Newton is a

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

and small village in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, England. Situated around 7 miles to the south-west of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, it lies on the old coaching road between

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and Cambridge. Its population in 2001 was 401, falling to 378 at the 2011 Census.

History

The history of Newton has long been tied to that of neighbouring Hauxton; they were ruled by a single manor, were a single civil parish until the 16th century and until 1930 formed a single ecclesiastical parish. There were disputes over the parish boundaries with

Harston Harston is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England, located around 5 miles (8 km) south of Cambridge. In 2011, it had a population of 1,740. Village Sign The village sign was erected in th ...

and

Little Shelford Little Shelford is a village located to the south of Cambridge, in the county of Cambridgeshire, in eastern England. The River Granta lies between it and the larger village of Great Shelford, and both are served by Shelford railway station, ...

until they were finally settled in 1800, when the parish of Newton was set at 402 hectares. In 970 the land around Newton and Hauxton was passed to King Edgar who offered them to Bishop Aethelwold for the new Abbey at Ely. However, Edgar died before the lands were transferred and the lands were subject to a series of disputes until they were purchased for the Abbey. 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

the lands in modern Newton fell under the manor at Hauxton and both villages remained the property of Ely Abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. Since then the manor has been owned by the Hurrell family. The village of Newton itself built up around the intersection of the five roads from Harston, Hauxton,

Whittlesford Whittlesford is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, and also the name of an old hundred. The village is situated on the Granta branch of the River Cam, seven miles south of Cambridge. Whittlesford Parkway railway station serves the village. L ...

Thriplow Thriplow () is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, south of Cambridge. The village also gives its name to a former Hundreds of Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire hundred. History The parish of Thriplow covers , roughly spanning the land between ...

and Foxton. It has always been a small village, and in 1801 was home to only 114 people. In 1746 much of the village was destroyed by a fire. The village's economy has always been dominated by farming. There are 31 listed buildings and monuments in the village.

Church

There has been a small church in the village for at least a thousand years and the present church had long been in use as a chapel when it was finally consecrated in 1346. The church was dedicated to St James until the 18th century when it was dedicated to Saint Margaret. The oldest parts of the present building date from the early 13th century, including its octagonal font. The church was substantially restored in 1851.

Village life

The village is home to the Queen's Head public house, which has been open since at least 1729. The pub is one of very few to have appeared in every edition of the ''

Good Beer Guide The ''Good Beer Guide'' is a book published annually by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), listing what it considers to be the best 4,500 real ale outlets (pubs, clubs, and off-licences) in the United Kingdom. Details The content of the ''Guid ...

'' since it started in the 1970s and in 2021 received a Golden Award from

CAMRA The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, which promotes real ale, real cider, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. History The organisation was founde ...

, one of only 32 pubs. Its sign depicts

Anne of Cleves Anne of Cleves (; 28 June or 22 September 1515 – 16 July 1557) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from 6 January to 12 July 1540 as the Wives of Henry VIII, fourth wife of Henry VIII. Little is known about Anne before 1527, ...

. The village no longer has a post office as it was converted to a house in 2007.

References

External links

parish council website
{{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire District

History

Church

Village life

See also

References

External links