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All around St Ives there are historic and pretty villages. Many of them are on the banks of the Great Ouse and many are joined to St Ives by footpaths and cycleways.


Houghton and Wyton
These two riverside villages have many half-timbered cottages of the 16th and 17th centuries. Houghton is famous for its magnificent old watermill, owned by the National Trust. It is open to the public from April to October and visitors can see the restored mill machinery, which is used to grind corn on special milling days.

Royal Air Force Wyton has played an important part in our history. On 3rd September 1939 a reconnaissance aircraft from Wyton flew the RAF's first sortie of the war over Germany and Wyton was later the headquarters of Bomber Command's elite Pathfinder Force.
Watch out how you pronounce these two village names. The first syllables of Houghton and Wyton are spoken as “hoe” and “wit” not “how” and “why”!


The Hemingfords
Across the Ouse from Houghton and Wyton is another pair of historic villages, Hemingford Abbots and Hemingford Grey. Both villages have many old houses but Hemingford Grey can boast one of the oldest continuously inhabited houses in England: the Manor at Hemingford Grey was built about 1150 and later lovingly restored by the writer Lucy Boston. She used it as the setting for her “Green Knowe” books for children.

In the l730s the Manor was the birthplace of “The Beautiful Miss Gunnings”. Reputed the loveliest women in England, the sisters Maria and Elizabeth Gunning both married lords.


Fenstanton and Hilton
To the south of St Ives, Fenstanton has an 18th-century lock-up on its village green and is the last resting place of Capability Brown the famous landscape gardener. He bought Fenstanton and Hilton from the Earl of Northampton and was buried at Fenstanton church when he died in 1783. An earlier resident of Fenstanton was John Howland. He was one of the Pilgrim Fathers who sailed to Massachusetts in the Mayflower in 1620, and is an ancestor of both Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.

Hilton has a beautiful village green with a mysterious maze cut in the turf. Edward Wilson, who died with Captain Scott on his ill-fated expedition to the South Pole, was married in Hilton church.


Holywell and Needingworth
Downstream along the Ouse are two more villages. Holywell is right beside the river and takes its name from an ancient well in the corner of the churchyard. The old village inn, the Ferry Boat, has a resident ghost said to appear every St Patrick's Day. Needingworth was devastated by fire in 1847 and two old fire hooks are still displayed on a wall in the main street.

Whilst every care has been taken in compiling this publication and the statements contained herein are believed to be correct, the publishers and promoters cannot accept responsibility for any inaccuracies. Reproduction of any part of this publication in any format, without permission, is strictly forbidden. Text and photographs by Bob Burn-Murdoch, Curator of the Norris Museum.