Boxworth

Boxworth is a village in South Cambridgeshire, situated about eight miles to the north-west of Cambridge.[2] It falls under the Papworth Everard and Caxton ward and lies within the diocese of Ely. The village covers an area of 1,053 ha. (2,602 a.)[3] Boxworth is a relatively small village, with around 100 houses.

Boxworth

St Peter's Church
Boxworth
Location within Cambridgeshire
Population218 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceTL348642
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCAMBRIDGE
Postcode districtCB23
Dialling code01954
PoliceCambridgeshire
FireCambridgeshire
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament

History

The place-name 'Boxworth' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Bochesuuorde. It appears as Bukeswrth in 1228 in the Feet of Fines. The name means 'Bucc's enclosure or homestead'.[4]

In the 1664 Hearth Tax, a large house belonging to a gentleman, Mr Killingworth, accounted for eight hearths at Boxworth.[5]

Boxworth's population, once considerable, shrank severely after the Middle Ages before recovering to reach a peak of c350 in the mid-19th century.

In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Boxworth like this: "BOXWORTH, a parish in the district of St. Ives and county of Cambridge; 3 miles WSW of Long-Stanton r. station, and 5 SSE of St. Ives. Post Town, Long-Stanton, under Cambridge. Acres, 2,521. Real property, £2,946 Pop., 347. Houses, 64. The property is divided among a few. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely. Value, £459.* Patron, G. Thornhill, Esq. The church has a monument of Sanderson, the blind professor of mathematics; and is good."

Village life

Boxworth today has one public house, the Golden Ball. The pub dates from at least the 1760s, but took its current name in 1820.

Church

Recorded from the mid-12th century, when relics of St. 'Inicius' were said to be deposited there, the church of St Peter is an ancient edifice of flint and stone in the Decorated style, consisting of a chancel, a nave of four bays, a south aisle, north and south porches and a lofty, embattled tower containing a clock and one bell: in the church is a monument to Nicholas Saunderson LLD, FRS, the celebrated blind professor of mathematics at the University of Cambridge, who died on 19 April 1739. The church was thoroughly restored in 1868–9, and provides seating for 150 worshippers. There are some pictures and a description of the church at the Cambridgeshire Churches website.[6] There is a more comprehensive history at www.british-history.ac.uk.[7]

The grave of the Rev. Arnold Kirke Smith, who was vicar for 38 years until his death in 1927; he had in his early years been a notable footballer

Road

The Road is designed to be a small access road to the rural outlying villages of Cambridge surrounding it, including Elsworth, Conington and Knapwell, and is usually quiet. However, as the village lies between two major roads – the A428 and the notorious A14 (previously A604) – it is occasionally used more heavily, especially when one of the major roads is blocked. In 2004–05, traffic calming measures in the form of chicanes were introduced at both ends of the village. This is considerably less traffic-calming than is found in surrounding villages, which make heavy use of road humps and speed-reduction signs. The traffic-calming measures are often a controversial issue.

Development
The village hall

Between 2003 and 2005, plans were drawn up to build a wind farm on arable land in the north of Boxworth. A total of 16 turbines were planned, and a number of residents of the village started a campaign[8] called "Stop Cambridge Wind Farm", with the aim of blocking the windfarm's construction. In early 2005 the application was rejected by Cambridgeshire County Council, and a subsequent appeal was also rejected.

Record temperature

The highest temperature ever recorded in Boxworth was 35.2 °C, on 1 August 1995.[9]

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Genuki information on Boxworth". Genuki. 20 March 2003. Retrieved 11 December 2007.
  3. "British History Online guide to Boxworth". British History Online. 1989. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  4. Eilert Ekwall, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, p.57.
  5. Evans, N. and Rose, S., editors, Cambridgeshire Hearth Tax Returns, Michaelmas 1664, British Record Society, London, 2000, p.73.
  6. "Cambridgeshire Churches". www.druidic.org.
  7. "Boxworth: Church - British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk.
  8. "Wind Farm stirs local opposition". BBC News. 12 May 2004. Retrieved 11 December 2007.
  9. "Trevor Harley Home Page". www.trevorharley.com.
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