The Abingtons are a community in South Cambridgeshire consisting of two small villages: Little Abington and Great Abington, about south 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 ...

History

Though often listed as a single entity, Great and Little Abington have since early medieval times been two parishes divided by the River Granta and remain so. The southernmost of the two, Great Abington, covers and is bounded to the south by the county border with

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, to the west by a branch of the

Icknield Way The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern and eastern England that runs from Norfolk to Wiltshire. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills. Background It is generally said to be, within ...

(now the A11), and to the east by the parish of

Hildersham Hildersham is a small village 8 miles to the south-east of Cambridge, England. It is situated just off the A1307 between Linton, Cambridgeshire, Linton and Great Abington on a tributary of the River Cam known locally as the River Granta. The p ...

. Little Abington covers , again bordered by the Icknield Way and Hildersham to the west and east, and by the ancient thoroughfare of

Wool Street Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

to the north. The village history dates back to the

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 ...

, some 4000 years ago. The

Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

gave the village its name, originally called "estate named after Abba", and the village was listed as ''Abintone'' in 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 ...

. The 'Great' and 'Little' prefixes came later: the Latin ''magna'' is observed from 1218 and the Modern English ''great'' from 1523 while the Latin ''parva'' is observed from 1218 and the Middle English ''littel'' from 1336. In the decades before the Second World War the

Land Settlement Association The Land Settlement Association was a UK Government scheme set up in 1934, with help from the charities the Plunkett Foundation and the Carnegie Trust, to re-settle unemployed workers from depressed industrial areas,Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

and

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

. The Cambridge to Haverhill railway line that opened in 1865 crossed Great Abington just south of the village, but closed in 1967. The medieval

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

road that was the main route through the village was by-passed in the 1960s.

Churches

Great Abington's parish church has been dedicated to St Mary since at least the 16th century and comprises a chancel, nave with south aisle and porch, and west tower. The majority of the present building dates from the 13th century, possibly earlier, including the two-storey tower with short leaded spire. Little Abington's parish church is also dedicated to St Mary, and has been since at least the 16th century. The present building consists of a chancel, nave with north chapel and south porch, and west tower. The nave is believed to date from around 1100, and the chancel was rebuilt in the 13th century. The three-storey tower is probably 14th century. A

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

chapel was built in Little Abington towards the end of the 19th century. It closed in late 2019 and the land has now been sold. Demolition of the chapel has been confirmed.

Village life

Looking north along the high street, Great Abington - geograph

The village has a vibrant community with a primary school, village shop, pub, football and cricket team and a large number of local businesses, most of them at

Granta Park Granta Park is a science, technology and biopharmaceutical park based on the bank of the Granta (river), River Granta in Abington, Cambridgeshire, Great Abington near Cambridge, England. The first idea for the park came from the then Chief Exec ...

including

The Welding Institute The Welding Institute (TWI Ltd) is a research and technology organisation, with a specialty in welding. It has had headquarters near Cambridge, England, since 1946, and has other facilities across the UK and around the world. TWI works across a ...

which started in Abington Hall in 1946. In 2009 Abington cricket club played a friendly against Babraham cricket club to commemorate 150 years of the cricket team. The village also has a village hall, called The Abington Institute, which has a café, a large main hall with video projection and an audio system allowing the showing of films and presentations. It also has a meeting room, another large room overlooking the cricket pitch and two changing rooms with showers. The Institute is used by many local clubs and organisations and also hosts regular lunches for older Abington residents. The remaining public house, The Three Tuns in Great Abington, is a 17th-century building that was possibly open in 1687 and certainly by 1756. Former pubs in Little Abington include The Crown which closed in the late 20th century, and The Bricklayers' Arms, which opened in the mid-19th century and was sold in 1912. The Princess (later Prince) of Wales in Great Abington opened at the end of the 19th century and closed in about 1963. The King's Arms opened on the Stump Cross to Newmarket road (now the A11) just north of Bourn Bridge in the late 17th century, closing in 1850 with the advent of the railway. The antiquary William Cole was born there while his father was publican. The White Hart opened on the same road just south of the bridge in around 1750, but closed by the end of the century. The Old Forge on Great Abington's High Street - geograph

The Old Forge on Great Abington's High Street - geograph

References

External links

The Abingtons

Great Abington Circa 1900

Little Abington Circa 1900
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abingtons Villages in Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire District