Rampton is a village in

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, situated on the edge of

The Fens The Fens, also known as the , in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a ...

six miles to the north of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

History

The edge of the Fens were well-populated during Roman times and Rampton was no exception. The settlement apparently vanished after the Roman era and reappeared around the area of the present church in Anglo Saxon times. The earthwork remains of a castle, known as Giant's Hill, are located to the east of the village by the church. Construction of the castle began during

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 ...

circa 1140, but was likely never completed. Rampton has always been one of the smallest of the area's villages along the edge of the Fens. 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 ...

listed 19 tenants, and there were only 31 families in 1563 and 39 households in 1664. At the time of the first census in 1801 there were 162 inhabitants, rising to 220 in 1821 and 250 in 1871 but dropping to under 180 in 1901. After slow growth to 221 by 1951, its growth mirrored that of neighbouring villages in rising to 355 in 1981 and 440 in 2001. The origin of the name is unclear but may well simply come from "ram tun" or "village of the ram".

Church

The parish Church of All Saints is noted as one of a very few English churches with a thatched roof and one of only two in Cambridgeshire (together with St Michael's Church, Longstanton). It consists of a chancel, nave with south aisle and porch and north vestry, and west tower. The present building apparently incorporates parts of a previous 12th-century building, but the majority of the stonework dates from the 13th and 14th centuries. The nave includes a 13th-century marble grave commemorating Nicholas of Huntingdon, and there is an effigy of a knight in the chancel dating from the late 13th-century. There is a sundial on the tower. A third bell was added to the two medieval bells in 1713. Three further bells were added in the 20th century making one of the lightest

rings Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

in the Diocese of Ely. The antiquarian, Charles Harold Evelyn-White was

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the parish from 1894-1928 and is buried in the graveyard.

Village life

The village is home to an annual horse show (first Saturday in September), which is celebrated locally as an authentic traditional style show, with Gymkhana and all. Other village events include an annual Fayre on the village green in the summer, village revue/pantomime with dinner provided free by the Rampton '77 Committee for all villagers over the age of sixty. For centuries an annual Rampton Feast was held on the Sunday before 15 July, moving to the Sunday after

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

by the start of the 20th century, but dying away until revived in 1977. Rampton has one public house, The Black Horse, that opened around 1850. Former pubs include The Chequers that was open by 1765 and closed in 1917, and The Fox and Hounds by the Willingham road close to the parish boundary that was open for little more than a decade from around 1880.

References

External links

Rampton Parish Council

All Saints' Church, Rampton

Rampton Village Hall

Fen Edge Community Association
{{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire District