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STATION ROAD
(An Occasional Series on Swavesey’s Roads)
Part One
“If only the cobblestones could speak .......”
By Stephen Bull
The Meridian Is A Winner!
Proceeding
from High Street and bearing right we enter, what was once
appropriately named, “Station Road”. Station Road passes
through the northern section of the village often referred to
by the locals as “Church End”. This part of the village
reveals the most astonishing part of the village scene. Not
only is it (in the view of the writer) the most picturesque
area of the village, but its history goes back into the ‘mists
of time’. Church End is intrinsically connected with the very
establishment/ founding of the village of Swavesey.
How Swavesey got its name
From ancient times until the early 1800’s there were two ways
into and through the area; by water and along the Roman Road
(A14). Access by water was clearly the most favoured method of
trans-port. Strategically situated close to the navigable
River Ouse, and just above the flood level, Church End saw the
arrival of the first settlers who, in the process, gave it its
unique name. The oldest piece of evidence of any town or
village is its name and “Swavesey” is no exception. The most
favoured interpretation for Swavesey is “Swaef’s landing
place” or possibly “the Swabians’ landing place”. Who “Swaef”
or “the Swabians” were is not known, but the name was
obviously adopted by the inhabitants living close to the banks
of the Ouse.
Proceeding along Station Road
As you pass by “Eyes of Swavesey” the opticians glance up and
note the date of the building: “1913”. (I will make reference
to this date at the end of this article.) A little further on
the right is the “Bottle House” with nine bottles in the shape
of a diamond inserted in the gable end. Originally a Beer
House stood on this site. On the left is a row of red brick
houses, numbered 13 to 19 (one of which has been snowcemed).
These together with a number of other houses in the village -
notably the “Market or Town House” numbers 10 and 12 High
Street and “The Grange” in Market Street - were built with
bricks manufacturedin the Swavesey Brickyard in Cow Fen.
“Swavesey bricks” as they came to be known were rather soft
and irregular and did not stand up well to the vagaries of the
English weather! (The brick
yard itself closed down about 1890.)
In
front of us is Swan Pond with “Chequers Court” on the right.
This new development obtained its name from house number 18
which was originally “The Chequers” public house. For over 150
years this was the home of the Mitham family, builders and
undertakers, and who served the village and church
unstintingly for many years.
At
this point the left-hand side of the road dips down alongside
Swan Pond. A level pathway continues to the church which
consists partly of a cobblestone causewayon which stand a
number of houses. One house of particular note is the
“Merchants House” (number 31). Possibly of late 15th century
construction with a timber frame end it served as the “Swan
with Two Necks” public house for many years - a corruption of
the more correct “Swan with Two Nicks”. In earlier times
(1815) the public house was referred to simply as “The Swan”
and in 1871 as the “Swan Inn” before the adoption of “Swan
with Two Necks”.
Swan Pond
It is thought that Swan Pond was originally a wharf and
formed part of a complex medieval dock system stretching into
the middle of the village to Market Street. The cobblestone
causeway would have been used for loading and unloading boats.
These boats could well have sailed from The Wash via. the
River Ouse, laden with coal for fuel, and sand and stone for
building, etc. Return journeys would have been of grain for
the Midlands and North and hay for cattlefeed. The last
section of the journey from the Ouse through Middle fen was
along a narrow waterway -“Navigation Drain” - probably widened
during the Roman occupation, and finally into what is now
called “Church Brook” which fed the series of wharves.
The
rest of the road takes the traffic past the pond on the right,
separated from it by iron railings on top of a reinforcing
wall built to hold the road from crumbling into the pond.
Before the draining of the Fens “the pond would have filled up
as it does now in time of flood, to lap against the causeway
which would have formed a per-fect wharf at the door of the
houses” (Ravensdale).
During
the catastrophic East Anglian floods of 1947 the water rose to
the doorsteps of the houses on the cobblestones, but as far as
I am aware no houses were flooded or had to be evacuated. The
mature cedar trees each end of the pond were planted in 1901
to commemorate the reign of Queen Victoria.
Over
the years the pond has experienced a chequered history. Prior
to a piped water supply in the village the pond served a
useful purpose for people living in that part of the village.
Its source of water was essential for the local fire brigade,
and cattle and carters’ horses were ‘watered’ in the pond -
while the owners, no doubt, quenched their thirst in “The
Swan”!
In
the 1970’s the pond became a marass of reed covered thick
black sludge and the Parish Council decided to fill it in with
hardcore and make it into a “grassed amenity and car park”
(C.E.N. 2nd April 1973). A section of the local community
objected and wished to maintain the pond as a “visual amenity”
and continue to serve a “useful drainage function”.
Subsequently the pond was cleaned, landscaped and stocked with
water plants and goldfish; and for many years was beautifully
maintained by the late Mrs Brooks. Early maps of the area show
a road terminating just past Swan Pond and a track veering to
the left ..... but more of that another time.
If the cobblestones could speak
The cobblestone causeway has been a feature of Swavesey
for time immemorial. If they could speak they would ..... tell
us of the waterborne early settlers from far off shores;
recount the worshippers making their way over the cobblestones
to church services when the pond was in flood; (Note: For a
time a small tax was levied for the upkeep of the pathway for
the use of church attenders); tell the names of mischievous
children who loved to scamper along the cobblestones while on
walks with parents or friends!; and relate the catastrophic
‘Fire’ one windy day in March 1913 when all the thatched
houses in Station Road were burnt down rendering 80 people
homeless.
The
latter necessitated the rebuilding of a number of houses,
including “Frere Cottages” and the elegant frontage of “Eyes
of Swavesey”.
Acknowledgements:-
1.“History
on Your Doorstep” by J.R.
Ravensdale (1982);
2. Tour of Swavesey Notes by John
Shepperson dated 20th June 1995
To be continued (in the next issue)
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We entered the Meridian into the Radio Cambridgeshire Parish
Magazine Competition 2001 and are delighted to say that out of
the 40 community and church magazines entered for judging, we
were awarded Winners in the category for ‘Best Index of Local
Resources’ and Runners Up in both ‘Best Community Feel’ and
‘Best Overall Church Magazine’.
