Six Mile Bottom is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

within the parish of Little Wilbraham, near

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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

In the 1790s the only building at Six Mile Bottom was a paddock run by a stable keeper. In 1802, a sizeable country house was built nearby. Early residents were George and

Augusta Leigh Augusta Maria Leigh (''née'' Byron; 26 January 1783 – 12 October 1851) was the only daughter of John "Mad Jack" Byron, the poet Lord Byron's father, by his first wife, Amelia, née Darcy (Lady Conyers in her own right and the divorced wife ...

, the latter being

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

's half-sister. Their residence is now the Country House Hotel, Paddocks House. In 1807 the hamlet was the scene for a bare-knuckle fight between

John Gully John Gully (21 August 1783 – 9 March 1863) was an English champion prizefighter who became a racehorse owner and, from 1832 to 1837, a Member of Parliament. Early life Gully was born at Wick, near Bath, the son of an innkeeper who became a ...

and Bob Gregson in which Gregson was defeated by Gully in a fight in 36 rounds lasting an hour and a quarter. There was little additional building until the 1840s, but it grew from there until there were 22 homes housing around 170 people in around 1920, most owned by the Six Mile Bottom estate. The hamlet derives its name from its distance from the start of

Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of ...

and because it lies in a valley bottom.

Six Mile Bottom railway station Six Mile Bottom railway station is a disused railway station on the Ipswich to Cambridge line between and . It served the village of Six Mile Bottom Six Mile Bottom is a hamlet within the parish of Little Wilbraham, near Cambridge in Engl ...

served the village from the 1860s (by the Newmarket and Chesterford Railway) until 1967.

Village life

The hamlet had a pub/restaurant, The Green Man, which also provides accommodation (although now closed as a pub). It had served since the hamlet grew in the early 19th century, but may also be the same inn with stabling for 22 horses that was reported in 1686. It has a social club, on the Brinkley Road. In the 1970s it was owned by ex-

Flying Squad The Flying Squad is a branch of the Serious and Organised Crime Command within London's Metropolitan Police Service. It is also known as the Robbery Squad, Specialist Crime Directorate 7, SC&O7 and SO7. It is nicknamed The Sweeney, an abbrevia ...

detective, Alec Eist, who had been dismissed for

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

. There was at one time a small school, reopened as a community centre in 1975. Christian services were held in the village's school from the 1890s to the 1920s. The brick-and-flint mission church of

St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

was built in 1933.

Transport

The A1304 passes through the hamlet. There is one bus a day in each direction, on the route between Cambridge and Stetchworth; that is the only public transport. There was a railway station, , on the Cambridge to Ipswich line. It is now a private residence.

Gallery

Image:6MBGreenManPH.jpeg, The Green Man public house Image:TrainAt6MB.jpeg, The old railway station

References

British Place Names online
{{Commons category, Six Mile Bottom Hamlets in Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire District