Yaxley, Cambridgeshire

Yaxley is a village and civil parish in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England.[1] Yaxley lies approximately 4 miles (6 km) south of Peterborough, just off the A15 road. The village is located near the Hampton township, and is approximately three miles northeast of junction 16 of the A1(M) at Norman Cross.

Yaxley
St Peter's Church, Yaxley
Yaxley is located in Cambridgeshire
Yaxley
Yaxley
Location within Cambridgeshire
Population9,409 (2021)
OS grid referenceTL185925
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townPeterborough
Postcode districtPE7
Dialling code01733
PoliceCambridgeshire
FireCambridgeshire
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Cambridgeshire
52°31′N 0°16′W / 52.52°N 0.26°W / 52.52; -0.26
Village sign in Yaxley

History

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Yaxley was listed as Lacheslei in the Domesday Book of 1086 in the Hundred of Norman Cross in Huntingdonshire.[2] In 1086 there was one manor at Yaxley and 39 households.[3]

The Church of England Parish Church of St Peter is a Grade I listed building.[4]

Norman Cross Prison, the earliest known prisoner-of-war camp, was constructed between Yaxley and the villages of Folksworth and Stilton from 1796-97[5] for the purpose of holding captured troops during the French Revolutionary Wars.

Government

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As a civil parish, Yaxley has a parish council. The parish council is elected by the residents of the parish who have registered on the electoral roll; the parish council is the lowest tier of government in England. A parish council is responsible for providing and maintaining a variety of local services including allotments and a cemetery; grass cutting and tree planting within public open spaces such as a village green or playing fields. The parish council reviews all planning applications that might affect the parish and makes recommendations to Huntingdonshire District Council, which is the local planning authority for the parish. The parish council also represents the views of the parish on issues such as local transport, policing and the environment. The parish council raises its own tax to pay for these services, known as the parish precept, which is collected as part of the Council Tax.

Yaxley was in the constituency of Huntingdonshire from 1290 until 1885 and again from 1918 until 1965, with it being part of the constituency of Ramsey during the intermittent years. Prior to this, Yaxley was located within the hundred of Norman Cross within Huntingdonshire from as early as the 10th century. From 1965, the village was part of the new administrative county of Huntingdon and Peterborough. In 1974, following the Local Government Act 1972, Yaxley became a part of the county of Cambridgeshire. Yaxley was represented by the rural district of Norman Cross from 1894 until the district was abolished under the Local Government Act.

The second tier of local government is Huntingdonshire District Council which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and has its headquarters in Huntingdon. Huntingdonshire District Council has 52 councillors representing 29 district wards.[6] Huntingdonshire District Council collects the council tax, and provides services such as building regulations, local planning, environmental health, leisure and tourism.[7] Yaxley is a part of the district ward of Yaxley and Farcet and is represented on the district council by three councillors.[8][6] District councillors serve for four-year terms following elections to Huntingdonshire District Council.

For Yaxley the highest tier of local government is Cambridgeshire County Council which has administration buildings in Cambridge. The county council provides county-wide services such as major road infrastructure, fire and rescue, education, social services, libraries and heritage services.[9] Cambridgeshire County Council consists of 61 councillors representing 59 electoral divisions. Yaxley is part of the electoral division of Yaxley and Farcet and is represented on the county council by one councillor. Councillor Mac McGuire of the Conservatives, who previously represented Sawtry from 1985 to 1992,[10] represented Yaxley from 1997 until his death was announced in January 2024.[11][12] The current councillor is Liberal Democrat Andrew Wood, whom was elected in March 2024.[13][14][15]

Yaxley is in the parliamentary constituency of North West Cambridgeshire,[8] and elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. Yaxley is represented in the House of Commons by Sam Carling (Labour). The previous members of parliament were Brian Mawhinney (Conservative), who represented the constituency between 1997 and 2005, and Shailesh Vara (Conservative), who represented the constituency from 2005 until 2024.

Demography

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Population

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In the period 1801 to 1901 the population of Yaxley was recorded every 10 years by the UK census. During this time the population was in the range of 986 (the lowest was in 1801) and 1,590 (the highest was in 1901).[16]

From 1901, a census was taken every ten years with the exception of 1941 (due to the Second World War). The population at the Census 2011 included Denton.

Parish
1911
1921
1931
1951
1961
1971
1981
1991
2001
2011
2021
Yaxley 1,697 1,792 1,934 2,761 2,690 3,943 5,962 6,922 7,413 9,174 9,409[17]

All population census figures from report Historic Census figures Cambridgeshire to 2011 by Cambridgeshire Insight.[16]

In 2011, the parish covered an area of 3,296 acres (1,334 hectares)[16] and the population density of Yaxley in 2011 was 1781.4 persons per square mile (687.7 per square kilometre).[18]

Transport

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Yaxley was once served by Yaxley and Farcet railway station to the east of the village, but it closed in 1959. Current public transport provision consists of a half-hourly bus route to Peterborough city centre, route 5 operated by Stagecoach East which continues to the suburb of Dogsthorpe.[19]

Sport and leisure

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Yaxley has a Non-League football club Yaxley F.C., which play at Leading Drove. Yaxley also has a number of Rugby League players who play with Cambridge Lions in Cambridge. Denmark's Speedway World Cup winning captain Niels Kristian Iversen is the village's most famous sporting resident.

The Yaxley to Farcet cycleway was replaced after two men were hit by a vehicle and killed on the route.[20]

Notable People

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  • Olinthus Gregory (1774–1841), a mathematician, author and editor; born in Yaxley.[21]
  • Peter Burroughs (born 1947), resided in Yaxley, running a shop and later in life becoming an actor.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 142 Peterborough (Market Deeping & Chatteris) (Map). Ordnance Survey. 2012. ISBN 9780319229248.
  2. ^ Ann Williams; G.H. Martin, eds. (1992). Domesday Book: A Complete Translation. London: Penguin Books. p. 1430. ISBN 0-141-00523-8.
  3. ^ J.J.N. Palmer. "Open Domesday: Place – Yaxley". www. opendomesday.org. Anna Powell-Smith. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  4. ^ Historic England. "Parish Church of St Peter (Grade I) (1274392)". National Heritage List for England.
  5. ^ "Site of the Norman Cross Depot for Prisoners of War, Non Civil Parish - 1006782 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Huntingdonshire District Council: Councillors". www. huntingdonshire.gov.uk. Huntingdonshire District Council. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  7. ^ "Huntingdonshire District Council". www. huntingdonshire.gov.uk. Huntingdonshire District Council. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  8. ^ a b "Ordnance Survey Election Maps". www. ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  9. ^ "Cambridgeshire County Council". www. cambridgeshire.gov.uk. Cambridgeshire County Council. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  10. ^ Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. Cambridgeshire County Council Election Results 1973-2009 (PDF). Plymouth University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2022.
  11. ^ "Tributes after death of Cambridgeshire councillor Mac McGuire". BBC News. 4 January 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  12. ^ Elworthy, John (3 January 2024). "Obituary: Cllr Lawrence 'Mac' McGuire of Cambridgeshire County Council - Peterborough & Cambridgeshire News | CambsNews.co.uk". Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  13. ^ "Lib Dems win by-election at Yaxley and Farcet in Cambridgeshire". BBC News. 22 March 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  14. ^ "Yaxley and Farcet councillor makes villages pledge after win". Peterborough Matters. 25 March 2024. Archived from the original on 24 June 2024.
  15. ^ "Council and committee meetings - Cambridgeshire County Council > Councillors". cambridgeshire.cmis.uk.com. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  16. ^ a b c "Historic Census figures Cambridgeshire to 2011" (xlsx – download). www.cambridgeshireinsight.org.uk. Cambridgeshire Insight. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  17. ^ "Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  18. ^ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Yaxley Parish (E04001754)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics.
  19. ^ https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/Timetables/East/PETERBOROUGH/PB-5_5A-010924.pdf
  20. ^ "Driver charged with causing deaths of two men appears in court". Echo. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  21. ^ "Gregory, Olinthus Gilbert" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 577.
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