Coordinates: 52°14′N 0°16′W / 52.23°N 0.26°W
| St Neots | |
  St Neots
St Neots shown within Cambridgeshire |
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| Population | 26,356 (2001) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| Parish | St Neots |
| District | Huntingdonshire |
| Shire county | Cambridgeshire |
| Region | East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ST. NEOTS |
| Postcode district | PE19 |
| Dialling code | 01480 |
| Police | Cambridgeshire |
| Fire | Cambridgeshire |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | Huntingdon |
| List of places: UK • England • Cambridgeshire | |
St Neots (pronounced /sənt ˈniːʊts/) is a town and civil parish with a population of 26,356.[1] It lies on the River Great Ouse in Huntingdonshire District, and is the largest town in Cambridgeshire, Cambridge and Peterborough both being cities. The town is named after the Saxon monk St Neot whose bones were housed in the nearby priory of the same name.
The pilgrim trade brought prosperity for the town, and it was granted a market charter in 1130. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the town enjoyed further prosperity through corn milling, brewing, stagecoaching, and railways.
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Today
Today, St Neots is a thriving dormitory and market town. The modern town incorporates Eynesbury (originally the main settlement and the oldest part of the town) and two areas across the river, Eaton Ford and Eaton Socon, which were originally separate villages. Already the largest town in Cambridgeshire, after the cities of Cambridge and Peterborough, St Neots continues to grow rapidly due to a huge demand for modern housing.
Technology-based industries now operate from some of the town's light industrial estates, and there is a gas turbine power station at Little Barford on the edge of the town. Recent development has added Eynesbury Manor and The Island, Little Paxton bringing the population above 30,000.[citation needed] Over 1,200 new homes are in course of construction at Love's Farm Estate, to the east of the town.
Local geography
St Neots lies close to the south-western edge of Huntingdonshire district and is situated in the valley of the River Great Ouse, partly on the flood plain and partly on slightly higher ground a little further from the water. The Great Ouse is a mature river, once wide and shallow but now controlled by weirs and sluices and restrained in a well-defined channel.
Tributaries entering the Ouse in the town are the River Kym, Hen Brook, Duloe Brook, and Colmworth Brook. The area is generally low lying and the Riverside Fields, an amenity area adjacent to St Neots Bridge, is designed as a flood buffer area, and is under water at times of flood, protecting dwelling and commercial property from flood.
St Neots developed at the site of a ford where overland routes converged. This was replaced by a medieval bridge, and today there are two further crossings just outside the town, one to the north and another to the south.
The soil is mainly light, overlying gravel beds, and gravel extraction is one of the local industries. Older disused gravel pits form useful nature reserves and amenity areas at nearby Paxton Pits and at the Wyboston Leisure Park. Away from the river, the higher land is mainly a heavy clay soil with few large settlements. Much of the land is used for arable farming.
St Neots is close to Cambridge, Bedford and Peterborough.
Transport
Road
St Neots is bypassed by the A1 which links the town by road with London to the south and Peterborough to the north while the nearby A14 provides access to the Midlands and East Anglia.
Until the three-mile £8m A45 St Neots Bypass opened in December 1985 (subsequently re-designated as the A428), traffic to and from Cambridge had to pass through the town centre.
The A421 begins at Black Cat Roundabout on the A1 just south of the town, connecting with Bedford and Milton Keynes, and carrying much of the traffic between Oxford and Cambridge.
Public transport
There is a rail service from Peterborough via St Neots to London, taking 40 minutes to Kings Cross.
Bus services are provided by Stagecoach Group and Whippet coaches. As well as services serving the town and nearby towns and villages, St Neots is served by the cross country X5 service that runs between Cambridge and Oxford.
Cycling
St Neots is on Route 51 of the Sustrans national cycle route that connects Colchester and Oxford via Harwich, Felixstowe, Ipswich, Bury St. Edmunds, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Sandy, Bedford and Milton Keynes.
Proposed developments
St Neots (Southern) Foot and Cycle Bridge
 The proposed route and location of the St Neots (Southern) Foot and Cycle Bridge scheme. |
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| Location | Cambridgeshire |
|---|---|
| Proposer | Sustrans |
| cost estimate | £3.5 million |
| completion date | Summer 2010 |
| Geometry | KML |
A proposal is currently in place to build a new walking and cycle bridge across the River Great Ouse to connect the communities of Eaton Socon and Eynesbury. A public consultation on the scheme was held in 2003 with public exhibitions held in December 2008. The new bow string arch bridge will have a length of 346m and the scheme includes construction of access ramps, street lighting and improvements to the connecting cycle paths. The scheme is supported by Cambridgeshire County Council, Huntingdonshire District Council and is a Sustrans Connect2 project. The bridge has an estimated cost of £3.5m with Sustrans contributing an additional £600,000.[2] The earliest construction start date is for autumn 2009, with an open date of summer 2010. The use of a Compulsory Purchase Order for the necessary land has been approved if required and if used this could delay the project by one year. The route of the cycle way is intended to connect Shakespeare Road, in Eaton Socon, to Barford Road, in Eynesbury and follow the southern boundary of St.Neots Community School.[3]
History
Although Roman and even pre-Roman finds have been made in and around St Neots, there was no significant settlement until Saxon times. Early developments were in Eynesbury, Eaton Socon and Eaton Ford, which still exist as part of the town today; and Maltman's Green and Crosshall Ford which are no longer recognised.
The Normans rebuilt the Priory near the river and the town of St Neots grew up against its southern wall.
Famous residents
- John Bellingham, the only man to assassinate a British Prime Minister (Spencer Perceval on 11 May in 1812), lived in St Neots. He had been unhappy that he was unable to obtain compensation for being unfairly imprisoned in Russia. He was found guilty and hanged on Monday May 18 1812.[4]
- Australian evangelist Pastor Peter Foxhall was born in St Neots.
- Olympic swimmer Mark Foster lives in St Neots.[5]
- The St Neots Quads became famous as the first surviving quadruplets in the world. They were born in 1935.
Expansion
St Neots has two major expansion projects planned, at Love's Farm to the east of the railway line, where construction has already begun, and on the site of the Samuel Jones paper mill at Little Paxton. The old water-powered mill was developed by Bloor Homes recently as an "executive" estate but the new development will be a mixture of properties including social housing.
Some residents have criticised the new developments as they are technically outside the town's boundaries, meaning that while they will use and depend on the town's infrastructure, the new residents' council tax will not contribute towards St Neots' coffers. The town boundaries will be re-drawn to include Love's Farm and Eynesbury Manor in April 2010.
Nearby settlements
- Cities - Cambridge, Peterborough
- Towns - Bedford, Biggleswade, Godmanchester, Higham Ferrers, Huntingdon, Raunds, Royston, Rushden, Sandy, St Ives, Thrapston
- Villages - Abbotsley, Bolnhurst, Buckden, Caxton, Chawston, Colesden, Colmworth, Croxton, Diddington, Duloe, Eltisley, Gamlingay, Graveley, Great Paxton, Great Staughton, Hail Weston, Keysoe, Keysoe Row, Kimbolton, Little Barford, Little Paxton, Little Staughton, Offord Cluny, Offord D'Arcy, Perry, Pertenhall, Roxton, Staughton Green, Staughton Highway, Southoe, Staploe, Stonely, Tempsford, Toseland, Wyboston, Yelling
See also
- Saint Neot (historical person)
- St Neots Town F.C.
- St Neots RUFC
References
- ^ Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : Huntingdonshire Retrieved 2009-10-29
- ^ "St Neots (Southern) Foot and Cycle Bridge". Cambridgeshire County Council. http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/projects/huntingdonshire/st_neots_foot_cycle_bridge.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
- ^ "St Neots (Southern) Foot and Cycle Bridge Briefing Note". Cambridgeshire County Council. 2008.12. http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/7A3E8F81-3CCC-439D-9EB1-185279F3111D/0/122008StNeotsFootCyclebridgeBRIEFINGNOTE.pdf. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
- ^ Bell, John (2002), The St Neots assassin, BBC Cambridgeshire, ISBN 1899558012, http://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/features/2002/crime_day/cambs_crimes_stneots_assassin3.shtml
- ^ [1]
External links
- Town Council
- St Neots Community Pages (residents' forums)
- Churches
- Football Club
- Museum
- The Priory Centre
- Train times
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