Sawtry

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Map sources for Sawtry at grid reference TL168836

Sawtry is a village in the district of Huntingdonshire in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. The village is home to over 5,000 people.

1 Location
2 Facilities and Amenities
3 History
4 External links

[edit] Location

Sawtry is at the westernmost edge of the Fens, halfway between the city of Peterborough and the town of Huntingdon. Other nearby villages include Alconbury, Holme, Yaxley, and Stilton. Being situated in close proximity to the A1(M), it is a sought-after location for commuters. It is approximately six miles north of the A14, and a fifty-minute car drive from both Stansted Airport and Luton Airport.

[edit] Facilities and Amenities

Sawtry has two public houses: The Bell [1] and The Greystones [2]. It also has a very good Ex-Services and Working Men's Club [3] It has an Infant school and a Junior school; and a Community college (User page) which educates many young people from nearby villages as well as Sawtry itself.

The village also has a recently upgraded Leisure centre, containing a public swimming pool, gym and football pitches, as well as an artificial Astroturf pitch. There is also a row of shops in the centre of the Village: a Newsagents, a vet, a Fish and Chip shop, a Bookmaker, a Hairdresser and a Hardware store (now closed). There is also a Co-op and Post Office. There are 3 Hairdressers in Sawtry.

[edit] History

During the dark ages, Sawtry was divided into three 'Sawtries' - the 3 parishes of All Saints, St. Andrew and St. Judith.

Sawtry originally got its name from the fact that it was a trading centre for salt, an essential commodity in the Middle Ages. There was also a Cistercian monastery founded in 1147 by Simon de Senlis. It took 98 years to complete and ministered to the local area both spiritually and physically at the hospital. This was demolished in 1540 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries as part of the English Reformation, although traces of the Abbey still remain.[4]

Sawtry is twinned with the Gemeinde Weimar region in Germany.