Whittlesford
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Whittlesford 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, and also the name of an old
hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...
. The village is situated on the Granta branch of the
River Cam The River Cam () is the main river flowing through Cambridge in eastern England. After leaving Cambridge, it flows north and east before joining the River Great Ouse to the south of Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely, at Pope's Corner. The total distanc ...
, seven miles south 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 ...
.
Whittlesford Parkway railway station Whittlesford Parkway railway station is on the West Anglia Main Line serving the village of Whittlesford in Cambridgeshire, England. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between and stations. Its three-letter sta ...
serves the village. Listed as ''Witelesforde'' 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 ...
, the name Whittlesford means "ford of a man called Wittel", indicating the importance of a local ford across the river in the village.


History

The parish lies to the west of the River Cam, just to the north of the
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 ...
, an ancient thoroughfare which forms the historic parish boundary on the south. The parish contains 1,976 acres, and the area was occupied in Roman times. A hospital, then a form of
almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...
, was founded in the village by Sir William Colville before the time of
Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...
, and there are some remains of the original building still standing. Whittlesford was at one stage a market town.
Roger Ascham Roger Ascham (; 30 December 1568)"Ascham, Roger" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 617. was an English scholar and didactic writer, famous for his prose style, his pr ...
, the tutor of
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
, lived in Whittlesford, and a road in the village is named after him.


Church

The first record of the church in Whittlesford dates from 1217, but there has certainly been a church on the present site since at least Norman times. The church has been dedicated to
Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Church stems from the Gospel of Jo ...
since medieval times, and from the 16th century the dedication to
Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
was added. The present building consists of a chancel and nave with south chapel, south aisle and a central tower. It is built of field stones with
ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...
dressings. The north wall of the nave dates from the 11th century Norman church as well as the base of the tower and several south windows. The chancel dates from the 13th century and the south chapel from the 15th century. The church contains a square 13th century font. A late 12th or early 13th-century
Sheela na Gig A sheela na gig is a figurative carving of a naked woman displaying an exaggerated Human vulva, vulva. These carvings, from the Middle Ages, are Grotesque (architecture), architectural grotesques found throughout most of Europe on Architecture ...
can be observed on a high window arch of the church, accompanied by an
ithyphallic A phallus (: phalli or phalluses) is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history, a figure with an erect penis is described as ''ithyphallic''. Any object that symbo ...
male figure. Between the 17th and 19th centuries, the church had strong links with
Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...
and vicars were frequently fellows of the college. 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 ...
. In 2023, to celebrate the 1000 anniversary of the original building, a stained glass window designed by Benjamin Finn and inspired by scenes from the
Covid-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, was installed in the church. A Primitive
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
chapel was built in the village in the early 19th century, but was closed before the end of the century. A Congregational chapel was built in 1903.


Village life

The village now has two public houses, the Tickell Arms (named after the Tickell family, former lords of the manor), and the Bees in the Wall, but it formerly had many more; in 1851 there were six pubs, and by 1904 there were eight. Most notable among these was the Waggon and Horses that closed in 1937. The two surviving pubs are both
Grade II listed 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, H ...
. The village is served by the William Westley Church of England Primary School, named after the 18th century businessman who endowed the village's first school in his 1723 will. Whittlesford has a King George's Field in memorial to
King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...
, known locally as 'The Lawn'.


Hill figure

In September 2004, a
cropmark Cropmarks or crop marks are a means through which sub-surface archaeological, natural and recent features may be visible from the air or a vantage point on higher ground or a temporary platform. Such marks, along with parch marks, soil marks a ...
in a surrounding field surfaced, resembling a horse, discovered by the Whittlesford Society Archive Project by aerial photography, similar to how the Rockley Horse was discovered. This led to speculation that this was possibly the site of a newly discovered
hill figure A hill figure is a large visual representation created by cutting into a steep hillside and revealing the underlying geology. It is a type of geoglyph usually designed to be seen from afar rather than above. In some cases trenches are dug and ...
of a white horse. The mark particularly resembled the
Uffington White Horse The Uffington White Horse is a Prehistoric Britain, prehistoric hill figure, long, formed from deep trenches filled with crushed white chalk. The figure is situated on the upper slopes of Whitehorse Hill in the English civil parishes in En ...
.


References


External links


Official Whittlesford Village websiteWhittlesford Society WebsiteEco Whittlesford Community Website
{{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire District