St Mary’s Church, Godmanchester, Huntingdonshire, England
Image by Billy Wilson Photography
Grade I listed historic church constructed the later portion of the Middle Ages. The half-timbered building to the left is grade II listed and constructed likely in the 1600’s.
"Godmanchester is a village and civil parish in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, in England. Within the parish, its buildings are concentrated at the north end, including a section of the south-to-east bank of the River Great Ouse facing the large Portholme flood-meadow at the south end of the town of Huntingdon. The urban-to-suburban core of the area is entirely south of the A14 arterial road.
The village is on the site of the Roman town of Durovigutum. There is archaeological evidence of Celtic and earlier habitation prior to the establishment of a key Roman town and a Mansio (inn), so the area has probably been continuously occupied for more than 2,000 years. The settlement was at a crossroads of Roman roads Ermine Street, the Via Devana (from Cambridge, between Colchester and Chester) and a military road from Sandy, Bedfordshire. The Roman settlement was sacked by Anglo-Saxons in the third century. In contrast to Huntingdon, archaeological finds have been extensive in the centre of Godmanchester, which has two conservation areas of early recognition, including many timber-framed Tudor houses, the largest being Tudor Farm, dating from 1600 and restored in 1995.
The Roman castra is mentioned in Godmanchester’s name, which comes from Anglo-Saxon Godmundceaster, referring to a Roman fortified place or army camp of/belonging to Godmund, a typically Saxon name. The location is likely to have been originally settled due to the gravel beds providing a ford across the River Great Ouse.
The place was listed as Godmundcestre in the Domesday Book of 1086 in the Hundred of Leightonstone in Huntingdonshire. The survey records that there were 26 ploughlands, with capacity for a further 31 and, in addition to the arable land, there were 160 acres (65 hectares) of meadows, 50 acres (20 hectares) of woodland and three water mills, a church and a priest.
The village was the first chartered by King John in 1212, though it had been a market town and royal manor for some years.
In 2003, Godmanchester had a population of about 5,500 in 3,500 homes, with the largest increase in population occurring between 1981 and 1991 (81%) and more modest growth since." – info from Wikipedia.
Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.
Now on Instagram.
