Arbury Archaeology & History Part 3: Roman Villa Discovered In North Arbury Field

Arbury Archaeology & History Part 3: Roman Villa Discovered In North Arbury Field - And Much More...

What particularly fascinates us about the Arbury habitations is the close proximity of the developments - Iron Age and Roman. These provided part of the impetuous for the 'Arbury 1980' primary schools' project and the 1981 book 'Arbury Is Where We Live!' Part of the earthwork outline, which gave rise to the Arbury name, can still be seen in the course of Ring Fort Road at Orchard Park (originally Arbury Park). King's Hedges, of course, is north of the guided busway, a fifty-eight acre farm.

Archaeologists had an immensely exciting find in a North Arbury barley field in the late 1960s. The field, previously part of the old Manor Farm and, before that, the Arbury/Harborough Meadows, was awaiting development, including King's Hedges School - which actually isn't in the historic King's Hedges area, but in the old Arbury Meadows.

A Roman villa was discovered - apparently ten-roomed, and boasting an underfloor heating system!

But more was to come: further digs revealed other phases of occupation, dating back, it was thought, to the early Iron Age.

The North Arbury barley field discoveries prompted the name of the road - Northfield Avenue.

Below is the 1969 Cambridge News article reporting on the finds in its entirety - it makes fascinating reading. Click on image, then right click, then click on 'open image in new tab' for a readable view, and download if required.

Below: 1900 map of the Arbury district showing fields at the Manor Farm. We have inserted the Guided busway site and Arbury Court for orientation purposes!

Below: the 1900 map again showing the area of the excavations in the historic Arbury district, north and south of Arbury Road. Note: until the late 1970s, Arbury Road ran from Milton Road to the Histon/Cambridge Road.

Below: is the course of Arbury Road based on an ancient iron age track? Habitations in the historic Arbury district, of course, pre-date the origins of Chesterton (which seems an odd thought!).

More Arbury Archaeology and history soon as we examine the reports of archaeologists from Arbury Camp in 1970.

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What Did The Romans Ever Do for Arbury? Jim Smith

Our trusty old Arbury map showing location details before the Manor Farm was established. The red line, inserted by Jim Smith, indicates the course of the Roman road - Akeman Street or the Mere Way. The land north of Arbury Road was the Arbury or Harborough Meadows, Arbury/Harborough furlongs and Arbury Camp, King's Hedges was in its original position, north of the railway (now guided busway) and Arbury Road ran from the Ely/Milton Road to the Histon/Cambridge Road - as it did until the late 1970s. Introduction - by the Arbury Archivists Jim Smith is a local history researcher and a good friend of the Arbury Cambridge Blog. He has been researching Roman finds in the historic Arbury area and has written this article for us. We are most grateful! He follows the adventures of those who scraped away centuries of soil to reveal ancient findings beneath. Of course, as always, we deal with historic Arbury here, not council planners' estates or electoral wards, which are both prone to

Main Streets of Arbury: Campkin Road - Part 1

Left: work begins on Campkin Road in 1961. Numbers 1 and 2 Manor Farm Cottages have been demolished, but the intention is to preserve the old trees lining the old Manor Farm Drive. Right: a similar view in more modern times, with the Arbury Town Park and Campkin Road. In 1982, Campkin Road was described as the 'Hauptstrasse of North Arbury' by local journalist Sara Payne. Ms Payne's Down Your Street local history articles in the Cambridge Weekly News were hugely popular and, for each one, Ms Payne visited a street in Cambridge and talked to the residents, collecting their memories for publication and producing a fascinating series of 'Then and Now' style articles. Down Your Street followed in the footsteps of a similar series in the local press in the early 1960s - by Erica Dimmock - and both now make fascinating reading. We're starting our look at Campkin Road with material from the 'Arbury 1980' project and accounts from locals contributed to t

Exploring The REAL King's Hedges...

The Cambridge and St Ives Branch railway line is now the Guided Busway. Where was King's Hedges historically? How did the name come about? Why is the majority of King's Hedges Road no more historic than late 1970s - and nothing to do with the course of the original road? What have council planners of the 1960s and 1970s and the needs of motorists got to do with the King's Hedges presence in the historic Arbury district? All will be revealed... We're going to leave Arbury briefly and go to King's Hedges. No, not King's Hedges Ward - that area is, in reality, one of the most Arbury of Arbury areas in Cambridge historically, but the REAL King's Hedges. North of the Guided Busway. You see, the land north of Arbury Road is the site of the Arbury Camp, the Arbury/Harborough (a variation on the Arbury name) Meadows and the Arbury fields of Manor Farm. It has absolutely nothing to do with King's Hedges at all. And King's Hedges was never a district. Land no

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