesh Lakhman Vara (, born 4 September 1960) is a Ugandan-British Conservative former politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Cambridgeshire from 2005 until 2024. He also served as Secretary of State for Northern Ir ...

(

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

). Shailesh Vara has represented the constituency since 2005. The previous member of parliament was

Brian Mawhinney Brian Stanley Mawhinney, Baron Mawhinney, (26 July 1940 – 9 November 2019) was a British Conservative Party politician. He was a member of the Cabinet from 1994 to 1997 and a member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2005. Early life Mawhin ...

(Conservative) who represented the constituency between 1997 and 2005.

Culture and community

There is only one shop, currently a 'One Stop', which is also a Post Office on the Needingworth high street. There are also two pubs (not including the Ferry Boat Inn in

) in Needingworth, The Pike and Eel and The Queen's Head. There is a Church-of-England primary school, a village hall with bowls club and various good walks in the area. Also tennis courts. The Villager is the local newsletter of the area, a copy of which is delivered free to every household in the parish of Holywell-cum-Needingworth. The drama club is the Wellworth Players, a long established amateur theatre club taking their name from Needingworth and Holywell. They have won several awards for their plays and pantomimes. These events being staged in Needingworth Village Hall. This is the only settlement in the world to carry the name Needingworth Famous residents include Ambrose Nicholas, a former Lord Mayor of London

The quarry

There is a significant aggregate extraction operation based just to the east of Needingworth. The quarry will be turned into

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

with the co-operation of the

RSPB The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Charitable_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...

. The resulting wetland will constitute 50% of the UK's

reedbed A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...

target.Hanson Aggregates, 2007

Bus services

There are two bus routes serving the village; *Route A (Busway, Stagecoach in Huntingdonshire) to St Ives and Cambridge (peak times only) *21 (Go Whippet) to St Ives or Somersham/Ramsey

References

External links

Holywell-cum-Needingworth Parish Council
{{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Huntingdonshire