Landwade
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Landwade is an ancient parish in the Staploe Hundred of Cambridgeshire, adjacent to the border with Suffolk. It lies four miles north of Newmarket. One of the smallest parishes in the county, it is only ⅔ mile from north to south and at most ½ mile from east to west.
The village is crossed by the New River (formerly known as Monk's Lode), a small river that flows through Wicken Fen and reaches the River Cam at Upware. The village's name probably derives in part from gewaed, an Old English word meaning "ford".[1]
History
The area around Landwade was occupied in Roman times, and a villa was situated just to the south of the modern parish.[1]
Although it has existed since early mediæval times, the parish of Landwade has always been comparatively small. The civil parish was amalgamated with that of Fordham, Cambridgeshire in 1954, though it now forms part of the Suffolk parish of Exning.[1]
Parishes of its size were often absorbed in the Middle Ages, but Landwade survived thanks to the rebuilding of the church by Walter Cotton (d. after 1434), Lord of the Manor, in the 15th century to serve as a burial place for his family. The Manor of Landwade had passed to Sir Thomas Cotton, Knt., of Cotton Hall, Cambs., by virtue of his marriage to Alice, daughter and heiress of John Hastings, Lord of the Manor of Landwade in the 14th century.[2] Landwade Hall, a large house that was partially destroyed by bombs during the Second World War, was the ancestral home of the Cotton family until they moved to Madingley in the 18th century.
Church
The church of St Nicholas is privately owned and located in the grounds of Landwade Hall. Built in the mid 15th century by Walter Cotton, the church contains fine memorials to members of the Cotton family.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely". Victoria County History. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18943.
- ↑ Clay, John W., F.S.A., editor, The Visitation of Cambridge, 1575 & 1619 by Henry St.George, Richmond Herald, London, 1897, p.21.
Outside links
- Location map: 52°17’10"N, -0°22’60"E