Trumpington, Cambridgeshire

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Trumpington is a village within the boundaries of the city of Cambridge, UK, of which it is effectively a suburb. It's located on the south-west side of the city and borders Cherry Hinton to the east, Grantchester to the west and Great Shelford and Little Shelford to the south-east.

There is strong evidence of both Iron Age and Roman settlements in Trumpington. By 1085 there was a thriving community meriting inclusion in the Domesday Book. Until the beginning of the 20th century Trumpington was an agricultural village with herds of cattle and flocks of sheep as well as a wide range of crops. [1]

Trumpington's long association with agriculture was extended still further in 1955, when the Plant Breeding Institute (PBI) – originally founded in 1912 as part of the University of Cambridge's School of Agriculture – moved to a site adjoining Maris Lane in Trumpington. Here the PBI developed a number of new plant varieties, notably the potatoes called Maris Piper and Maris Peer, and a variety of barley called Maris Otter. These varieties are now in use worldwide and are regarded as exceptionally good examples of their kind. In 1990 the PBI relocated to Colney, near Norwich but the reference to the Maris Lane site survives in the names of those plant varieties developed there.

The War Memorial in the village was designed and carved by the celebrated sculptor Eric Gill, who also designed and carved the crocodile on the wall of the Cavendish Laboratory. The War Memorial was dedicated on Sunday 11 December 1921 to commemorate the thirty-six Trumpington men who died in the First World War. The Second World War claimed the lives of eight more local men: their names were added to the memorial by David Kindersley, a pupil of Eric Gill.

The parish church of St Mary and St Michael is the resting place of Henry Fawcett, the blind academic and politician who, as Postmaster General (1880-1884), introduced parcel post, postal orders and other innovations. The local primary school is named Fawcett School after him. The church also contains the brass of Sir Roger de Trumpington, a crusader knight who died in 1289; it is said to be the second oldest brass in England.

The BBC journalist Bridget Kendall grew up in Trumpington and attended the Perse School for Girls.