Barton 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

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. ...

district 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 the ...

, England. It is about south-west of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, 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. Cam ...

, near junction 12 of the M11 motorway.

History

The

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

road

Akeman Street Akeman Street is a Roman road in southern England between the modern counties of Hertfordshire and Gloucestershire. It is approximately long and runs roughly east–west. Akeman Street linked Watling Street just north of Verulamium (near mode ...

may have passed through the village. Barton,

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''Bartone'', is 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 manus ...

. At that time, 1086, Robert, Count of Mortain, Humphrey from Guy de Raimbeaucourt, and William of Keynes were listed as Barton land-owners.

Economy

Barton's village shop complex includes a shoe shop, hair and beauty salon, and Conkers Stores, a traditional village shop and Post Office, and the area's only petrol station, which is attached to a car franchise and has a fairly extensive shop. There are two

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

s in the village: The Hoops, on New Road; and the White Horse Inn, on the High Street. Barton is also home to a country shopping complex, Burwash Manor Barns, housing among other businesses a butcher, organic grocer, tea rooms, toyshop, wine merchant, and Persian rug outlet. The complex attracts visitors from across Cambridgeshire. Also in Barton is the headquarters of The Countryside Restoration Trust, which has been there since the charity's establishment in 1993. Employment within the village is very limited. Most residents commute to work at locations across southern Cambridgeshire and in London. The area is starting to attract commuters, who park their cars and then cycle to work. There are plans for some kind of park and ride/cycle on the outskirts of Barton.

Landmarks

Between the High Street and A603 Wimpole Road lies the village's recreation ground, with a full size football pitch, tennis courts, half pipe, children's play area, pavilion, bowls club, car park, dog walks, and rough ground for general recreation. A village hall neighbours the school. The Cambridge Rifle Range is north of the village, where regular military training takes place. The

Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory The Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory (MRAO) is located near Cambridge, UK and is home to a number of the largest and most advanced aperture synthesis radio telescopes in the world, including the One-Mile Telescope, 5-km Ryle Telescope, an ...

is just south of the village. The antenna dishes of its

Ryle Telescope {{Infobox telescope The Ryle Telescope (named after Martin Ryle, and formerly known as the 5-km Array) was a linear east-west radio telescope array at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory. In 2004, three of the telescopes were moved to create ...

are positioned along of the disused Cambridge to Oxford railway line and can be seen from most places in the village. The signals from several dishes are combined to give the resolution of a much larger single dish.

Religion

Barton has two churches, one

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

and one

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 compe ...

, both on Church Lane. There are some pictures and a description of the mediaeval St Peter's at the Cambridgeshire Churches website. The Barton Woodland Burial Ground just outside the village provides

natural burial Natural burial is the interment of the body of a dead person in the soil in a manner that does not inhibit decomposition but allows the body to be naturally recycled. It is an alternative to other contemporary Western burial methods and funera ...

s.
It is divided into two sections, Barton North and South Glebes, each glebe further sub-divided
into individually-named glades like Oak, Ash and Willow.

Education

Barton Church of England Primary School serves pupils from the village and from nearby Grantchester, and performed well under Ofsted inspection in the first decade of the 21st century. The village is in the catchment area for

Comberton Village College Comberton Village College is an 11–18 mixed secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Toft, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, Cambridge. It opened in 1960 as a village college. History The school was first opened in 1960 by Henr ...

, a state comprehensive school which in 2005 achieved the highest GCSE results of any state comprehensive in England. Students from Barton travel for further education to Cambridge's

Hills Road Sixth Form College Hills Road Sixth Form College (commonly referred to as HRSFC, Hills Road or just Hills) is a public sector co-educational sixth form college in Cambridge, England, providing full-time A-level courses for approximately 2000 sixth form students fro ...

Long Road Sixth Form College Long Road Sixth Form College (LRSFC) is a public sector co-educational sixth form college in Cambridge, England. It is situated on Long Road, from which it draws its name, and is located next to the Cambridge Bio-Medical Campus which encompasse ...

Cambridge Regional College Cambridge Regional College is a mixed further education college in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suff ...

, and

Impington Village College Impington Village College is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in Impington in the English county of Cambridgeshire. The buildings of 1938/9 by Walter Gropius and Maxwell Fry are Grade I listed. The school opened in 1939, two we ...

. Public schools are also present in Cambridge. Barton is visited weekly by a

mobile library A bookmobile or mobile library is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Bookm ...

bus administered by

South Cambridgeshire District Council South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

Transport

Barton is less than via Barton Road from the M11, which provides links to North London. The nearby A603 joins the A505 and M1, linking Barton to London through

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

Cambridge railway station Cambridge railway station is the principal station serving the city of Cambridge in the east of England. It stands at the end of Station Road, south-east of the city centre. It is the northern terminus of the West Anglia Main Line, down th ...

, under fifteen minutes' drive from Barton (traffic permitting), provides access to rail connections with London King's Cross and Liverpool Street.

Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acro ...

is thirty minutes' drive from Barton along the M11. The village once had its own station at Lord's Bridge on the now-closed

Varsity Line The Varsity Line (or the Oxford to Cambridge railway line) was the main railway route that once linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated by the London and North Western Railway. During World War II the line was ...

between

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Demography

Notable people

* John Hayward, British politician

References

External links

A British History Online: ''Barton''
* {{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire District