Offord Cluny is a village and former
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
, now in the parish of
Offord Cluny and Offord D'Arcy
The Offords is the name given to the two villages of Offord Cluny and Offord D'Arcy, situated on the east bank of the River Great Ouse between Saint Neots and Huntingdon in west Cambridgeshire. The Offords were both recorded in the Domesday ...
. It is north of
St Neots
St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...
and south-west of
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...
. Offord Cluny is in
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...
which is a
non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non-m ...
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 ...
as well as a
historic county of England. Offord Cluny is the twin village of
Offord D'Arcy and together they are known as
The Offords
The Offords is the name given to the two villages of Offord Cluny and Offord D'Arcy, situated on the east bank of the River Great Ouse between Saint Neots and Huntingdon in west Cambridgeshire. The Offords were both recorded in the Domesday B ...
. At the time of the
2001 census, the population of Offord Cluny was 502 people.
Historically both had their own
parish councils but these were merged in 2009. Council tax rates are higher in Offord Cluny than in Offord D'Arcy.
History
The name 'Offord' originates from the name 'Upeforde', which in turn is believed to be derived from the Old English pre 7th Century "uppe", up (stream), and "ford", ford. The name 'Cluny' comes from
Cluny Abbey
Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter.
The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with three churches ...
in the Bourgogne region of France, which were granted a manor in Offord by Arnulf de Hesding some time before 1086.
In 1085
William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
ordered that a survey should be carried out across his kingdom to discover who owned which parts and what it was worth. The survey took place in 1086 and the results were recorded in what, since the 12th century, has become known as the
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 ...
. Starting with the king himself, for each
landholder within a county there is a list of their estates or
manors; and, for each manor, there is a summary of the resources of the manor, the amount of annual rent that was collected by the lord of the manor both in 1066 and in 1086, together with the taxable value.
Offord Cluny was listed in the Domesday Book in the
Hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
of
Toseland in Huntingdonshire; the name of the settlement was written as ''Upeforde'' in the Domesday Book.
In 1086 there was just one manor at Offord Cluny; the annual rent paid to the lord of the manor in 1066 had been £10 and the rent was the same in 1086.
The Domesday Book does not explicitly detail the population of a place but it records that there were 29 households at Offord Cluny.
[ There is no consensus about the average size of a household at that time; estimates range from 3.5 to 5.0 people per household. Using these figures then an estimate of the population of Offord Cluny in 1086 is that it was within the range of 101 and 145 people.
The Domesday Book uses a number of units of measure for areas of land that are now unfamiliar terms, such as hides and ]ploughland
The carucate or carrucate ( lat-med, carrūcāta or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms ...
s. In different parts of the country, these were terms for the area of land that a team of eight oxen could plough in a single season and are equivalent to ; this was the amount of land that was considered to be sufficient to support a single family. By 1086, the hide had become a unit of tax assessment rather than an actual land area; a hide was the amount of land that could be assessed as £1 for tax purposes. The survey records that there were ten ploughlands at Offord Cluny in 1086.[ In addition to the arable land, there were of meadows and two ]water mill
A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production o ...
s at Offord Cluny.[
The tax assessment in the Domesday Book was known as geld or danegeld and was a type of land-tax based on the hide or ploughland. It was originally a way of collecting a tribute to pay off the Danes when they attacked England, and was only levied when necessary. Following the Norman Conquest, the geld was used to raise money for the King and to pay for continental wars; by 1130, the geld was being collected annually. Having determined the value of a manor's land and other assets, a tax of so many shillings and pence per pound of value would be levied on the land holder. While this was typically two shillings in the pound the amount did vary; for example, in 1084 it was as high as six shillings in the pound. For the manor at Offord Cluny the total tax assessed was ten geld.][
By 1086 there was already a church and a priest at Offord Cluny; the manor in Offord was held by the ]Abbey of Cluny
Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter.
The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with three churches ...
.[
]
Government
Offord Cluny is part of the civil parish of ''Offord Cluny and Offord D'Arcy'', which has a parish council. The parish council is elected by the residents of the parish who have registered on the electoral roll
An electoral roll (variously called an electoral register, voters roll, poll book or other description) is a compilation that lists persons who are entitled to vote for particular elections in a particular jurisdiction. The list is usually broke ...
; the parish council is the lowest tier of government in England. A parish council is responsible for providing and maintaining a variety of local services including allotments and a cemetery; grass cutting and tree planting within public open spaces such as a village green or playing fields. The parish council reviews all planning applications that might affect the parish and makes recommendations to Huntingdonshire District Council, which is the local planning authority
A local planning authority (LPA) is the local government body that is empowered by law to exercise urban planning functions for a particular area. They exist in the United Kingdom and India.
United Kingdom
Mineral planning authorities
The role ...
for the parish. The parish council also represents the views of the parish on issues such as local transport, policing and the environment. The parish council raises its own tax to pay for these services, known as the parish precept, which is collected as part of the Council Tax
Council Tax is a local taxation system used in England, Scotland and Wales. It is a tax on domestic property, which was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, replacing the short-lived Community Charge
The Community C ...
. The parish council consists of nine councillors and there is a parish clerk; the parish council normally meets on the first Thursday of the month. On 1 April 2010 the parish of Offord Cluny was abolished to form "Offord Cluny and Offord D'Arcy".
Offord Cluny was in the historic and administrative county
An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...
of Huntingdonshire until 1965. From 1965, the village was part of the new administrative county of Huntingdon and Peterborough. Then in 1974, following the Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
, Offord Cluny became a part of the county of Cambridgeshire.
The second tier of local government is Huntingdonshire District Council
Huntingdonshire District Council is the local authority for the district of Huntingdonshire in Cambridgeshire, England. Based in Huntingdon, it forms the lower part of the two tier system of local government in the district, below Cambridgeshire ...
which is a non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non-m ...
of Cambridgeshire and has its headquarters in Huntingdon. Huntingdonshire District Council has 52 councillors representing 29 district wards. Huntingdonshire District Council collects the council tax
Council Tax is a local taxation system used in England, Scotland and Wales. It is a tax on domestic property, which was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, replacing the short-lived Community Charge
The Community C ...
, and provides services such as building regulations, local planning, environmental health, leisure and tourism. Offord Cluny is a part of the district ward of ''Gransden and The Offords'' and is represented on the district council by two councillors.[ District councillors serve for four-year terms following elections to Huntingdonshire District Council.
For Offord Cluny the highest tier of local government is ]Cambridgeshire County Council
Cambridgeshire County Council is the county council of Cambridgeshire, England. The council consists of 61 councillors, representing 59 electoral divisions. The council is based at New Shire Hall at Alconbury Weald, near Huntingdon. It is a mem ...
which has administration buildings in Cambridge. The county council provides county-wide services such as major road infrastructure, fire and rescue, education, social services, libraries and heritage services. Cambridgeshire County Council consists of 69 councillors representing 60 electoral divisions. Offord Cluny is part of the electoral division of ''Buckden, Gransden and The Offords''[ and is represented on the county council by one councillor.][
At Westminster Offord Cluny is in the parliamentary constituency of ]Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...
,[ and elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the ]first past the post
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
system of election. Offord Cluny is represented in the House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
by Jonathan Djanogly
Jonathan Simon Djanogly (born 3 June 1965) is an English politician, solicitor and Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon since 2001. Djanogly has been Trade and Industry Spokesman shadowing the Department for Business, En ...
(Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
). Jonathan Djanogly has represented the constituency since 2001. The previous member of parliament was John Major
Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...
(Conservative) who represented the constituency between 1983 and 2001.
Geography
The village and historic civil parish of Offord Cluny lies on the eastern side of the Great Ouse
The River Great Ouse () is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the W ...
river valley between and above ordnance datum; the parish covered an area of of land and of water.[ The boundary of the historic parish to the west was the Great Ouse.
]
Population
The population of the old parish of Offord Cluny from 1801 to 1901 varied between a minimum of 170 (in 1801) to a maximum of 369 (in 1851) people.
Census: Offord Cluny 1801–1931, 1961
Census: Offord Cluny 1951, 1971, 1991
Census: Offord Cluny 2001,[
]
Transport
It is from Offord Cluny to the railway station at Huntingdon, which is on the East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...
, where regular services run south to St Neots and London, and north to Peterborough.
Religious sites
The Church of All Saints is a Grade II* Listed building
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 ...
; it consists of a chancel, nave, north aisle, south aisle, west tower and south porch. The church is mentioned in the Domesday Book but nothing from that period remains. The nave and the aisles either side were originally built in the late 13th century; the nave was rebuilt in the 16th century. The tower was built in the 15th century and has four bells. the current chancel was built in 1726. The benefice
A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...
of St Peters, Offord D'Arcy and of All Saints, Offord Cluny, were united in 1923. The church has a stained glass window dedicated to the Pathfinders. There is a "broken" war memorial.
Historical documents relating to Offord Cluny, including Church of England parish registers, maps and photographs, are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies
Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies Service (CALS) is a UK local government institution which collects and preserves archives, other historical documents and printed material relating to the modern county of Cambridgeshire, which includes th ...
at the County Record Office Huntingdon.
References
{{authority control
Villages in Cambridgeshire
Former civil parishes in Cambridgeshire
Huntingdonshire