Swaffham Bulbeck, Cambridgeshire

Swaffham Bulbeck is situated some 10 miles to the north-east of the City of Cambridge and 7 miles from Newmarket. It is close to both the Icknield Way and Devil's Dyke. I travel through this village from my home in Burwell to the central station in Cambridge, which takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Apart from fellow road travellers, it always strikes me as a quiet and unspoilt village with some beautiful old cottages, mingling with striking new builds.

Previously known as Earl's Swaffham or Nun's Swaffham, it was known as Little Swaffham until the mid 19th Century, to distinguish it from Great Swaffham - now Swaffham Prior, just a couple of miles away.

In spite of its fairly sleepy appearance, there is a thriving local community, including the Swaffham Bulbeck Summer Theatre group, which has been putting on performances since 1982.

The focal point of Swaffham Bulbeck is the village green, necessitating a major double-bend for all vehicles travelling from the adjacent village of Swaffham Prior to Lode. It makes for a beautiful setting in summer or winter and our son, Sam, playes in 'home' football matches here for Burwell Tigers.

The Church of St Mary's is situated on the High Street, on the way to Bottisham where our daughter, Hayley, is at secondary school. The building is ancient, with the west tower being built in the early 1200's and the Nave in the first half of the 13th Century. There is a good site giving further information on the church's history, and more photographs here.

Some of the most interesting houses include this one, built in Tudor times; we had a look at it some years ago when it was up for sale and before we decided to move to Burwell instead. It isn't typical of the village architecture but gives you a flavour of the village:

Location:

This Google Map shows the exact location of the village of Swaffham Bulbeck, Cambridgeshire:

Useful links:

I found this site offering historical information as well as some early 20th Century photographs from the Cambridgeshire History on the net project. I also have to mention the excellent Chilli Hut which offers fantastic Indian cuisine at great prices. You can get their contact details by clicking through here.

Contact

You can contact me at any time on fencreative@yahoo.co.uk if you have any extra information or links to sites you'd like me to include on this page.