Cottenham

Coordinates: 52°17′11″N 0°07′28″E / 52.2865°N 0.1244°E / 52.2865; 0.1244

Cottenham
All Saints' Church, Cottenham
Cottenham  Cottenham shown within Cambridgeshire
Population	5,652 (2001)
OS grid reference	TL450675
District	South Cambridgeshire
Shire county	Cambridgeshire
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CAMBRIDGE
Postcode district	CB24
Dialling code	01954
Police	Cambridgeshire
Fire	Cambridgeshire
Ambulance	East of England
EU Parliament	East of England
UK Parliament	South Cambridgeshire
List of places: UK • England • Cambridgeshire

Cottenham is a village in Cambridgeshire, England. It is close to The Fens. Before the fens were drained in the 19th century Cottenham was on the last contour before the waterlogged marshes, with Ely being the nearest dry land around 20 miles (32 km) to the north-east.

History

Great fire of Cottenham

The village of Cottenham fell victim to a great many fires over the centuries, but none so devastating as that which occurred on 4 April 1850. Starting in the High Street around 8.30 in the evening, the flames spread rapidly and though there was no loss of human life "a vast quantity of poultry and pigeons and a good many pigs were destroyed." Forty to fifty cottages burnt down as well as the Black Horse and White Horse inns and the Wesleyan Chapel which was housed in a barn on what is now Telegraph Street.

Damage caused by the fire of 1850, seen from Lambs Lane Corner

The arsonist was believed to be one William Hayward, who was lodging at the Lamb Inn whilst doing casual labour for Thomas Graves on the boundary of whose property the fire had started. The landlord of the Lamb was quick to report that Hayward had said to him "I have been a match for old Graves ... damn and blast the fire: I wish it would burn half Cottenham down." Suspicions were fuelled the morning after the fire when the landlord woke to discover Hayward had left town. A rather trumped up case was brought against Hayward for referral to the coming assizes but, presumably for want of hard evidence, the bill was ignored by the Grand Jury.

Archaeology

Archaeological sites of interest within the parish include a stretch of the Roman canal Car Dyke.

A trench excavated by the ACA team from the University of Cambridge, under the supervision of Gary Marriner, discovered evidence of Neolithic occupation in the village.

Bullocks Haste is believed to be the remains of a significant Romano-British settlement, thought to have been a major port and possibly an administrative and religious centre. The course of the Car Dyke also passes through this site.

Village amenities

Cottenham has a fairly wide range of amenities in the village, including two GP surgeries, a dental surgery, a library, a Co-operative store and pharmacy, a junior and secondary school and numerous small businesses. Bus services link the village to both Cambridge and Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Churches

Cottenham has three different churches in the village, All Saints^[1] is the Anglican Parish Church. There are some pictures and a description of the church at the Cambridgeshire Churches website^[2]. There are also the Baptists, and the Salvation Army. The Methodist church closed in November 2007, and has been refurbished as a Community Center^[3]. The Community Centre Coffee Shop opened on Feb 9 2011.

Sport and recreation

Cottenham has a King George's Field in memorial to King George V, home to Cottenham United Football Club, the village cricket club, and a bowls green. The village has a racecourse which is used for several point-to-point horse race meetings each year, usually in the winter months. The Grand National Hunt Steeple Chase, now held at the Cheltenham Festival, was staged there in 1870 and 1877^[4]. The Village College does provide facilities of a gym, sports hall, tennis courts and field facilities for the community. This is where the great Yorkshire man Scott Jackson was first recruited by Newcastle United before going on to become the Magpies third leading goal scorer with 187 in three seasons at St James' Park.Cottenham is also home to the Cottenham Renegades, North Cambridge's only Rugby for pleasure club.

Legends

The Anglican church sits at the end of this long village, and according to local legend and tradition has a strange tale attached to it. The villagers of times gone by wanted to build the church in a more centralised part of the community. The townsmen started the task, but it was said that the stones mysteriously started being transported back to their original site, so afraid, the locals decided to leave the church where originally intended.^{[citation needed]}

Notable residents

Immigrant to New England, John Coolidge, was born in Cottenham and baptized there in September 1604. Among his many notable American descendants is U.S. President J. Calvin Coolidge. The family home is believed to be the thatched cottage adjacent to the Anglican church.^[5]

The grandmother of the diarist Samuel Pepys lived in Cottenham; the house in the northern area of the village bears a plaque.

Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury between 1695 and 1715 was born in Cottenham in 1636.

The Norwich City F.C. footballer Adam Drury was born in Cottenham.

Cottenham village design statement

Cottenham was one of the first villages in the United Kingdom to produce a Village design statement. It was one of four pilot projects, the others being Stratford-on-Avon, Cartmel in Cumbria and Down Ampney in Gloucestershire. These were promoted as "exemplars", together with written guidance training and advice for other communities wishing to take up the initiative. The document was updated in 2007.

Nearby villages

• Wilburton
• Rampton
• Oakington and Westwick
• Landbeach
• Histon

References

1. ^ All Saints Cottenham
2. ^ The church's page at the Cambridgeshire Churches website
3. ^ Community center
4. ^ Stevens, Peter, History of the National Hunt Chase 1860-2010. ISBN 978-0-9567250-0-4
5. ^ Coolidge, Emma Downing, Descendants of John and Mary Coolidge of Watertown, Massachusetts, 1630, Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co., 1930

External links

• Cottenham Online
• Cottenham Newsletter
• Cottenham Theatre Workshop
• The Cottenham Village Society
• History of Cottenham Church
• Economic History of Cottenham
• 2001 Census
• Cottenham Info Pages
• Cottenham Village Design Group
• Cottenham War Memorial - Roll of Honour
• Cottenham united colts football club for 6-16yr olds