Village History

Buckworth is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Buckworth lies approximately 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Huntingdon and covers an area of 2,023 acres.

It is also a part of the hundred called Leightonstone. Buckworth is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well as being a historic county of England.

The village is located on the slope of a hill, in the middle of farmlands and facing northeast. The road crossing Buckworth (Church Road) joins Alconbury and Barham and is the main street of the village.

Middle Ages

According to the Dictionary of British placenames, the name of the parish comes from the “enclosure of a man called Bucc, or where bucks are kept’.

Buckworth was listed in the Domesday Book in the Hundred of Leightonstone in Huntingdonshire; the name of the settlement was written as Buchesworde in the Domesday Book. In 1086 there was just one manor at Buckworth; the annual rent paid to the lord of the manor in 1066 had been £10 and the rent had increased to £13 in 1086.

The Domesday Book does not explicitly detail the population of a place, but it records that there was 25 households at Buckworth, giving an estimate of the population of Buckworth in 1086 within the range of 90 to 125 people.

By 1086 there was already a church and a priest at Buckworth. In 1066 the Lord was Earl Tosti and in 1086 Robert Count of Eu. Concerning agriculture, Buckworth used to be on the route from the north of England to bring animals to the London markets. It was a busy thoroughfare.

The 19th Century

The first Census available for Buckworth is dated in 1801 and at this time the village was composed of 130 inhabitants only. The population had grown consistently until 1880. In the 1881 Census of population, the number of people living in Buckworth was 223, which was the highest so far. Until 1950 the population decreased more or less constantly, and the population’s growth began again at the beginning of the 1950s up to now.

First and Second World Wars

According to a war memorial in All Saints Church, two men died in the First World War, one in Vinny Ridge and the second in Agnez. However, no deaths were registered during the Second World War as nobody from the village was engaged in military defence. During the night of 16 April 1942, five land mines were jettisoned from British aircraft near Brook Lodge Farm. They all exploded but no damages or injuries occurred

The Second World War changed the way of farming in the village. As Great-Britain became dependent on home-grown food, the non-productive land had to be used.

Present Day

Buckworth Industry of Employment – All People, 2001, as rerouted by the Neighbourhood Statistics from 2001.

According to the Neighbourhood Statistics, employment in the parish is no longer only composed of agricultural activities. The number of farmers has decreased massively because of technology. The main sources of employment now include manufacturing, wholesale trade, the retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, real estate, renting and business activities, public administration and defence. Furthermore, a few people are working in the following categories: construction, hotels and catering, financial intermediation, education, health and social work and other.

Buckworth had a population of 181 according to the 2011 census. The parish is now part of the Ellington district ward and the Sawtry county ward. As reported by the Office for National Statistics, the village is “surrounded by inhabited countryside“. Housing types are a mix of detached and semi-detached, which are for the most part owner-occupied or private.

Government

Parish Council

As a civil parish, Buckworth 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.

Buckworth was in the historic and administrative county of Huntingdonshire until 1965. From 1965, the village was part of the new administrative county of Huntingdon and Peterborough. Then in 1974, following the Local Government Act 1972, Buckworth became a part of the county of Cambridgeshire.

Huntingdonshire District Council

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. Huntingdonshire District Council collects the council tax, and provides services such as building regulations, local planning, environmental health, leisure and tourism. Buckworth is a part of the district ward of Ellington and is represented on the district council by one councillor. District councillors serve for four-year terms following elections to Huntingdonshire District Council.

Cambridgeshire County Council

For Buckworth 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. Cambridgeshire County Council consists of 69 councillors representing 60 electoral divisions. Buckworth is a part of the electoral division of Sawtry and Ellington and is represented on the county council by one councillor. County councillors serve for four year terms following elections to Cambridgeshire County Council.

Westminster

At Westminster, Buckworth is in the parliamentary constituency of North West Cambridgeshire and elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.^[27] Buckworth is represented in the House of Commons by Shailesh Vara (Conservative). Shailesh Vara has represented the constituency since 2005.