Orwell, Cambridgeshire
Encyclopedia
Orwell is a small rural village
outside Cambridge
in South Cambridgeshire
, England
.
The Prime Meridian
passes the eastern edge of Orwell.
as Ordeuuella, (Ord Wella, in Old English) the village's name means "spring by a pointed hill".
The hill in question lies behind St. Andrews Church at the top of which there is an old excavation site for clunch
, a traditional building material. It is now overgrown with wild flowers and is grazed by rare breeds of sheep. "The Clunch Pit" provides spectacular views into three different counties, as the pit places you a couple hundred feet above the village below. It also contains two caves.
The parish is home to Malton Farm the only remaining part of the former village of Malton which was a separate parish to Orwell until the late 18th century.
The oldest surviving houses in the village date from the 16th century. The parish's main commercial activity has always been agriculture, though a coprolite
mine opened for a brief period at the end of the 19th century, and a brewery was run.
The simple misericord
s date from the early 15th century. These misericords are all simple V shapes, with a small decoration at the base.
It is worth noting that during the 19th century restoration
a crucifixion sculpture, dating from about 1300, was discovered, this now resides at the east end of the south aisle, and although Mary is missing from it, Christ is shown in his agony on a simple crucifix made from a tree, with St John watching on.
The chancel vault was replaced during the 19th century, and the bosses, showing the arms of several county families, and painted in distemper, were recreated from a manuscript housed at Wimpole Hall.
There were two pubs listed in the village in 1756, rising to seven by 1882. By 1936 there were still six, but by 1970 only The Chequers remained. It remains the village's only pub.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
outside 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 South 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...
.
The Prime Meridian
Prime Meridian
The Prime Meridian is the meridian at which the longitude is defined to be 0°.The Prime Meridian and its opposite the 180th meridian , which the International Date Line generally follows, form a great circle that divides the Earth into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.An international...
passes the eastern edge of Orwell.
History
The village of Orwell grew around the well that gave it its name and the Roman road that runs to Cambridge runs alongside the village. Listed in the 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...
as Ordeuuella, (Ord Wella, in Old English) the village's name means "spring by a pointed hill".
The hill in question lies behind St. Andrews Church at the top of which there is an old excavation site for clunch
Clunch
Clunch is a term for traditional building material used mainly in eastern England and Normandy. It is a term which encompasses a wide variety of materials, often locally variable....
, a traditional building material. It is now overgrown with wild flowers and is grazed by rare breeds of sheep. "The Clunch Pit" provides spectacular views into three different counties, as the pit places you a couple hundred feet above the village below. It also contains two caves.
The parish is home to Malton Farm the only remaining part of the former village of Malton which was a separate parish to Orwell until the late 18th century.
The oldest surviving houses in the village date from the 16th century. The parish's main commercial activity has always been agriculture, though a coprolite
Coprolite
A coprolite is fossilized animal dung. Coprolites are classified as trace fossils as opposed to body fossils, as they give evidence for the animal's behaviour rather than morphology. The name is derived from the Greek words κοπρος / kopros meaning 'dung' and λιθος / lithos meaning 'stone'. They...
mine opened for a brief period at the end of the 19th century, and a brewery was run.
St Andrew's Church
St Andrew’s was founded sometime about 1150 AD, however, little of this early church remains. The tower, which was built in 1250, is decorated with dog tooth carving and blind arcading; unfortunately the tower has undergone severe wear over its 850 years, so the arcading has disappeared from the north wall, and much of the tower is patched with brick. The simple nave was rebuilt in the early 14th century, whilst the chancel, built by a bequest from the Rector, Richard Anlaby, is overpowering for the size of the nave. The south aisle dates from the 14th century, whilst the north was re-built using brick in 1883.The simple misericord
Misericord
A misericord is a small wooden shelf on the underside of a folding seat in a church, installed to provide a degree of comfort for a person who has to stand during long periods of prayer.-Origins:...
s date from the early 15th century. These misericords are all simple V shapes, with a small decoration at the base.
It is worth noting that during the 19th century restoration
Victorian restoration
Victorian restoration is the term commonly used to refer to the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria...
a crucifixion sculpture, dating from about 1300, was discovered, this now resides at the east end of the south aisle, and although Mary is missing from it, Christ is shown in his agony on a simple crucifix made from a tree, with St John watching on.
The chancel vault was replaced during the 19th century, and the bosses, showing the arms of several county families, and painted in distemper, were recreated from a manuscript housed at Wimpole Hall.
Village life
The village is often a hub for the smaller villages around and plays host to events all year round.There were two pubs listed in the village in 1756, rising to seven by 1882. By 1936 there were still six, but by 1970 only The Chequers remained. It remains the village's only pub.