Bainton 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 authorit ...

in the

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire unti ...

unitary authority area of

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a 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 Northamptonshire to t ...

, England. Bainton is on the southern edge of the Welland valley and lies north-west of Peterborough and east of Stamford. Ashton is a neighbouring hamlet and lies approximately south-east of Bainton within the same civil parish. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 305 people and by the 2011 census the parish's population was 290 people.

History

Formerly known as 'Badingtun' (Old English meaning "estate associated with a man called Bada"), some form of settlement existed in c.980 but was not mentioned 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 ...

of 1086. At the south-east of the parish of Bainton and adjacent to the nearby village of

Helpston Helpston (also, formerly, "Helpstone") is an English village formerly in the Soke of Peterborough, geographically in Northamptonshire, subsequently (1965–1974) in Huntingdon and Peterborough, then in Cambridgeshire, and administered by the Cit ...

is the site of Torpel Manor which is a series of medieval and later earthworks that are a

Scheduled Ancient 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 medieval village cross called the Butter Cross is

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

, as is the parish church. The church of St Mary dates back to the early 13th century, with additions such as the tower and spire which are 14th century. The church includes a monument by Sir

Richard Westmacott Sir Richard Westmacott (15 July 17751 September 1856) was a British sculptor. Life and career Westmacott studied with his father, also named Richard Westmacott, at his studio in Mount Street, off Grosvenor Square in London before going t ...

to Mary Henson who died in 1805. The bell tower contains four bells but these are not able to be rung currently. Bainton House used to be the home of the Birkbeck family and is a Grade II listed manor house dating back to the 16th century.

Transport

Bainton lies on the B1443. To the north of Bainton, the

Bainton Gate railway station Bainton Gate railway station was a short lived railway "station" in the Soke of Peterborough (now in Cambridgeshire) on the Syston and Peterborough Railway The Syston and Peterborough Railway was an early railway in England opened between 18 ...

briefly served the village between 1846 and its closure in 1856. The nearest railway station is at Stamford to the east.

References

External links

Bainton and Ashton Parish Council web site

Bainton Reading Room

Bainton Conservation Area Map
Villages in Cambridgeshire Geography of Peterborough Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire {{Cambridgeshire-geo-stub