Stetchworth is a small 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 ...

East Cambridgeshire East Cambridgeshire (locally known as East Cambs) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in Ely. The population of the District Council at the 2011 Census was 83,818. The district was formed on 1 April 19 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, to the south of the horse-racing centre of Newmarket and around east 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 ...

History

The parish of Stetchworth is long and thin in shape, around six miles long and one mile wide and covering an area of . It stretches southeast from Newmarket Heath to the border with Suffolk. Its relatively straight north-east border with Burwell and Woodditton follows the Devil's Dyke to its southern end just west of Ditton Green, from where the border follows field boundaries. Its long western border with Dullingham also follows field boundaries, most of which also follow the course of the Stour Valley Path, a long-distance footpath. It also has a short border with

Kirtling Kirtling, together with Kirtling Green and Kirtling Towers, is a scattered settlement in the south-eastern edge of the English county of Cambridgeshire. It forms a civil parish with the nearby village of Upend to its north. The population of the ...

at the southeastern end and another with Swaffham Prior at its northwest edge. Devil's Dyke (or Ditch), an Anglo-Saxon earthwork built between the Cambridgeshire villages of Reach and Wood Ditton, runs through Stetchworth. It consists of a ditch and a mound of earth which continues for over seven miles, and is a popular place for local walks. The Devils Dyke Morris Men dance along its length to end up at the 800-year-old Reach Fair on May Day. The relatively rare pasque flower grows along the dyke in the chalky soil. The

Icknield Way Path Icknield is a parliamentary ward, of the Luton district, in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The ward takes its name from the Icknield Way, a pre-Roman road which passes through Luton. Situated towards the northeast of Luton, the ward is ...

passes through the village on its 110-mile journey from

Ivinghoe Beacon Ivinghoe Beacon is a prominent hill and landmark in Buckinghamshire, England, 233 m (757 ft) above sea level in the Chiltern Hills, close to Ivinghoe and Aldbury. Dunstable, Berkhamsted and Tring are nearby. The Beacon lies within the ...

in Buckinghamshire to

Knettishall Heath Knettishall Heath is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Knettishall in Suffolk. A larger area of 176 hectares is the Knettishall Heath Nature Reserve, which is managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. Despite its name, Kn ...

in Suffolk. Th
Icknield Way Trail
a multi-user route for walkers, horse riders and off-road cyclists also passes through the village. The village had 25 inhabitants at the time of 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 ...

in 1086 when the parish was owned by Hardwin of Scales, the Abbot of Ely, and Count Alan. The Domesday Book also mentions that Stetchworth was "once a town". The railway reached the parish when the Cambridge to Newmarket line was opened in 1848, though there is no station in Stetchworth. Dullingham railway station is just over a mile to the west of the village. The

National Stud The National Stud is a United Kingdom Thoroughbred horse breeding farm located two miles from Newmarket. The Stud originated in 1916 as a result of a gift by William Hall Walker (later Lord Wavertree) of the entire bloodstock of his stud farm ...

partially falls within the parish boundaries, and the July Racecourse at

Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of British horserac ...

finishes in the parish, running parallel to the Devil's Dyke. Listed as ''Steuicheswrthe'' in around 1050 and ''Stiuicesuuorde'' in the

of 1086, the name "Stetchworth" either means "enclosure amongst the tree-stumps" or "enclosure of a man called Styfic".

Church

The parish church has been dedicated to St Peter since at least the 13th century, and is the oldest building in the village. There are records of a church in the village in the 12th century, but the earliest part of the present building is the chancel which dates from the 13th century. The nave dates from the 14th century and the west tower was extensively rebuilt in the 15th century. There are bells in the tower dating from 1450 onwards, but they have not been used in recent years. The church boasts examples of early English graffiti (apparently carved into a pillar during a visit to Stetchworth by

Queen Philippa Philippa of Hainault (sometimes spelled Hainaut; Middle French: ''Philippe de Hainaut''; 24 June 1310 (or 1315) – 15 August 1369) was Queen of England as the wife and political adviser of King Edward III. She acted as regent in 1346,Strickla ...

) depicting a woman in an elaborate head-dress, and several animals. The village also has a

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2022 it has approximately 40,000 members in 1,284 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. Origins and history The United Reformed Church resulte ...

that opened in 1963 on the site of the former Congregationalist Church.

Village life

Stetchworth has one public house, The

Marquis of Granby Duke of Rutland is a title in the Peerage of England, named after Rutland, a county in the East Midlands of England. Earldoms named after Rutland have been created three times; the ninth earl of the third creation was made duke in 1703, in whos ...

, which opened in 1937. Former pubs include The White Horse which opened opposite Church Lane in the first half of the 19th century, and rebuilt for the

Earl of Ellesmere Earl of Ellesmere ( ), of Ellesmere in the County of Shropshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1846 for the Conservative politician Lord Francis Egerton. He was granted the subsidiary title of Viscount Br ...

in 1905. It closed in the 1930s. The Live and Let Live opened opposite the school in 1890, but closed at some point between 1961 and 1973. A school was opened in the village in the 1860s and attendance grew to a peak of 168 in 1905–6, falling to 33 by 1938. Older children were transferred 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 ...

in 1947, and the primary school closed in 1990. Primary age pupils from Stetchworth now typically attend Kettlefields School which is just in Dullingham although it is closer to the centre of Stetchworth. The Ellesmere Centre, on the Southern edge of the village, is a community centre, including a post office, and community store. It has a good range of sports facilities and a playground available.

Stetchworth House and Stetchworth Park Stud

Stetchworth House was built in 1786 by Richard Eaton, father of Richard Jefferson Eaton and a Newmarket banker. It replaced the original Stetchworth manor house; it is Grade II listed. Stetchworth Park has its own private entrance to St Peter's Church. In 1883, the estate passed to

Francis Egerton, 3rd Earl of Ellesmere Francis Charles Granville Egerton, 3rd Earl of Ellesmere VD, DL, JP (5 April 1847 – 13 July 1914),''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage,'' 100th Edn, London, 1953. styled Viscount Brackley between 1857 and 1862, was a British peer, ...

, who founded Stetchworth Park Stud. The stud was later run by Lt. Col. Douglas Gray, former Director of the National Stud in Newmarket. The GB

Showjumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes sho ...

Team trained at Stetchworth Park before the 2012 Summer Olympics. In 2012, the estate was put up for sale, valued at over £11 million.Property details (Savills)
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References

External links

Village websiteStetchworth Community Archive
{{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire East Cambridgeshire District