Stetchworth is a small 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 ...

East Cambridgeshire East Cambridgeshire (locally known as East Cambs) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in the cathedral city of Ely. The district also contains the towns of Littleport and Soham and surrounding rural a ...

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 ...

, to the south of the horse-racing centre of Newmarket and around east 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 ...

History

The parish of Stetchworth is long and thin in shape, around six miles long and one mile wide and covering an area of . It stretches southeast from Newmarket Heath to the border with

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

. Its relatively straight north-east border with Burwell and

Woodditton Woodditton is a village and civil parish in East Cambridgeshire, England. The other settlements in the parish are Ditton Green, Little Ditton and Saxon Street. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population (including Kirtling) was 1,7 ...

follows the Devil's Dyke to its southern end just west of Ditton Green, from where the border follows field boundaries. Its long western border with

Dullingham Dullingham is a small village and civil parish in East Cambridgeshire, England. It is situated south of Newmarket and east of Cambridge. History The parish of Dullingham covers 3387 acres in a long thin irregular shape running from just nor ...

also follows field boundaries, most of which also follow the course of the Stour Valley Path, a long-distance footpath. It also has a short border with

Kirtling Kirtling, together with Kirtling Green and Kirtling Towers, is a scattered settlement in the south-eastern edge of the English county of Cambridgeshire. It forms a civil parish with the nearby village of Upend to its north. The population of the ...

at the southeastern end and another with

Swaffham Prior Swaffham Prior is a small village in East Cambridgeshire, England. Lying 5 miles west of Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, and two miles south west of Burwell, Cambridgeshire, Burwell, the village is often paired with its neighbour Swaffham Bulbe ...

at its northwest edge. Devil's Dyke (or Ditch), an Anglo-Saxon earthwork built between the Cambridgeshire villages of Reach and Wood Ditton, runs through Stetchworth. It consists of a ditch and a mound of earth which continues for over seven miles, and is a popular place for local walks. The Devils Dyke Morris Men dance along its length to end up at the 800-year-old Reach Fair on May Day. The relatively rare

pasque flower The genus ''Pulsatilla'' contains about 40 species of herbaceous perennial plants native to meadows and prairies of North America, Europe, and Asia. Common names include pasque flower (or pasqueflower), wind flower, prairie crocus, Easter flower, ...

grows along the dyke in the chalky soil. The ancient trackway,

Icknield Way The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern and eastern England that runs from Norfolk to Wiltshire. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills. Background It is generally said to be, withi ...

, passes through the village. Much of its route, including in Stetchworth, is followed by the

Icknield Way Path The Icknield Way Path or Icknield Way Trail is a long distance footpath and riding route in East Anglia, England. The ancient Icknield Way itself is unique among long-distance trails because it can claim to be ‘the oldest road in Britain’ ...

, a multi-user route for walkers, horse riders and off-road cyclists from

Ivinghoe Beacon Ivinghoe Beacon is a prominent hill and landmark in Buckinghamshire, England, 233 m (757 ft) above sea level in the Chiltern Hills, close to Ivinghoe and Aldbury. Dunstable, Berkhamsted and Tring are nearby. The Beacon lies within t ...

in Buckinghamshire to

Knettishall Heath Knettishall Heath is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Knettishall in Suffolk, England. A larger area of 176 hectares is the Knettishall Heath Nature Reserve, which is managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. Despite its n ...

in Suffolk. The village had 25 inhabitants at the time of 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 ...

in 1086 when the parish was owned by Hardwin of Scales, the Abbot of Ely, and Count Alan. The Domesday Book also mentions that Stetchworth was "once a town". The railway reached the parish when the Cambridge to Newmarket line was opened in 1848, though there is no station in Stetchworth.

Dullingham railway station Dullingham is a railway station that serves the village of Dullingham in Cambridgeshire, England. It is about north-west of the centre of the village. It is also the nearest railway station to the town of Haverhill in Suffolk, which is about ...

is just over a mile to the west of the village. The

National Stud The National Stud is a Thoroughbred stud farm in Newmarket which is owned by the Jockey Club. As well as commercial breeding services, it undertakes education and training activities and allows the public to visit the working stud on organised ...

partially falls within the parish boundaries, and the July Racecourse at

Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of ...

finishes in the parish, running parallel to the Devil's Dyke. Listed as ''Steuicheswrthe'' in around 1050 and ''Stiuicesuuorde'' in the

of 1086, the name "Stetchworth" either means "enclosure amongst the tree-stumps" or "enclosure of a man called Styfic".

Church

The parish church has been dedicated to St Peter since at least the 13th century, and is the oldest building in the village. There are records of a church in the village in the 12th century, but the earliest part of the present building is the chancel which dates from the 13th century. The nave dates from the 14th century and the west tower was extensively rebuilt in the 15th century. There are bells in the tower dating from 1450 onwards, but they have not been used in recent years. The church boasts examples of early English graffiti (apparently carved into a pillar during a visit to Stetchworth by

Queen Philippa Queen Philippa may refer to: * Philippa of Hainault (1310–1369), queen consort of England * Philippa of Lancaster (1360–1415), queen consort of Portugal * Philippa of England Philippa of England (mid-1394 – 5 January 1430), also known a ...

) depicting a woman in an elaborate head-dress, and several animals. The village also has a

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theolog ...

that opened in 1963 on the site of the former Congregationalist Church.

Village life

Stetchworth has one public house, The

Marquis of Granby Duke of Rutland is a title in the Peerage of England, named after Rutland, a county in the East Midlands of England. Earldoms named after Rutland have been created three times; the ninth earl of the third creation was made duke in 1703, in whos ...

, which opened in 1937. Former pubs include The White Horse which opened opposite Church Lane in the first half of the 19th century, and rebuilt for the

Earl of Ellesmere Earl of Ellesmere ( ), of Ellesmere in the County of Shropshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1846 for the Conservative politician Lord Francis Egerton. He was granted the subsidiary title of Viscount B ...

in 1905. It closed in the 1930s. The Live and Let Live opened opposite the school in 1890, but closed at some point between 1961 and 1973. A school was opened in the village in the 1860s and attendance grew to a peak of 168 in 1905–6, falling to 33 by 1938. Older children were transferred to Bottisham Village College in 1947, and the primary school closed in 1990. Primary age pupils from Stetchworth now typically attend Kettlefields School which is just in

although it is closer to the centre of Stetchworth. The Ellesmere Centre, on the Southern edge of the village, is a community centre, including a post office, and community store. It has a good range of sports facilities and a playground available.

Stetchworth House and Stetchworth Park Stud

Stetchworth House was built in 1786 by Richard Eaton, father of Richard Jefferson Eaton and a Newmarket banker. It replaced the original Stetchworth manor house; it is Grade II listed. Stetchworth Park has its own private entrance to St Peter's Church. In 1883, the estate passed to

Francis Egerton, 3rd Earl of Ellesmere Francis Charles Granville Egerton, 3rd Earl of Ellesmere VD, DL, JP (5 April 1847 – 13 July 1914),''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage,'' 100th Edn, London, 1953. styled Viscount Brackley between 1857 and 1862, was a British peer ...

, who founded Stetchworth Park Stud. The stud was later run by Lt. Col. Douglas Gray, former Director of the National Stud in Newmarket. The GB

Showjumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows are l ...

Team trained at Stetchworth Park before the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In 2012, the estate was put up for sale, valued at over £11 million.Property details (Savills)
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References

External links

Village websiteStetchworth Community Archive
{{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire East Cambridgeshire District