Melbourn () is a large, clustered village in the far south-west of

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

, England. Its traditional high street is bypassed by the A10, intersecting the settlement's other main axis exactly northwest of the traditional focal point of

Royston, Hertfordshire Royston is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Hertfordshire, District of North Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England. It is situated on the Prime meridian (Greenwich), Greenwich Meridian, which brush ...

, the nearest larger settlement. It has over 4,600 inhabitants and is in the

South Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, England, with a population of 162,119 at the 2021 census. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of Chesterton Rural District and South Cambridgeshire Rural District. I ...

district. The

Prime Meridian A prime meridian is an arbitrary meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. Together, a prime meridian and its anti-meridian (the 180th meridian in a 360°-system) form a great c ...

passes to the west of Melbourn.

History

The parish has a long history of occupation, stemming from the presence of springs at

Melbourn Bury Melbourn () is a large, clustered village in the far south-west of Cambridgeshire, England. Its traditional high street is bypassed by the A10, intersecting the settlement's other main axis exactly northwest of the traditional focal point of R ...

and the several ancient trackways that cross the parish; 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, wi ...

runs to the south of the parish and

Ashwell Street Ashwell may refer to: Places *Ashwell, Devon *Ashwell, Hertfordshire *Ashwell, Rutland *Ashwell, Somerset *Ashwell, Queensland, a suburb of Ipswich, in Australia People *Gilbert Ashwell (1916–2014) *Lena Ashwell (1872–1957) *Richard Ashwel ...

and the Roman Cambridge-Royston road are also believed to follow prehistoric trackways. Pottery and burial finds show evidence of

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

residents, and a Roman settlement has been found at the north-east edge of the village. Excavations in the 1950s discovered 28

grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...

s from a 7th-century Christian burial site close to Ashwell Street. Melbourn appears in five entries in

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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

. The name "Melbourn" comes from ''Meldeburn'', the "stream of a man named Melde".

Church

The finding of a

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

cemetery shows that

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

has been present in Melbourn since the 7th century. The village also probably had an 11th-century chapel but the first record of a church is from 1152. The present church, dedicated to All Saints, is

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. R.R. Rowe conducted a major restoration in 1882 but the church includes sections of the 13th-century building, including the chancel arch and sections of the tower. The font is 11th century.

Village life

It has a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

and a state

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

Melbourn Village College Melbourn Village College is a secondary school with academy status, located in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire, England that serves an extensive area of South Cambridgeshire. The school has over 500 students aged 11–16. Melbourn Village College is ...

. There is also a well-known

science park A science park (also called a "university research park", "technology park”, "technopark", “technopole", or a "science and technology park" (STP)) is defined as being a property-based development that accommodates and fosters the growt ...

. There is a

butcher A butcher is a person who may Animal slaughter, slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesal ...

's, a

co-op A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

food shop, five hairdressers, a barber shop, two

estate agents An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting, or management of properties and other buildings. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent. Estate agents are mainly engaged i ...

, two

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s, a

newsagent A newsagent's shop or simply newsagent's or paper shop (British English), newsagency (Australian English) or newsstand (American and Canadian English) is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of local ...

, a sub-

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, two garages and three churches (

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

and URC). Sheene Mill, on the River Mel northwest of the village, is now a hotel and restaurant, formerly owned by the television chef Steven Saunders. The nearest railway station is , in the neighbouring village, which opened in 1851 on the Cambridge line.

Pubs

Melbourn was much visited by travellers by the 17th century and is listed as having an inn in 1622. By the late 18th century the village supported three: the ''Dog'', of unknown history, the ''Red Lion'', that closed towards the end of the 19th century, and the ''Hoops'', that closed in the early 20th century. In 1865 the village had 11 inns and pubs, including the ''Black Horse'', the ''Star'', the ''White Lion'', the ''Anchor'', the ''Carriers Arm''s and the ''Red Cow''. The ''Rose Inn'' and the ''Coach and Horses'' opened in around 1850. The oldest of the two present public houses is the ''Dolphin'', which dates from 1818. The other is the ''Black Horse''.

References

External links

Melbourn Village website

Melbourn website

Melbourn Village College

Melbourn Baptist Church

Melbourn Science Park
{{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire District