Potton

Northstowe is a new town in Cambridgeshire; the site covers Oakington Barracks on the former RAF Oakington, a World War II airfield.  Northstowe is now a civil parish formed from Longstanton and Oakington and Westwick in April 2021; building first started in the early 2015, is ongoing, and forecast to have 24,400 residents in 10,000 homes long term. There are many new houses, but not many amenities, and, on the outskirts, there are small lakes

It is convenient to start a circular walk from here from the Longstanton Park and Ride site here, and I do so with the Cambridge Rambling Club Wed A group.  We set off and walk close to the Park and Ride and one of the several small lakes here before turning off towards Rampton. The village is situated on the edge of The Fens and was well populated in Roman times before vanishing and reappearing in the Anglo-Saxon period.  The attractive Church of All Saints is one of a very few English churches with a thatched roof and one of only two in Cambridgeshire.  After stopping here, we pass the earthwork remains of a castle, known as Giant's Hill, are located to the east of the village by the church; construction started about 1140, but it was never completed.

We now head south towards the parish of Oakington and Westwick, passing Westwick Hall, before diverting to Histon (to be covered in a future FP post). Later on, we rejoin the route and carry on to Oakington.  In 1940, a Royal Air Force bomber airfield, RAF Oakington, was constructed at Oakington covering 540 acres and this is reflected in the village sign; the site of the barracks is in the process of forming part of Northstowe.  In the 17th century, Oakington was considered to be a "hot-bed of religious dissent"; behind the churchyard of St Andrew's Church, there is a private burial ground containing the graves of three vicars who helped establish the non-conformist movement and various non-conformist churches in Cambridgeshire. Ejected from their livings, persecuted and imprisoned for propagating their faith during their lives, they became known as the 'Oakington Martyrs' in death.

We carry on to the outskirts of Longstanton; the village was transformed by the opening of RAF Oakington in 1940, resulting in the building of three new housing estates in the village and a trebling of the population.  We passed St Michael's Church, situated towards the south of the village, built around 1230 and the second rare example of a church with a thatched roof in Cambridgeshire; it is now a Grade II listed building.

We then follow the paths back to the Park and Ride, passing a cantilevered pillbox that was part of the RAF Oakington site, before seeing a bit more of Northstowe; it has been an interesting 12.4 mile walk.Read more