Over, Cambridgeshire

Last updated

Over
Cambridgeshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Over
Location within Cambridgeshire
Population2,862 (2011) [1]
OS grid reference TL375703
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town CAMBRIDGE
Postcode district CB24
Dialling code 01954
Website overvillage.co.uk
List of places
UK
England
Cambridgeshire
52°18′50″N0°00′58″E / 52.314°N 0.016°E / 52.314; 0.016

Over is a large village near the River Great Ouse in the English county of Cambridgeshire, just east of the prime meridian.

Contents

The parish covers an area of approximately 2,535 acres (1,026 ha). It is ten miles (16 km) east of the town of Huntingdon and is also ten miles (16 km) northwest from the city of Cambridge.

Over contains the basic village facilities, including a primary school, shop, one public house (the Admiral Vernon) and St. Mary's Church. In recent years, the village has expanded rapidly, with the inclusion of several housing estates, a community and conference centre and modern sporting facilities. An Over day centre was set up in 1989 by Pamela Cressey. The Over Community Centre was set up with National Lottery funding of almost £1 million in 1999.

Over is mentioned in the poem "The Old Vicarage, Grantchester", by Rupert Brooke.

History

Signpost in Over UK Over (Cambridgeshire) (SideA).jpg
Signpost in Over
Signpost in Over UK Over (Cambridgeshire) (SideB).jpg
Signpost in Over

By 1628 the fens and meres to the north of the settlement were enclosed, as was the rest of the village land by 1837.

Originally, there were two distinct settlements. One was at Church End around St Mary's Parish Church, the other at Over End the south-eastern part of the village around West street.

When it comes to buildings, Over is a village full of contrast both in terms of age and designs. Although the exact date is unknown, a row of old thatched cottages on the north side of the High Street were burned to the ground during a fire started by an arsonist. These were replaced by the large Victorian houses which feature balconies to the front.

Much of the antiquated property in the village is Victorian, as the majority of the older clunch and wattle cottages have been demolished.

The influence of the Dutch who, under the leadership of the engineer Vermuyden, came to drain the Fens, can be seen in several of Over's older houses the Old Black Horse in the High Street and the Ivy House in Fen End are the most obvious, with their rounded end-walls and angled brick-ties.

The town hall, in the High Street opposite Overcote Road, has the date MDCCCXLIX (1849) carved over the door.

Apart from the parish church, the oldest remaining structure in Over now is believed to be the wall running down Fen End from the Willingham Road corner. The small patch of wall, now incorporated into newer brickwork, was believed by Ernie Papworth to have stood for over 500 years.

St Mary's Church

St Mary's Church, Over in July 2014 Cmglee Over St Marys Church.jpg
St Mary's Church, Over in July 2014

St Mary's Church is made almost entirely of stone from Barnack, in the extreme north of Cambridgeshire. It has traces of 14th century work, including flower-ball carvings, gargoyles representing birds and beasts, and a south porch of perfect proportions.

Its size reflects the significant income the village received from, among other things, the Suffolk wool trade and goods sold in the market at St Ives.

Unlike many Fenland and edge-of-fen churches, it is highly ornamented, which is evidence of the amount of money that was available at the time of construction and decoration: the more complicated the work, the more it cost.

There are also two other churches in Over: a Methodist church in the Lanes, which was built in 1848 and features a typical one-storey design found in Methodist churches; and a Baptist church in New Road, built directly onto a house whose owner gave the land for the church to be built in 1737.

Over today

Today's Over is within a part of Cambridgeshire where there is enormous pressure for expansion with new housing and industrial and commercial buildings. The village has seen a number of estates built over the past 30 years. Plans have been approved for limited further growth, most of which is likely to be on small sites dotted around the village. One such development is a new estate, Hazel Green, which was completed by Camstead Homes in 2011.

The village's population in 1951 was 910, rising to 2,420 by 1991.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naseby</span> Human settlement in England

Naseby is a village in West Northamptonshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 687.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burwell, Cambridgeshire</span> Village in Cambridgeshire, England

Burwell is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England, some 10 miles north-east of Cambridge. It lies on the south-east edge of the Fens. Westward drainage is improved by Cambridgeshire lodes (waterways), including Burwell Lode, a growth factor in the village. A population of 6,309 in the 2011 census was put at 6,417 in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramsey, Cambridgeshire</span> Human settlement in England

Ramsey is a market town and civil parish in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town is about 9 miles (14 km) north of Huntingdon. Ramsey parish includes the settlements of Ramsey Forty Foot, Ramsey Heights, Ramsey Mereside, Ramsey Hollow and Ramsey St Mary's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orton, Peterborough</span> Suburb of Peterborough, England

Orton is a suburb of the City of Peterborough, in Cambridgeshire, England, about 3 miles (4.8 km) south west of Peterborough city centre to the south of the River Nene. It is located on the route of the A1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">March, Cambridgeshire</span> Town and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England

March is a Fenland market town and civil parish in the Isle of Ely area of Cambridgeshire, England. It was the county town of the Isle of Ely which was a separate administrative county from 1889 to 1965. The administrative centre of Fenland District Council is located in the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fulbourn</span> Village in Cambridgeshire, England

Fulbourn is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, with evidence of settlement dating back to Neolithic times. The village was probably established under its current name by 1200. The waterfowl-frequented stream after which it was named lies in the east, close to the division between arable and fenland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knighton, Leicester</span> Area of Leicester, England

Knighton is a residential suburban area of Leicester, England. It situated between Clarendon Park to the north, Stoneygate to the east, Oadby and Wigston to the south and the Saffron Lane estate to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lytchett Matravers</span> Human settlement in England

Lytchett Matravers is a large village and civil parish in Dorset, England. The 2011 census recorded the parish as having 1,439 households and a population of 3,424.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingsthorpe</span> Suburb in Northampton, England

Kingsthorpe is a suburb and civil parish of Northampton, England. It is situated to the north of Northampton town centre and is served by the A508 and A5199 roads which join at Kingsthorpe's centre. The 2011 Census recorded the population of the district council ward as 4,477.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cottenham</span> Human settlement in England

Cottenham is a village in Cambridgeshire, England. Cottenham is one of the larger villages surrounding the city of Cambridge, located around five miles north of the city. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 6,095. Cottenham is one of a number of villages that make up the historical Fen Edge region in between Cambridge and Ely, which were originally settlements on the shore of the marshes close to the city of Cambridge, then an inland port.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoney Stanton</span> Human settlement in England

Stoney Stanton is a large village in the Blaby district of Leicestershire, England with a population of over 3,454 in 2001, increasing to 3,793 at the 2011 census. It constitutes a civil parish. The village lies five miles east of Hinckley, just to the east of the M69. Nearby villages include Croft and Sapcote. It is ten miles from Leicester. As may be gathered from its name it is set on rocky outcrops of igneous rock, granodiorite, a fact which has had its influence on its history. Even in the eighteenth century, Parish records show that gravel and stone were being removed from Carey Hill in the centre of the village. That would later, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries be quarried for its valuable stone, along with Lanes Hill, Clint Hill, and Hall's Court. Carey Hill and Hall's Court quarries were later filled in, but Clint Hill remains, a relic of the village's industrial heritage, now filled with water and a haven for wild-life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bitterne</span> Suburb in England

Bitterne is an eastern suburb and ward of Southampton, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barton Bendish</span> Village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk

Barton Bendish is a civil parish and small ancient village in the English county of Norfolk located 10 miles (16 km) south of King's Lynn and 90 miles (140 km) North East of London. It has two medieval parish churches, and once had three. The parish includes the old hamlet of Eastmoor, and covers 3,936 acres (1,593 ha). The village has been settled since Neolithic times and was expanded during the Saxon period. Today the village has a population of 210 as recorded at the 2010 census and contains eight listed buildings, with the two medieval parishes churches being Grade I.

Benwick is a village and civil parish in the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, England. It is approximately 15 miles (24 km) from Peterborough and 30 miles (48 km) from Cambridge. The population of Benwick was recorded as 1137 in the United Kingdom Census 2011 with 452 households. The River Nene passes through the village, which is thus accessible by boat from the inland waterways network in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherry Hinton</span> Human settlement in England

Cherry Hinton is a suburban area of the city of Cambridge, in the Cambridge district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is around 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of the Cambridge city centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fen Ditton</span> Human settlement in England

Fen Ditton is a village on the northeast edge of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England. The parish covers an area of 5.99 square kilometres (2 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Thetford</span> Village in Cambridgeshire, England

Little Thetford is a small village in the civil parish of Thetford, 3 miles (5 km) south of Ely in Cambridgeshire, England, about 76 miles (122 km) by road from London. The village is built on a boulder clay island surrounded by flat fenland countryside, typical of settlements in this part of the East of England.

Papworth St Agnes is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England. The population of the village is included in the civil parish of Graveley It has also been known as Papworth Magna, to distinguish it from the adjoining Papworth Everard and Papworth Parva. The name of the village does not come from any church of St Agnes, but from a certain Agnes de Papewurda, c1160.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hardwick, Cambridgeshire</span> Human settlement in England

Hardwick is a village and civil parish in the county of Cambridgeshire, England with a large housing estate located about 6 miles (9.7 km) west of the city of Cambridge, England. The village lies immediately south of the A428 road between Cambridge and St Neots. It is about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of the newly developed town of Cambourne. The village is nearly on the Greenwich Meridian. The northern border of the village is St Neots Road, now largely bypassed by the A428, with no houses or property on the north side of the road. In the 2001 census, the population was 2,630 in 946 households, increasing to 2,670 in 1,017 households at the 2011 Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tydd Gote</span> English village located in two parishes

Tydd Gote is an English village, partly, at the north, in the civil parish of Tydd St Mary of the South Holland District of Lincolnshire, and partly, at the south, in the civil parish of Tydd St Giles of the Fenland District of Cambridgeshire.

References

  1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 22 July 2016.