Caxton, Cambridgeshire
Encyclopedia
Caxton is a small rural village and civil parish in South
Cambridgeshire
, England
. It is 9 miles west of the county town of Cambridge
. In 2001, the population of Caxton parish was 480 people. Caxton is most famous for the Caxton Gibbet
.
when 35 peasants lived there. It is probable that the village came into existence as a late Scandinavian settlement in an area of woodland. The use of the names 'weald' and 'wald' in the 12th century indicate the influence of woods.
What was the Roman
Ermine Street
, now the A1198 road
, bisects Caxton parish. The modern village has grown up around the road, although the church is a short distance south-west, along Gransden Road. There are also three medieval moated sites further from the road: Caxton Moats, which has signs of Anglo-Saxon
or Norman occupation; Caxton Pastures, south-west of Caxton Gibbet
, which may have belonged to John of Caxton, a 13th century landowner; and Swansley, south-east of the gibbet. St Peter's Street, north and east of the church, may have been the centre of the original village.
The road provided passing trade; the market was held next to it and the Crown and George inns were built there. Parts of the Crown inn date from the 15th century and it was known by that name by 1545. Caxton benefitted from travellers passing through but highway robbers could also be a problem. The road became busier after the 16th century and a post office was opened at the Crown inn 'many years' before 1660. By the mid-18th century, Caxton post office was one of only two in the whole county.
After the end of the coaching
era, Caxton declined. In 1863, a traveller described the village as "a small, rambling village, which looked as if it had not shaved and washed its face, and put on a clean shirt for a shocking length of time". Fires in 1896 and 1897 destroyed more than a dozen houses and, although the arrival of the motor car in the 1920s brought traffic back through the village, its former prosperity did not return. In 2004 a bypass was completed around Caxton to accommodate traffic for the newly-built Cambourne
to the north.
by three councillors for the Bourn electoral ward and on Cambridgeshire County Council
by one councillor for the Bourn electoral division. It is in the parliamentary constituency of South Cambridgeshire
, represented at the House of Commons by Andrew Lansley
.
, 7 miles east of the town of St Neots
and 48 miles north of London
. It stands on the A1198 (Ermine Street
, the Old North Road) between the villages of Papworth Everard
, to the north, and Longstowe
, to the south. Roads run from Caxton to the villages of Bourn and Great Gransden
. It ranges from 44 to 68 metres above sea level and the soil is clay with a blue gault subsoil. Bourn Brook
runs through Caxton, eventually joining the River Cam
.
Sometime later, in 1932, a greyhound stadium was constructed adjacent to the speedway track. This opened on 11th September 1932.
, with 27.8% either having no religion or stating none. In 1881 the population was 129, and in 1921 the population had grown to 398.
stands by the side of the A428 road
, north of Caxton village. The roundabout at the junction of the A428 and A1198 is also known as Caxton Gibbet.
A war memorial, commemorating Caxton men who died in the First and Second World Wars, stands at the junction of Ermine Street, Bourn Road and Gransden Road.
A Baptist church was built in 1842.
South Cambridgeshire
South Cambridgeshire is a mostly rural local government district of Cambridgeshire, England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of Chesterton Rural District and South Cambridgeshire Rural District. It surrounds the city of Cambridge, which is administered separately from the district by...
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is 9 miles west of the county town of Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
. In 2001, the population of Caxton parish was 480 people. Caxton is most famous for the Caxton Gibbet
Caxton Gibbet
Caxton Gibbet is a small knoll on Ermine Street in England, running between London and Huntingdon, near its crossing with the road between Oxford and Cambridge. There are tales of murderers being hanged and displayed at the nearby village of Caxton in the 1670s, and records in a court case that...
.
History
The name Caxton is probably derived from 'farmstead of a man called Kakkr'. It was spelled Caustone in the 1086 Domesday bookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
when 35 peasants lived there. It is probable that the village came into existence as a late Scandinavian settlement in an area of woodland. The use of the names 'weald' and 'wald' in the 12th century indicate the influence of woods.
What was the Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
Ermine Street
Ermine Street
Ermine Street is the name of a major Roman road in England that ran from London to Lincoln and York . The Old English name was 'Earninga Straete' , named after a tribe called the Earningas, who inhabited a district later known as Armingford Hundred, around Arrington, Cambridgeshire and Royston,...
, now the A1198 road
A1198 road
The A1198 is a road in Cambridgeshire, England, following the route of Ermine Street between the A505 at Royston, Hertfordshire and Godmanchester, near Huntingdon....
, bisects Caxton parish. The modern village has grown up around the road, although the church is a short distance south-west, along Gransden Road. There are also three medieval moated sites further from the road: Caxton Moats, which has signs of Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
or Norman occupation; Caxton Pastures, south-west of Caxton Gibbet
Caxton Gibbet
Caxton Gibbet is a small knoll on Ermine Street in England, running between London and Huntingdon, near its crossing with the road between Oxford and Cambridge. There are tales of murderers being hanged and displayed at the nearby village of Caxton in the 1670s, and records in a court case that...
, which may have belonged to John of Caxton, a 13th century landowner; and Swansley, south-east of the gibbet. St Peter's Street, north and east of the church, may have been the centre of the original village.
The road provided passing trade; the market was held next to it and the Crown and George inns were built there. Parts of the Crown inn date from the 15th century and it was known by that name by 1545. Caxton benefitted from travellers passing through but highway robbers could also be a problem. The road became busier after the 16th century and a post office was opened at the Crown inn 'many years' before 1660. By the mid-18th century, Caxton post office was one of only two in the whole county.
After the end of the coaching
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
era, Caxton declined. In 1863, a traveller described the village as "a small, rambling village, which looked as if it had not shaved and washed its face, and put on a clean shirt for a shocking length of time". Fires in 1896 and 1897 destroyed more than a dozen houses and, although the arrival of the motor car in the 1920s brought traffic back through the village, its former prosperity did not return. In 2004 a bypass was completed around Caxton to accommodate traffic for the newly-built Cambourne
Cambourne
Cambourne is a new settlement and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England, in the district of South Cambridgeshire. It lies on the A428 road between Cambridge, 9 miles to the east, and St Neots and Bedford to the west. It comprises the three villages of Great Cambourne, Lower Cambourne and Upper...
to the north.
Governance
Caxton is represented on South Cambridgeshire District CouncilSouth Cambridgeshire District Council
South Cambridgeshire District Council is the local authority for the district of South Cambridgeshire in Cambridgeshire, England. Based in Cambourne, it forms the lower part of the two tier system of local government in the district, below Cambridgeshire County Council...
by three councillors for the Bourn electoral ward and on Cambridgeshire County Council
Cambridgeshire County Council
Cambridgeshire County Council is the county council of Cambridgeshire, England. The council currently consists of 69 councillors, representing 60 electoral divisions. The Conservative Party has a majority on the council, having gained control in the 1997 local elections...
by one councillor for the Bourn electoral division. It is in the parliamentary constituency of South Cambridgeshire
South Cambridgeshire
South Cambridgeshire is a mostly rural local government district of Cambridgeshire, England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of Chesterton Rural District and South Cambridgeshire Rural District. It surrounds the city of Cambridge, which is administered separately from the district by...
, represented at the House of Commons by Andrew Lansley
Andrew Lansley
Andrew David Lansley, CBE, MP is the UK Secretary of State for Health, who has been the Conservative Member of Parliament for South Cambridgeshire since the 1997 general election, and was Shadow Secretary of State for Health from June 2004 until becoming Secretary of State for Health in May 2010...
.
Geography
Caxton parish is 9 miles west of CambridgeCambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, 7 miles east of the town of St Neots
St Neots
St Neots is a town and civil parish with a population of 26,356 people. It lies on the River Great Ouse in Huntingdonshire District, approximately north of central London, and is the largest town in Cambridgeshire . The town is named after the Cornish monk St...
and 48 miles north of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It stands on the A1198 (Ermine Street
Ermine Street
Ermine Street is the name of a major Roman road in England that ran from London to Lincoln and York . The Old English name was 'Earninga Straete' , named after a tribe called the Earningas, who inhabited a district later known as Armingford Hundred, around Arrington, Cambridgeshire and Royston,...
, the Old North Road) between the villages of Papworth Everard
Papworth Everard
Papworth Everard is a village in Cambridgeshire, England. It lies ten miles west of Cambridge and six miles south of Huntingdon, having along its centre Ermine Street, the old North Road, the Roman highway that for centuries served as a major artery from London to York, which is now the A1198...
, to the north, and Longstowe
Longstowe
-Demography:At the time of the 2001 census, Longstowe had 193 residents living in 73 households. All described themselves as White; 73.6% were Christian and 26.4% did not follow a religion or did not state one.-Landmarks:...
, to the south. Roads run from Caxton to the villages of Bourn and Great Gransden
Great Gransden
Great Gransden parish is west of the county town of Cambridge, south-east of Huntingdon and north of London. It covers an area of . The village stands on the B1046 road between Abbotsley, to the west, and Longstowe, to the east...
. It ranges from 44 to 68 metres above sea level and the soil is clay with a blue gault subsoil. Bourn Brook
Bourn Brook, Cambridgeshire
Bourn Brook is a minor tributary of the River Cam in Cambridgeshire, England.It has its source just to the east of the village of Eltisley, 10 miles west of Cambridge, where the hills rise to around 60 metres above sea level...
runs through Caxton, eventually joining the River Cam
River Cam
The River Cam is a tributary of the River Great Ouse in the east of England. The two rivers join to the south of Ely at Pope's Corner. The Great Ouse connects the Cam to England's canal system and to the North Sea at King's Lynn...
.
Sport
Motorcycle speedway racing was staged at Caxton. The venue was described as being on the main Cambridge to St Neots road near Caxton Gibbett. The first meeting was staged on 6th April 1931 and a number of Sunday afternnon events were staged that year and again in 1932. Fewer meetings appear to have been staged 1933 and further research is needed to ascertain other activity.Sometime later, in 1932, a greyhound stadium was constructed adjacent to the speedway track. This opened on 11th September 1932.
Demography
At the time of the 2001 census, the population of Caxton parish was 480 people. All residents were white and 72% described themselves as ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
, with 27.8% either having no religion or stating none. In 1881 the population was 129, and in 1921 the population had grown to 398.
Landmarks
Caxton GibbetCaxton Gibbet
Caxton Gibbet is a small knoll on Ermine Street in England, running between London and Huntingdon, near its crossing with the road between Oxford and Cambridge. There are tales of murderers being hanged and displayed at the nearby village of Caxton in the 1670s, and records in a court case that...
stands by the side of the A428 road
A428 road
The A428 road is a major road in central and eastern England. It connects the cities of Coventry and Cambridge by way of the county towns of Northampton and Bedford.-Coventry - Northampton:...
, north of Caxton village. The roundabout at the junction of the A428 and A1198 is also known as Caxton Gibbet.
A war memorial, commemorating Caxton men who died in the First and Second World Wars, stands at the junction of Ermine Street, Bourn Road and Gransden Road.
Religious sites
Caxton has two churches. The Church of St Andrew was built of stone and flint mainly in the Early English style. It has a low tower with six bells. There are some pictures and a description of the church at the Cambridgeshire Churches website .A Baptist church was built in 1842.