Fen and Upland

In this booklet we have tried to put before the people, who live in the villages served by Swavesey Village College, an introduction to the history of their neighbourhood. We deal with the area of Cambridgeshire which lies between the Ouse river and the old road from Cambridge to St. Neots. To the west the area reaches as far as the parishes of Fen Drayton and Elsworth and to the east as far as Willingham, Long Stanton and Madingley. The area lies close to the O~ meridian, on which Swavesey station lies. Many of the villages in this area deserve a full history of their own ; this booklet is no substitute for such histories ; indeed, we hope that the work which has gone into producing it and the sale which we hope it will get in the area may stimulate the production of several separate village histories.
The authors of this historical study were students in a three year Tutorial Class in Local History, held in the Village College, Swavesey, between 1958 and 1961 under the auspices of the University of Cambridge Board of Extramural Studies. Mr. Lionel Munby, M.A., was Tutor to the class and has edited the material collected by the students. We should like to thank Dr. M. H. Clifford, Dr. Audrey Ozanne, Mr. Humphrey Bash-ford, and Dr. Esther Dc Waal ; without the stimulus which their teaching brought we should not have attempted even such an elementary study as this is. Many other people have helped us with information and advice; it would be impossible to name them all. But we should like to thank, in particular, the clergy of the parishes we deal with, Miss Claire Cross, the County Archivist, and Miss H. Margaret Clark, to whose researches we owe the study of Long Stanton in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Some of the contents of this booklet are the product of research on original documents and into topographical and archaeological material. Much of our matter is culled from material already published, notably the Victoria County History, as will be obvious to those who already know something of our local history. But this work is not primarily intended for them. We hope in it to bring to many local people, who have not previously studied the history of their village, something of the interest we have gained during the last three years.
Our publication would have been impossible without the generosity and faith of many people, to whom, as to the County Education Committee and the Students Council of the Village College, we owe a debt for financial assistance. It is our hope that wide sales of our work will enable us rapidly to repay their loans.

NAMES OF CLASS MEMBERS

•                    Mrs. Banks.                       Mr. R. Palmer.
•                    Mrs. B. Duff.                     Mrs. R. Palmer.
•                    Mr. B. Duff.                       Mr. E. Papworth.
•                    Mrs. E. Ford.                     The Rev. R. Pearson.
•                    Mr. M. Hopkins.               Mrs. R. Pearson.
•                    Mr. A. Hunter.                  Mr. R. Rule.
•                    Mr. A. Houshan.              Mrs. J. Stroud.
•                    Miss Kennett.                   Mr. D. Williams.
•                    Mrs. D. Matthews.