STATION ROAD
(An Occasional Series on Swavesey’s Roads)
Part Two
A diversion through Hog Pasture to Lowburyholme Road, Over
By Stephen Bull

“Station Road”, appropriately named after the arrival of the railway in 1847, was originally a continuation of High Street, passing through Church End and terminating at Swan Pond with a causeway proceeding to the church and a track or footpath to Over.  [The present road to Over is a new road built as late as 1840, a result of The Enclosure*¹]

We have seen that Swavesey was once a moderately thriving commercial centre fed by waterborne transport along Navigation Drain and Church Brook, serving a necklace of docks and wharves behind the church, at Swan Pond (Priory Dock) and in Market Street [The Meridian: April-May 2002].

The drainage of most of the fens in the 17th century and consequent lowering of the water-table and, possibly, neglect of maintenance of the waterways, necessitated the construction of a dock nearer to the appropriately named “Navigation Drain”.  In due time this site became known as the “Osiers”*².  With the arrival of the railways another dock was constructed on the north side of the railway to replace the nearby ‘osier dock’ as barges could not pass under the railway - and trains couldn’t be sent over a hump-back bridge!

The original Swavesey to Over Road
Pre-Enclosure maps of Swavesey (1811 and 1836) show a road, or most probably a ‘track’, veering sharply left at Swan Pond and passing through Middle Fen, skirting Mare Fen Nature reserve and exiting at “Lowburyholme Road” (opposite “The Doles”) in Over.  Today there is little, if any, evidence of the original ‘track’ but it may be assumed that it more or less followed the route of present day Middle Fen Drove (see map).

Because this ancient track passed through marshy areas and was liable to flooding most winters it is not difficult to visualize its condition in the winter months and early spring.  Horse-drawn transport to and from Over would have been impossible for many months of the year.  Residents who have moved to the village in recent times would have witnessed the effects of the flooding of Middle and Mare Fens during Easter 1998, but this would have been commonplace years ago, before improvements in flood protection in the village following the disastrous floods in 1947.

An illuminating entry in the Swavesey Chronicle dated 28th May 1813 records:- “We have pleasure in learning that the differences between the inhabitants of the villages of Swavesey & Over respecting the communications between those populous villages are brought to an amicable adjustment & that the road will in a few weeks, in all probability become passable.”  Why there was a dispute between the villages is not stated or whether/when the road became “passable”, but it may be safely assumed that it was a regular occurrence!!!

Proceeding along “Middle Fen Drove” (with a little imagination)
Passing over a slight hump, the remains of part of the medieval village defences, one enters “Middle Fen Drove” lined with overgrown hawthorn hedges and ancient, gnarled willow trees.  [Congratulations to the person who recently ‘laid’ the hedge on the right so expertly.]  The tarmac section leads into the gravelled drove and passes through an area known by the ‘locals’ over the decades as “Hog Pasture”. yes">  As the name indicates pigs/hogs would have been pastured in these nearby fields, but not in living memory.

Hog Pasture has always been liable to flooding and one story recounted by long time Swavesey resident, Mr Denis Froment, is as follows:- One particularly wet winter with flood water all around the village, four or five men were in Mr Burling’s blacksmith’s workshop, in Boxworth End, waiting for the local pub to open.  The vicar arrived on the scene in his pony and trap and said “Good morning Mr Burling, I see that the water is just coming over Hog Pasture”.  Without any hesitation one man piped up “If that was beer, vicar, we would stop that”!!!

Approaching the disused railway track requires imagination because any evidence of the former “Osiers” was obliterated with the removal of the pollarded willows and the raising of the ground level of the surrounding fields in the 1980s (see map).  Nowadays rabbits can be seen scampering around and sunning themselves, and magpies feeding on insects and grubs.  As already mentioned, with the lowering of the water-table Church Brook became un-navigable and at the time of The Enclosure in 1840 a dock was constructed on the site which was subsequently called “The Osiers”.  However when the railway came through Swavesey in 1847 a replacement dock was constructed on the opposite side of the railway track and the disused dock silted up and became a fertile bed for willow trees.  The osiers cut from the pollarded willows were in great demand in the area for the basket trade and a thriving industry was established.

Again, no evidence remains of the railway crossing keeper’s house and garden beside the railway crossing.  Overgrown blackberry briars now cover the site.  Manned twenty-four hours a day, the gatekeeper, and his wife used to fulfil an essential role opening the gates for the agricultural workers crossing what was a very busy line.

Crossing the railway line on the right-hand side is the new dock.  Today it is still called “New Dock” and is a reed-choked pool which supports aquatic insects, wildlife and birds, including a thriving colony of reed warblers.  As Ravensdale mentions, the ‘new dock’ (provided incidentally by its competitor - the railway company) experienced a short life and was “virtually strangled at birth by its progenitor (direct ancestor), the railway”.  Following successive droughts in the 1980’s the resulting reduction in the water level in the dock revealed the preserved timbers with which the dock was constructed.

Our ‘diversion’ may continue to Over (not along the ancient ‘track’) but by following Swavesey Footpath numbers 3.  Lined by overgrown hedgerows and ancient willows in need of repollarding continue along Footpath 1 through meadows covered with buttercups in summer - listening out for snipe ‘drumming’ in the breeding season.  Lowburyholme Road will be reached along the raised flood bank via. Webb’s Hole Sluice on the banks of the River Ouse.

But beware, in the winter the droves and fields are liable to flooding - so you will need your ‘wellies’!

Notes:-
*¹          The Enclosure: The 1800s saw the medieval open arable land, open meadows and pastures, and village ‘greens’ swept away and the land re-distributed.  The Swavesey Enclosure Award Map of 1838 (Ravensdale p 54) depicts the ‘new’ enclosure of hedged fields with which we are familiar today. Most of the existing roads were improved and in some cases re-aligned/straightened, and new roads constructed. Present day Middle Fen and River Droves would appear to follow ancient ‘tracks’.
*²          Osiers: The fen villages (including Swavesey) were a farming and market growing area.  There was plenty of local demand for baskets and ‘skips’. The baskets made light-weight containers for harvesting  fruit, potatoes and many domestic uses.  The “osiers” proved ideal for growing the willows which were cut back to sprout the thin stems required.

Acknowledgements:-
1.         “History on Your Doorstep” by J.R. Ravensdale (1982);
2.         “Fen and Marshland Villages” by Anthony Day;
3.         Guide to Swavesey’s Public Rights of Way leaflet;
4.         “The Observer’s Book of Birds”
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