Eaton Socon is a district of St Neots, in the civil parish of St Neots, in the Huntingdonshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England, 1.4 miles south-west of St Neots town centre. Eaton Socon is a component of the town of St Neots, located on its south-west margin. Eaton Socon lies on the west side of the River Great Ouse, and is bounded on the west by the A1 road and on the south by the A428 road (St Neots by-pass). On the north side Duloe Brook delineates the boundary with Eaton Ford, which is also part of St Neots.
Much of Eaton Socon is given over to residential use, but there is a large area dedicated to light industry and trade distribution activities. There are also several public houses and inns, and a retail park.
In the days of stagecoach travel, Eaton Socon was a major stop on the journey from London to the North, with inns providing refreshments and overnight accommodation for travellers, and feed and rest facilities for horses. Some stage coaches diverted through St Neots, but the majority continued on the Great North Road.
Eaton Socon was originally in Bedfordshire but it was merged with St Neots in 1965 and is now in Cambridgeshire. Its housing grew and its population more than doubled: 2,240 in 1931 to 3,264 in 1961, and now (2020) 9,042.
The name Eaton Socon comes from Ea-tun (waterside settlement) and soke (local government area in Norman times).
Eaton Socon in the present Eaton Socon is an area of housing, forming part of St Neots. Lying on the west side of the town, and between the River Great Ouse and the A1 trunk road. It is aligned on the north–south axis, formed by the original Great North Road (now designated B1428). General shopping and travel-to-work patterns have merged over recent decades, so that for many practical purposes Eaton Socon is simply a part of St Neots.
The Little End Industrial Estate is home to a range of light industrial units, at the southern end of Eaton Socon; on the other side of the Great North Road is the Quora Industrial Estate and a retail park. There are three discount supermarkets in this area as well as a large do-it-yourself store and some specialist retail businesses.
Towards the north end of Eaton Socon, there is a medium-sized Co-op supermarket on the Old Great North Road.
Bushmead Primary School is within Eaton Socon.
Just down the Mill Hill and close to nearby Eaton Ford, there is a scout hut, named Eaton Socon Scout Hut, that hosts activities for their scouts and hosts St Neots Children's Karate Academy, a branch of karate company Fusion Martial Arts and many more activities.
History
Early history There were probably a few scattered settlements around Eaton Socon in the Neolithic period.Rosa Young, St Neots Past, Phillimore and Co Ltd, London, 1996, ISBN 1-86077-025-8, page 3 The first definite record reports that an Anglo-Saxon leader took control of a village near the river near Duloe Brook, and this was called Ea-tun, meaning waterside-village. Another settlement a little further north was called Forda, and later simply Ford.Young, page 10
In this time period, the river was wider and shallower than it is currently, in dryer seasons it was possible to ford it.Young, page 1
The majority of the population were pagan, and the Pope sent Augustine in 597 AD, to impose Christianity. Augustine's work was successful and a hundred years later most of East Anglia was Christian. A mother church was built in Eaton to serve as a focus for a large area on the west bank of the Great Ouse.Young, page 15
The Norman Conquest
The local landholder at Eaton at the time of the Norman Conquest was Ulmar, a thegn (or thane) and he was superior to two sokemen; the soke was a subsidiary area of land and control. In time the area became known as Soka de Eton by 1247 AD. In 1645 it was known as Eton cum Soca, and in the nineteenth century this had become Eaton Socon.Young, page 20
The manor of Eaton included two water mills, a church and a priest; there were 38 villein families, seven smallholders and eight tied labourers. The manor of Eaton was allocated at first to Lisois de Moutiers, but by the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 it had been transferred to Eudo Dapifer; he was a steward in the Royal household, and therefore an extremely important person, bringing prestige to Eaton.Young, page 21
In this period the Priory at St Neots, at the time still considered part of Eynesbury, was gaining in importance because of the presence of the relics of Saint Neot, an important and famous holy man. Eventually that part of Eynesbury became known as St Neots as a result. At the same time a small religious house was established in Eaton Socon. William of Colmworth and a group of monks, not affiliated to any particular order, was given a site at Bushmead by Hugh de Beauchamp, who had his base in Bedford, in about 1195. After 1215 the site became an Augustinian priory, but it never rivalled the prestige of the St Neots priory.Young, page 27
Eaton Socon Castle
Hugh de Beauchamp built a castle in present-day Eaton Socon around 1140. It was probably of timber construction with earthworks and may never have been completed, but the earth mound still exists. It is a scheduled monument referred to as The Hillings. The castle was built during a period of civil war over the succession to the throne. Matilda was the heir to King Henry I but a faction of barons supported King Stephen. In the civil war that followed several fortified positions were quickly thrown up, in support of Stephen. One of these was Eaton Socon Castle. Stephen's supporters won and he was installed as king. When he died in 1154, Matilda's son Henry succeeded as King Henry II. One of his first acts was to order the demolition of the castles, which were referred to as adulterine.Young, page 29
Some habitable accommodation must have remained, and was occupied in the 13th century by a Lady Juliana de Beauchamp. Notwithstanding its demolition, the castle and the remaining residential occupation conferred considerable prestige on Eaton. Only an earth mound remains at the present day.
Turnpikes and stage coaches The roads that were adequate for static populations in the sixteenth century were becoming a hindrance to the commercial progress. By 1700 a few turnpikes had been set up: a turnpike was a toll road: the toll income was used to improve and maintain the road surface. The tolls were resented by people who had formerly used the road for nothing.
Eventually local Acts of Parliament were passed to enable turnpike trusts to manage sections of road. In 1725 a Trust was established to manage the Great North Road between Biggleswade and Alconbury.Young, pages 65 and 66
Improved roads meant more travelling and the number of coaches and carriages passing through St Neots and Eaton Socon increased. It was during the 18th century that road travel reached its zenith, when the stagecoach was introduced. Teams of horses were changed at intervals of 10 or 12 miles, known as stages, enabling the coach to keep going, stopping only for the change, and for meal stops. Coaching inns along the line of route arranged the feed and rest of the horses and had them ready at the specified time for the next run by the same coach operator. Overnight accommodation was provided, as in general any long transit took several days, although some coaches continued through the night. Feed for the horses was the largest expense for the operator.Dorian Gerhold, Bristol's Stage Coaches, Hobnob Press, Salisbury, 2012, ISBN 978 1 906978 15 0, page 173
By 1754 coaches were travelling from London as far as Edinburgh. At the height of stagecoach activity there were 20 coaches passing through Eaton Socon daily, "some of them going straight up the Great North Road after changing horses at The White Horse and others taking the loop through St Neots. At The Cross Keys Inn mail was collected as well as passengers".
The routes converged again at Alconbury Hill with stagecoaches using the Old North Road, the stretch from there to Norman Cross was the busiest length of road in England. Stagecoaches passed along this section at the rate of one every 20 minutes day and night, and the Bell Inn at Stilton, where teams of horses were changed, had stabling for over 300 horses.Young, page 88
The carriage of goods was by river, and the River Great Ouse was navigable up to Eaton Socon. Some medium distance goods transport was by stage cart, or by pack horse.
The Cock Inn The Cock Inn stood to the north of Eaton Socon Green, between the church and the corner of Peppercorn Lane. It was a large, elegant building of brick with a clay-tiled roof, and double bay windows. It was a well-known hostelry in the 18th century, with a reputation for good food. Lord Torrington, writing in his diary in 1794, was very complimentary about it. His bill came to 9s 10d and consisted of 4s for dinners, 1s 3d for wine, 1s 4d for brandy, 4d for beer and 6d for coffee. There was also 1s 9d for servants and 6d for horses. The Cock was a posting house, meaning that horses could be hired there; The Cock was never a stagecoach inn.
The Cock also acted as a meeting place for official business. In a letter recorded in Letters to William Frend, Mr Reynolds of Paxton Hall tells of "a very full meeting of the Commissioners of Biggleswade Turnpike Road at The Cock Inn, Eaton" in 1800, where the builder of Hail Heston bridge was reprimanded "for his neglect in repairing the breach caused by the flood".
The Cock Inn disappeared some time in the 1920s, although its signboard is said to have survived a few years longer.Rosa Young, The Cock Inn, Eaton Socon, St Neots Local Historical Magazine, No 2, published by St Neots Local History Society, Spring 1983
Reference in Nicolas Nickleby In Dickens' novel Nicolas Nickleby, Squeers and some boys are making their way from London to Yorkshire by stagecoach. They stop at a place named Eton Slocomb, evidently a pseudonym for Eaton Socon:
So the day wore on. At Eton Slocomb there was a coach dinner of which the box, the four front outsides, the one inside, Nicholas, the good-tempered man, and Mr. Squeers partook; while the five little boys were put to thaw by the fire, and regaled with sandwiches.Charles Dickens, Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Chapman and Hall, London, published serially 1838 to 1839, Chapter V. The reference is noted on a blue plaque on the White Horse Public House in Eaton Socon, although there is no presumption that this where Squeers dined.
The Great North Road in 1794 John Byng travelled in the county and wrote a description of his travels:
Sandy Field exhibits the same shew of fertility; To the right, upon the hill, amidst woods, stands the new built seat of Mr. Pym; to the left, over the river, the village of Blunham, the beautiful steeple of its church, and the pretty house of Mrs. C---. At mile 51 you enter Tempsford village -- a little thoroughfare; at the end of which are the grounds and house of Sr. G. P. close to the road, foams the wide River Ouse -- now joined by the Ivell.-- As at Sandy there is a Roman, so here is a Danish camp) The village of Wroxston is on the other side of the river; to which there is a Ford passable when the water is down. -- At 52 there is a long bridge over the River Ouze (an excellent spot for fishing) -- At 53 you come to Wyberson village--; Colmworth Church looks loftily to the left. To the right over the river is seen the church of Little Barford, at 54 you pass by a range of houses called Little End.-- At 55 you enter the large village of Eaton; where are several inns, one, The Cock, much frequented by fox hunters, and a noble church.