Reach is a small village and

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 ...

on the edge of the

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires. T ...

land in

East Cambridgeshire East Cambridgeshire (locally known as East Cambs) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in Ely. The population of the District Council at the 2011 Census was 83,818. The district was formed on 1 April 19 ...

, England at the north end of Devil's Dyke, about west of Burwell.

History

Reach was an important economic centre in early

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

and

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

times. Goods were loaded at its common hythe (wharf) for transport into the fen waterway system from at least 1100. Reach was a significant producer of

clunch Clunch is a traditional building material of chalky limestone rock used mainly in eastern England and Normandy. Clunch distinguishes itself from archetypal forms of limestone by being softer in character when cut, such as resembling chalk in low ...

, a chalky stone; a new wood has been planted on the old clunch pits, where chalky cliffs are visible from early quarrying. Reach's use as a port continued until about 200 years ago. When the Anglo-Saxons built Devil's Dyke around the 6th century, the northern end of the dyke split the settlement in two (East Reach and West Reach) until part of it was refilled to create the current fair green in the 18th century. East Reach has since vanished, filled in by arable land. In medieval times, Reach was a hamlet sitting on the border of the parishes of Burwell and

Swaffham Prior Swaffham Prior is a small village in East Cambridgeshire, England. Lying 5 miles west of Newmarket, and two miles south west of Burwell, the village is often paired with its neighbour Swaffham Bulbeck, and are collectively referred to as 'Th ...

. It was not until 1961 that it became a separate civil parish. The parish covers an area of . For ecclesiastical purposes it is part of the parish of 'Burwell with Reach'. Reach Lode, a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

canal, still exists, and remains navigable. The village church, originally Holy Trinity School Church and latterly called St Etheldreda's, was built in 1860, on the site of the former chapel of St John. The ruined

perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...

arch of the old chapel is visible behind the new church. On village signs, the name of the village is spelled ''Reche''. The name itself derives from ''rece'' (meaning "strip of land").

Reach Fair

The village is the scene of the Reach Fair, one of England's oldest festivals. The Fair was originally held annually at

Rogationtide Rogation days are days of prayer and fasting in Western Christianity. They are observed with processions and the Litany of the Saints. The so-called ''major'' rogation is held on 25 April; the ''minor'' rogations are held on Monday to Wednesday ...

(which replaced the pagan festival of May Day), and is now held every May Day Bank Holiday. Officially run by the

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 ...

Corporation, and opened annually by the Mayor of Cambridge, it has been an annual event for over 800 years since receiving its charter in 1201 from King John. Reach Fair was historically a grand regional occasion, hosting feasting and parades over three days. The Fair is held on the central fair green, and probably extended down further to Reach Lode in its earlier days. In 2001, on the 800th anniversary of the fair, a plaque commemorating the charter was unveiled on Hill Farm, one of the fair green's older buildings. A custom in the fair is for the mayor and other councillors to throw pennies into the crowd for the young people. Since 1201, the Bank Holiday Monday fair has been cancelled only four times, twice in the 17th century due to the English Civil WarCambridge News – SLIDESHOW: Thousands flock to Reach Fair
/ref> and twice again due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

in 2020 and 2021.

Village life

The village is home to "The Dyke's End", a public house which was saved from closure by the villagers, and which was visited by

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

at that time. Primary school children attend

primary school whilst secondary pupils usually go to

Bottisham Village College Bottisham Village College is a mixed secondary school located in Bottisham, Cambridgeshire, England. The school opened in 1937 as the second village college in part of the Local Director of Education Henry Morris' vision for providing educatio ...

References

External links

Reach Village – including Reach FairDyke's End Pub
{{authority control Reach Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire East Cambridgeshire District