Stow cum Quy , commonly referred to as Quy, is a 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 ...

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 around north east 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 ...

lying between the Burwell Road (B1102) and the medieval Cambridge to Newmarket road (B1303, formerly A14), it covers an area of .

Origin of the name

The village's name derives from the joining together of two settlements, one called Stow, meaning "high or holy place", that was around the present location of Quy church and Quy coming from ''Cowey'' or "Cow Island", the area around the Swan pub. ''Cum'' is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "with". It was referred to as "Stowe Quye" in medieval times;

History

The area has been occupied for millennia and

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 ...

remains have been found in the parish. A Roman villa has been found just to the west of Quy Hall. The Saxon

Fleam Dyke Fleam Dyke is a linear earthwork between Fulbourn and Balsham in Cambridgeshire, initiated at some timepoint between AD 330 and AD 510. It is three miles long and seven metres high from ditch to bank, and its ditch faces westwards, implying invadi ...

runs close by the village. The two Saxon settlements of Stow and Quy built up on a raised area at the southern 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 ...

that ran north all the way to

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

. The settlements were already joined by 1066, though had separate manors, and became a single ecclesiastical parish by the early 13th century. Stow was the area around the present parish church, and Quy around The Swan public house.

Jeremy Collier Jeremy Collier (; 23 September 1650 – 26 April 1726) was an English theatre critic, non-juror bishop and theologian. Life Born Jeremiah Collier, in Stow cum Quy, Cambridgeshire, Collier was educated at Caius College, University of Cambrid ...

(1650–1727), the bishop and theatre critic, was born in the village and has a street named after him. The oldest parts of the parish church of St Mary at Stow End date from the 12th century. The nave and chancel were built around 1340. A Wesleyan chapel was built in 1840 but closed just after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was demolished when the Wheatsheaf pub was extended.

Village life

Quy currently supports three public houses. The White Swan, or Swan, a timber-framed house, was open by 1750. The Prince Albert opened in the 1840s on the Newmarket Road and was renamed The Missing Sock after refurbishment in 2010. The Wheatsheaf at Stow End opened in the late 19th century. Former pubs in the village were The Plough which opened in the late 18th century and was perhaps replaced by The Bush which was open from 1821 to 1904. The village sign was erected to commemorate the

Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II The Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II marked the Silver jubilee, 25th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. It was celebrated with large-scale parties and parades throughout the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth o ...

.Plaque on village sign Children initially attend Bottisham Primary School in the nearby village and usually then go on 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 ...

. Nearby are a number of places of interest including the National Trust property of

Anglesey Abbey Anglesey Abbey is a National Trust property in the village of Lode, northeast of Cambridge, England. The property includes a country house, built on the remains of a priory, 98 acres (400,000 m2) of gardens and landscaped grounds, and a working ...

and Quy Fen a Site of Special Scientific Interest (

SSSI A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

). Another nearby conservation area is Wilbraham Fen and there are several picturesque walks around the village.

Transport

The village is just off the A14 via the Quy interchange and is about two miles from the Newmarket Road Park and Ride. There is a bus service running between Cambridge and Newmarket passing through the neighbouring villages of Bottisham, Lode and Burwell. Cycle access is good thanks to a number of cycle paths.

Nearby villages

Bottisham Bottisham is a village and civil parish in the East Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England, about east of Cambridge, halfway to Newmarket. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,983, including Chittering, increasing ...

Lode In geology, a lode is a deposit of metalliferous ore that fills or is embedded in a fissure (or crack) in a rock formation or a vein of ore that is deposited or embedded between layers of rock. The current meaning (ore vein) dates from the 17t ...

Teversham Teversham is a small village in Cambridgeshire located roughly from Fulbourn, and is roughly from the centre of Cambridge. It is small compared to neighbouring villages. Although just a few hundred metres from the edge of Cambridge it is bord ...

References

External links

The White Swan pubStow-cum-Quy Parish Council website
{{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire District