Six Mile Bottom is a
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
within the parish of
Little Wilbraham, near
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 ...
in
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 ...
.
Etymology
The hamlet was named in 1801, deriving its name from the six mile distance to
Newmarket and its location in a
bottom, an archaic term for a valley.
History
In the 1790s the only building at Six Mile Bottom was a paddock run by a stable keeper. In 1802, a sizeable country house was built nearby. Early residents were George and
Augusta Leigh
Augusta Maria Leigh (''née'' Byron; 26 January 1783 – 12 October 1851) was the only surviving daughter of John Byron (British Army officer), John "Mad Jack" Byron, the poet Lord Byron's father, by his first wife, Amelia Osborne, Marchiones ...
, the latter being
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...
's half-sister.
Their residence is now the Country House Hotel, Paddocks House.
In 1807 the hamlet was the scene for a
bare-knuckle fight between
John Gully and
Bob Gregson in which Gregson was defeated by Gully in a fight in 36 rounds lasting an hour and a quarter.
There was little additional building until the 1840s, but it grew from there until there were 22 homes housing around 170 people in around 1920, most owned by the Six Mile Bottom estate.
served the village from the 1860s (by the
Newmarket and Chesterford Railway
The Newmarket and Chesterford Railway Company was an early railway company that built the first rail connection to Newmarket. Although only around long the line ran through three counties, the termini being in Essex (Great Chesterford) and Suf ...
) until 1967.
[
]
Village life
The hamlet had a pub/restaurant, The Green Man, which also provides accommodation (although now closed as a pub). It had served since the hamlet grew in the early 19th century, but may also be the same inn with stabling for 22 horses that was reported in 1686.[ It has a social club, on the Brinkley Road. In the 1970s it was owned by ex-]Flying Squad
The Flying Squad is a branch of the Serious and Organised Crime Command within London's Metropolitan Police Service. It is also known as the Robbery Squad, Specialist Crime Directorate 7, SC&O7 and SO7. It is nicknamed The Sweeney, an abbrevia ...
detective, Alec Eist, who had been dismissed for corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
.
There was at one time a small school, reopened as a community centre in 1975. Christian services were held in the village's school from the 1890s to the 1920s. The brick-and-flint mission church of St George
Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...
was built in 1933.
Transport
The A1304 passes through the hamlet. There is one bus a day in each direction, on the route between Cambridge and Stetchworth; that is the only public transport. There was a railway station, , on the Cambridge to Ipswich line. It is now a private residence.
Gallery
Image:6MBGreenManPH.jpeg, The Green Man public house
Image:TrainAt6MB.jpeg, The old railway station
References
{{Commons category, Six Mile Bottom
Hamlets in Cambridgeshire
South Cambridgeshire District