Comberton Explained

Country:England
Coordinates:52.1876°N 0.024°W
Official Name:Comberton
Static Image Name:Comberton village green.jpg
Static Image Caption:Comberton village green and pond
Population:2,346
Population Ref:(2011 Census)[1]
Shire District:South Cambridgeshire
Region:East of England
Shire County:Cambridgeshire
Constituency Westminster:South Cambridgeshire
Post Town:CAMBRIDGE
Postcode District:CB23
Postcode Area:CB
Dial Code:01223
Os Grid Reference:TL383563

Comberton is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England, just east of the Prime Meridian.

History

Archaeological finds, including a Neolithic polished stone axe (found to the south of the current village) and a Bronze Age barrow (to the north), suggest there has been a settlement here for thousands of years. A Roman villa was discovered in 1842.[2]

The village was mentioned in Domesday Book of 1086 as Cumbertone, and therefore dates to at least the 11th century.[3]

Some houses in the village date from the 14th century.

The hamlet of Green End was named after the landowner Sir Henry Green (d.1370), Chief Justice of the King's Bench 1361–1365. The current Manor House at Green End dates back to the late 16th century.

Geography

Comberton is about south-west of the city of Cambridge, and just NaNmiles east of the Prime Meridian, lying at a height above mean sea level of around . The civil parish covers 1954acres, and is part of the local government district of South Cambridgeshire. Nearby villages include Barton to the east and Toft to the west. Comberton is twinned with Le Vaudreuil, a village near Rouen, France.[4]

The Greenwich Prime Meridian is marked by a Meridian Line stone plaque on the north side of the main road (B1046) between Comberton and the neighbouring village of Toft.

Community

Comberton has a population of about 2,300,[5] [6] down from 2,400 in 2011.[7] It contains two churches: the Church of England St Mary's, a Grade I listed[8] Early English-style building dating from the 13th century,[9] and a Baptist church dating from 1868.[10]

It also a pub, The Three Horseshoes, shops, a post office, a recreation ground, a doctor's surgery, a dental surgery, and at the centre of the village, a village pond with resident ducks.

The village has an infant playgroup, the Meridian Primary School,[11] Comberton Village College,[12] and the Comberton Sixth Form.[13] The latter two are part of the Cam Academy Trust.[14]

Literary journalist and writer Lyn Irvine lived at Cross Farm, Comberton. A family home for Irvine and her husband mathematician Max Newman and their two sons, Edward (born 1935) and William, later a computer scientist (1939). Irvine wrote the nature writing novel Field With Geese (1960) at Cross Farm, in the small dovecote on the farm. Irvine considered Comberton and Cross Farm her home for the rest of her life, until her death in 1973.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2011 Census. 13 January 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161011192729/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=11122239&c=Comberton&d=16&e=62&g=6406545&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1452685560250&enc=1&dsFamilyId=2473. 11 October 2016. dead.
  2. Web site: Comberton history.
  3. Web site: Comberton. Open Domesday Book. 12 April 2019.
  4. Web site: British towns twinned with French towns . 11 July 2013 . Archant Community Media Ltd . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130705094933/http://www.completefrance.com/language-culture/twin-towns . 5 July 2013 .
  5. Web site: Cambridgeshire County Council . 3 November 2023 . Census 2021: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough provisional ward level population summary . Census 2021: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough provisional ward level population summary.
  6. Web site: Comberton (Cambridgeshire, East of England, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map, Location, Weather and Web Information . 3 November 2023 . www.citypopulation.de.
  7. Web site: South Cambridgeshire District Council population forecasts. 19 December 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110609191020/http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/69A34FA3-F74F-4263-A4EB-B53C97BFA16C/0/SCpopLA1207.csv. 9 June 2011.
  8. Web site: CHURCH OF ST MARY . Historic England . 10 July 2017.
  9. Web site: St. Mary's website: History. 19 December 2009.
  10. Web site: CBC website. 19 December 2009.
  11. Web site: Comberton Primary School . 7 November 2011.
  12. Web site: Comberton Village College . 7 November 2011.
  13. Web site: Comberton Sixth Form . 7 November 2011.
  14. Web site: Our Schools. Cam Academy Trust. 25 November 2024.