Great Wilbraham
Encyclopedia
Great Wilbraham is a small village situated in a rural area some seven miles (11 km) to the east of Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

, between the edge of an area of low-lying drained fen
Fen
A fen is a type of wetland fed by mineral-rich surface water or groundwater. Fens are characterised by their water chemistry, which is neutral or alkaline, with relatively high dissolved mineral levels but few other plant nutrients...

s to the west and north, and higher ground beyond the A11 to the east.

The administrative authorities are Cambridgeshire County Council
Cambridgeshire County Council
Cambridgeshire County Council is the county council of Cambridgeshire, England. The council currently consists of 69 councillors, representing 60 electoral divisions. The Conservative Party has a majority on the council, having gained control in the 1997 local elections...

, South Cambridgeshire District Council
South Cambridgeshire District Council
South Cambridgeshire District Council is the local authority for the district of South Cambridgeshire in Cambridgeshire, England. Based in Cambourne, it forms the lower part of the two tier system of local government in the district, below Cambridgeshire County Council...

, and Great Wilbraham Parish Council.

History

The parish of Great Wilbraham has been occupied for thousands of years; a Neolithic camp was excavated in the west of the parish in 1976, and a Bronze Age barrow, where up to eight burials were discovered in 1852, lies alongside the Fleam Dyke
Fleam Dyke
Fleam Dyke is an earthwork in eastern Cambridgeshire, England, generally assumed to be Anglo-Saxon of origin. As a few potsherds of the early and late Bronze age were found in the most eastern part of the dyke it seems that much older earthworks have been used. The archaeologist Prof...

 in the southern corner of the parish. A possible Roman dwelling was also located in woodlands.

The medieval history of Great Wilbraham is tied up with that of neighbouring Little Wilbraham
Little Wilbraham
Little Wilbraham is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, southeast of Cambridge between the A1303 and the A11. It is in the district of South Cambridgeshire. It is a small village with a population of only 394 and there is little employment within the village...

, and they were first distinguished in the 13th century when it was also known as King's Wilbraham. Listed as Wilburgeham in the 10th century, and Wiborgham in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

, the name "Wilbraham" means "Homestead of a woman called Wilburh".

Church

A church was built in Wilbraham in around 970 by a monk from Ramsey Abbey
Ramsey Abbey
Ramsey Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey located in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, England, southeast of Peterborough and north of Huntingdon, UK.-History:...

. The present church, dedicated to Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...

, dates from the 12th century, and the font and the nave's north wall survive from that period. Extended over the following 200 years, the west tower dates from around 1400. A short spire was added but had gone by the late 18th century.

The village has been home to nonconformity since the 17th century, and there has been a strong Baptist presence since then. A Baptist chapel survives at the north end of Angle End.

Village life

Great Wilbraham is mostly residential in nature. Employment within the village is mostly agricultural but there are also a number of small businesses. Many of the working residents commute into Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

 or other nearby towns such as Newmarket.

The village has a variety of house types, mostly Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 or older, with post-war infill development, and a small number of modest-scale modern estates. No significant expansion is anticipated in the near future. A number of attractive period houses surround the large village green, which adjoins the churchyard. There is a Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

/general store and a village hall/social club.

Great Wilbraham retains one public house, the Carpenter's Arms, which has been open since at least 1767. Former pubs were The (Sedan) Chair, recorded from 1765, and the 19th century King's Head and White Swan, both of which closed in the late 1960s.

The Voluntarily Aided Church Primary School enjoys an excellent reputation with approximately 100 pupils between the ages of 5 and 11. Within the village there are two pre-school groups, one attached to the school. Children of secondary age mostly attend the Village College
Bottisham Village College
Bottisham Village College is a comprehensive secondary school located in Cambridgeshire, England. The school opened in 1937 as the second village college in part of the Local Director of Education Henry Morris' vision for providing a good quality education for local people in the countryside around...

 in the nearby village of Bottisham
Bottisham
Bottisham is a village and civil parish in the East Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England, about east of Cambridge, halfway to Newmarket. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,983.-Church:...

.

There is a strong sporting tradition within the village, with cricket and football teams making use of the green. Darts
Darts
Darts is a form of throwing game where darts are thrown at a circular target fixed to a wall. Though various boards and games have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules...

 and indoor bowls
Bowls
Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...

are also played in the Social Club. Money is raised by an annual Sports Day which includes many stalls and events such as coconut shies, pony rides, running races and even cake competitions.

External links

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