Waterbeach is an expanding village 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 ...
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 ...
, in the
South Cambridgeshire
South Cambridgeshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, England, with a population of 162,119 at the 2021 census. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of Chesterton Rural District and South Cambridgeshire Rural District. I ...
district of
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. It was designated a "new town" in 2018.
History
Early periods
Waterbeach is on the
Car Dyke
The Car Dyke was, and to a large extent still is, an long ditch which runs along the western edge of the Fens in eastern England. It is generally accepted as being of Roman invasion of Britain, Roman age and, for many centuries, to have been ta ...
, a Roman waterway traceable as far as Lincoln. Archaeological work in 2020 found a seemingly Roman settlement on the north side of the village.
Waterbeach appears in the 1086
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 ...
as Vtbech. In the 12th century, the
Knights Templar
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
occupied
Denny Abbey
Denny Abbey is a former abbey near Waterbeach, about north of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England. It is now the Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey.
The monastery was inhabited by a succession of three different religious orders. The site is a ...
to the north of the village. The Abbey structures and the area immediately surrounding it are protected as a
scheduled monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
. The core historic buildings of Denny Abbey are open to the public and managed by the Farmland Museum.
Waterbeach Abbey and a stretch of the
Car Dyke
The Car Dyke was, and to a large extent still is, an long ditch which runs along the western edge of the Fens in eastern England. It is generally accepted as being of Roman invasion of Britain, Roman age and, for many centuries, to have been ta ...
, both on the southern side of the village, are also scheduled monuments.
The attorney and parliamentarian
John Yaxley
John Yaxley (died c. 1625) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Cambridge (UK Parliament constituency), Cambridge between 1597 and 1611.
Career
Yaxley prob ...
acquired an estate at Waterbeach by 1610 and resided in the village. He and Edward Aungier of Cambridge bought the manors of Waterbeach and Causeway from the Crown for £900 in 1614.
RAF and British Army
A former Royal Air Force station,
RAF Waterbeach
Royal Air Force Waterbeach or more simply RAF Waterbeach is a former Royal Air Force station located in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire which is about north of Cambridge, England. The site was transferred to the Royal Engineers, part of the British A ...
, lies to the north of the village. Six aircraft hangars were built in 1940 and a triangle of hard runways completed in 1941. It housed some 2,600 people in the final months of the Second World War. Thereafter the station was run by
RAF Transport Command
RAF Transport Command was a Royal Air Force command that controlled all transport aircraft of the RAF. It was established on 25 March 1943 by the renaming of the RAF Ferry Command, and was subsequently renamed RAF Air Support Command in 1967.
...
and then by
RAF Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War. It earned near-immortal fame during the Battle of Britai ...
until 1966, when it was transferred to the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
and became
Waterbeach Barracks
Waterbeach Barracks' is a former military installation in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire. The site was an RAF Station, RAF Waterbeach and then used by the Royal Engineers, part of the British Army, from 1966, until 2013 when the site closed to make ...
, where the Waterbeach Military Heritage Museum opened in 1984. This was closed and the exhibits put into store in 2012, but in 2015 the museum returned and was officially reopened in 2017. The barracks themselves closed on 28 March 2013, after a move by all remaining units to
RAF Kinloss
Royal Air Force Kinloss or RAF Kinloss is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station located near the village of Kinloss, on the Moray Firth in the north east of Scotland.
The RAF station opened on 1 April 1939 and served as a training establishme ...
in Scotland and to
RAF Wittering
Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford, Lincolnshire, Sta ...
in 2012–2013.
The Cambridgeshire
Army Cadet Force
The Army Cadet Force (ACF), generally shortened to Army Cadets, is a national youth organisation sponsored by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence and the British Army. Along with the Sea Cadet Corps and the Air Training Corps, the ACF mak ...
remains based in a corner of the old base.
21st century
![Waterbeach church St John](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Waterbeach_church_St_John.JPG)
The population of Waterbeach has risen significantly since 2001, from 4,476 to some 5,500 in 2019. In 2018 it was designated a new town in the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan. The following year, permission came for the construction of 6,500 new dwellings. These are to be built on the site of the old barracks, and will more than double the population. In 2012 the Cambridge Innovation Park opened. The Innovation Park and adjacent Denny End Industrial Estate are major employment centres. In 2012 Milton Brewery moved from nearby Milton to a site at Denny End. Waterbeach Community Primary School was enlarged in 2020 to cater for some 400 pupils.
The three places of worship are the
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
Church of St John the Evangelist, a
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
church famous for ties with
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher.
Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, among whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers". He wa ...
, and a corps of the
Salvation Army
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
. Active community groups include
Scouts
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...
and
Girl Guides
Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...
, the
Army Cadet Force
The Army Cadet Force (ACF), generally shortened to Army Cadets, is a national youth organisation sponsored by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence and the British Army. Along with the Sea Cadet Corps and the Air Training Corps, the ACF mak ...
, playgroups and a play scheme, and a Community Association. To the south-east is a
Woodland Trust
The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland Natural heritage, heritage. It has planted over 50 million trees since 1972 ...
nature area, Cow Hollow Wood, laid out in 2000 to mark the Millennium.
Transport
Waterbeach railway station
Waterbeach railway station is on the Fen line in the east of England, serving the village of Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire. It is measured from London Liverpool Street and from ; it is situated between and stations. Its three-letter station c ...
, on the
Fen Line between Cambridge and
King's Lynn
King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...
, had its platforms extended in 2020. A proposal to move the station closer to the development at the Barracks was approved by the local planning committee in 2018.
The village lies close to the London–King's Lynn
A10 road. It has bus services linking it to Cambridge, Landbeach, Ely, Littleport and Stretham.
Notable people
In birth order:
*
Richard Jugge
Richard Jugge (died 1577) was an eminent English printer, who kept a shop at the sign of the Bible, at the North door of St Paul's Cathedral, though his residence was in Newgate market, next to Christ Church in London. He is generally credited a ...
(died 1577), a Royal Printer generally credited with inventing the
footnote
A note is a string of text placed at the bottom of a page in a book or document or at the end of a chapter, volume, or the whole text. The note can provide an author's comments on the main text or citations of a reference work in support of the ...
, was probably born in Waterbeach.
*
Robert Masters
Robert Masters (15 June 1879 – 29 June 1967) was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal and later United parties, as well as a cabinet minister.
Biography Early life and career
Masters was born in 1879 at Greymouth and was educated at Grey ...
(1719–1798), a writer, historian and cleric, served as Rector of Waterbeach in 1775–1784.
*
William Keatinge Clay
William Keatinge Clay (1797–1867) was an English cleric and antiquary.
Biography
Clay was born in 1797, and, having been ordained deacon in 1823 by John Fisher, Bishop of Salisbury, became curate of Greenwich. He was ordained priest in the fo ...
(1797–1867), an antiquary and cleric, served as Rector of Waterbeach from 1854 until he died in 1867.
*
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher.
Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, among whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers". He wa ...
(1834–1892), the eventual Baptist Pastor of London's
Metropolitan Tabernacle
The Metropolitan Tabernacle is a large independent Reformed Baptist church in the Elephant and Castle in London. It was the largest non-conformist church of its day in 1861. The Tabernacle Fellowship have been worshipping together since 1650. ...
, served first at Waterbeach Baptist Church, when he was 17 years old. (He would later remember his tenure there as he sent out many preachers to rural communities.)
*
David Stafford-Clark
David Stafford-Clark (17 April 1916 – 1999) was a British psychiatrist and author. He was educated at Stanford School, Felsted and Institute of Psychiatry, University of London (now part of King's College London).
War service
Stafford-Clark did ...
(1916–1999), a psychiatrist, poet and author, served with the RAF
Bomber Command
Bomber Command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. The best known were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for strategic bombing (although at times, e.g. during t ...
at Waterbeach in 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 ...
.
*
Terry Hale (born 1936), a player for
Cambridgeshire County Cricket Club (1957–1978), was born in Waterbeach.
See also
*
List of places in Cambridgeshire
This is a list of cities, towns and villages in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It includes places in the former county of Huntingdonshire, now a district of Cambridgeshire.
A
*Abbotsley
*Abbots Ripton
*Abington Pigotts
*Alconbury
* Alc ...
References
Sources
South Cambridge District Council Local Plan 2004
Bibliography
*John F. Hamlin and Oliver J. Merrington (2011 and 2014), ''At the Beach: the story of Royal Air Force Waterbeach and Waterbeach Barracks'', Peterborough: GMS Enterprises (available at
Waterbeach Military Heritage Museum)
*William Keatinge Clay (1852), ''A History of the Parish of Waterbeach in the County of Cambridge'', Cambridge: Deighton Bell (Cambridge Antiquarian Society, Octavo series, Vol. 4)
*Robert Masters (1795), ''A Short Account of the Parish of Waterbeach: in the Diocese of Ely'', London
External links
Waterbeach Community AssociationWaterbeach Parish CouncilWaterbeach Forward– campaign group
Fen Edge Community Association{{authority control
Villages in Cambridgeshire
Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire
South Cambridgeshire District