The village of Cheveley is situated in the county of Cambridgeshire and lies about four miles east-south-east of the market town of Newmarket. The population of the civil parish was 1,990 at the 2011 Census. Cheveley falls within the local government district of East Cambridgeshire. Geographically, Cheveley stands on the third highest point in Cambridgeshire at above sea level. The hamlet of Cheveley Park, a mile from Cheveley, is the home of Cheveley Park Stud.

History

The origin of the village dates to the tenth century. Its name is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086 and derives from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

. The second element derives from Old English ''lēah'' 'open land'. The first element was long thought to be the word ''

chaff Chaff (; ) is the dry, scaly protective casing of the seeds of cereal grains or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material (such as scaly parts of flowers or finely chopped straw). Chaff is indigestible by humans, but livestock can eat it. In agri ...

'', but more recent research suggests that Old English ''ceaf'' could also denote the chaffinch. Thus the name probably meant 'open land characterised by chaffinches'. In the mid-2010s, a smithy in use between c.1100 and c. 1220 was excavated by

Headland Archaeology Headland Archaeology Ltd is a wholely owned subsidiary of the RSK Group. Headland provides archaeological services and heritage advice to the construction industry. Company history Headland Archaeology Ltd was established in 1996. Headquartered ...

. It had been temporarily abandoned in the 1140s and 1150s, probably due to the chaos of

The Anarchy The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin, the only legiti ...

Land use in Cheveley

The trees of the Duke of Rutland's old park, no longer a ducal domain, spread over into the roadway and gardens of this village near the

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

border. A linear village, Cheveley's non-residential land use consists almost entirely of paddock land used by studs, the most notable being the Cheveley Park Stud, after which the Cheveley Park Stakes are named.

War memorial

By the road outside the church, in memory of the men who did not come back, stands a soldier with bowed head in a niche below a cross. The Jacobean Rectory has great (possibly 18th-century) iron gates, said to have come from the Alington family's seat at

Horseheath Horseheath is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, situated a few miles south-east of Cambridge, between Linton, Cambridgeshire, Linton and Haverhill, Suffolk, Haverhill, on the A1307 road. It was known to the Roman Empire, Romans, and it had f ...

Church

The fine aisleless church, in the shape of a cross, has a 600-year-old tower beginning square and ending with eight sides, a turret rising from the ground, with a winding stairway to the belfry and a summit once used for beacon fires. The fine arches with clustered pillars on which the tower rests are the glory of the church indoors, recalling the days when there were four guilds here, each guild keeping a light burning on these piers. Three of the four brackets for the lights are still here, one carved with a face and one a grotesque little fellow with his legs doubled behind him. The church belongs to England's three great building centuries, and still has the oak screen set in its chancel arch 600 years ago. The choir-stalls are 'modern' with fine carvings of dogs, fishes, birds, bats, dragons, and a wolf. There are two Jacobean chairs, and a richly inlaid one of cypress wood, the seat opening to form a chest; it is thought to be the throne of a Venetian Doge of the 14th century. A little glass in a transept window is older still. The painted font is 19th-century, most unusual in its blaze of colour, a new dress in mediaeval style. Under an arch on the chancel wall is one of the Folkes family, in a red cloak, reading a book. He died in 1642. There is a memorial to James Hand, who was Rector for 49 years until 1830. There are some pictures and a description of the church at the Cambridgeshire Churches website.The church's page at the Cambridgeshire Churches website
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Education

Children initially attend the primary school in the village, with many then going on to the nearby secondary school Bottisham Village College. In the 1920s, one of the pupils at Cheveley Church of England Primary School was Bill Tutte, who later became a noted 20th century mathematician, especially remembered for his brilliant code-breaking activities at Bletchley Park during World War II.

Amenities

Presently, Cheveley has many local amenities. The recreation ground provides an off-road field, where cricket, football and mere dog walking take place. The Red Lion public house is situated to the south of the village. The local village store, Cheveley Post Office is situated opposite the Red Lion pub. The Icknield Way Path passes through the village on its 110-mile journey from Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire to Knettishall Heath in Suffolk. Th
Icknield Way Trail
a multi-user route for walkers, horse riders and off-road cyclists also passes through the village.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire East Cambridgeshire District