St Neots, historically in Huntingdonshire, is one of the largest towns in Cambridgeshire, England, after the cities of Cambridge and Peterborough. There is evidence of very early occupation in the area. In Roman times a fortified settlement was established, and present-day Eynesbury in particular became important, in addition to scattered settlements west of the River Great Ouse. A holy man named Saint Neot had died about the year 877 AD and his relics were held for a century in a parish in Cornwall. About 974 AD a Priory was established in the northern part of Eynesburydowner took the relics of Saint Neot from the Cornish church and conveyed them to Eynesbury. This brought fame to the Eynesbury Priory, and gradually that part of the town became known as St Neots.
After the Norman Conquest the Priory was passed from the monastery at Ely to being a dependent branch of the Norman Abbey of Bec, and it grew in importance until the Dissolution of the Monasteries, when the Priory was destroyed and Neot's relics lost.
The importance of the town increased greatly in the early nineteenth century, when stage coach travel to the north of England became important. Eaton Socon was on the Great North Road and many coaches used inns there to change and stable horses, and to refresh passengers - four such coaching inns are still operating today as public houses. Some of the coaches travelled through St Neots as well, as did others on an east-to-west trajectory from Cambridge. The river too brought much trade to the towns. When the railway opened in 1850, St Neots had a wayside station, but the stage coach trade and the river traffic slumped, causing for a time a loss of prosperity in the area, though that was later regained.
After 1945 a considerable expansion of the housing stock took place as part of a national scheme named London overspill, designed to transfer London residents away from slum housing. The housebuilding programme continued sporadically under other names, and accelerated in the twenty-first century.
The county boundary between Huntingdonshire and Bedfordshire had been the River Great Ouse, but in 1965 the districts of Eaton Ford and Eaton Socon were brought into St Neots. Huntingdonshire was abolished (as a county-level unit - it continues to be a District Council) and replaced by Cambridgeshire in 1974.
This history article covers the modern urban area of St Neots, which includes Eaton Ford, Eaton Socon and Eynesbury.
Before the Romans There were probably small settlements in St Neots, Eynesbury and Eaton Socon in the Neolithic period, which lasted until about 1,700 BC. The Bronze Age followed, and more evidence of settlement has been found, including an axe head and evidence of a large building, possibly a temple, has been found in Eaton Ford near the Crosshall Road junction.Rosa Young, St Neots Past, Phillimore and Co Ltd, London, 1996, , pages 1 to 4 Polished stone axes and beaker pottery of the early Bronze Age have been discovered in Eynesbury.C F Tebbutt, St Neots: the History of a Huntingdonshire Town, Philimore & Co, Chichester, corrected reprint 1984, , page 5
Archaeological excavations in the area now occupied by the Love's Farm houses, exposed the remains of a Bronze Age field system dating from around 1,500 BC. An agricultural community occupied the site for over 700 years from at least 200 BC to around the 5th or 6th centuries AD. From the Iron Age until the Romano-British period, and the Early Saxon period, successive generations lived on this land, improving drainage, growing new crops, managing livestock, and adding enclosures, buildings, roads and monuments.The Archæology of Love's Farm, St Neots, St Neots Museum, 2017 at
There is also evidence for Iron Age settlement, and a pit containing pottery was found in the grounds of what is now Ernulf Academy. People of the later iron age made a settlement near Howitts Lane.Tebbutt, pages 6 to 7
This pre-Roman activity altered the natural landscape quite markedly, mostly through the felling of timber to clear fields and construct buildings.
The Roman period
During the Roman period (43-410 AD) the Eynesbury settlement was extended towards the River Great Ouse, while staying above the level of the flood plain. A large Roman camp existed at the Conygeare area of Eynesbury.S Inskip Ladds, Ancient Earthworks in A History of the County of Huntingdon, part 7, edited by William Page and Granville Proby, in the Victoria History of Huntingdon, the St Catherine Press, London, 1926, pages 284 and 285
Sites of at least two houses with hypocaust central heating have been located in this area. It is possible that agricultural produce was loaded here on to river transport for shipment down river, perhaps to supply food for the Roman army in the north by coastwise transport.
In addition Eynesbury had good road communications in Roman times. A road from Sandy to Godmanchester passed not far to the east, and there was a branch to Eynesbury. It is marked on present-day Ordnance Survey maps. A present-day footpath leading from Duck Lane towards Wintringham is on the line of a metalled Roman footpath, and pottery has been found near it.Young, pages 5 to 8
Anglo-Saxon and Viking period The Romans left Britain between 446 AD and 454 AD, and new occupiers came in, chiefly the Angles and the Saxons. They subdued, or drove out, the indigenous population and established a system of local government in which the area was divided into hundreds, which may refer to an area containing one hundred families. The areas east of the River Great Ouse belonged to Toseland Hundred, and the western area to Barford Hundred.Young, pages 9 to 13
A Saxon chieftain called Ernulf (or Eynulf, or Aynulf) took over the Roman encampment near the river crossing at Coneygeare and the area became known as Eanulfsbyrig, meaning Ernulf's fort. Later that became Einulfesberie, and then Eynesbury. St Neots did not exist as a separate place yet, and was simply part of Eynesbury.
To the west of the river, an Anglo-Saxon leader took control of a village near the water's edge, probably opposite the Coneygeare, and this was called Ea-tun, meaning waterside-village. Another settlement a little further north was called Forda, and later simply Ford. A further small settlement was on the hilltop near the Duloe windmill, and was then called Sudbury, meaning the southern fort.
Everyday objects have been found such as the clay weights used in weaving, broken pieces of pottery, a quern-stone, a plough share, and an iron axe. Burials from the period contained other objects such as a sword, spears, pagan brooches, and a knife.Young, page 15
Throughout this period the River Great Ouse was much wider and shallower than at present, with ill-defined banks. This made fording the river possible with care, and by choosing a dryer period to do so.
Christianity Although Christianity had been practised during the Roman period, the majority of the population were pagan. This was a situation disapproved of by the Pope, and in 597 AD he sent Augustine with some support, to re-convert the people. Augustine's work - alongside the mission from Iona via Lindisfarne - 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, while at Great Paxton on the east bank, another church served an area including the present-day St Neots and Eynesbury. Later in Saxon times Eynesbury built its own church.
A priory and Saint Neot
About 972 AD an Anglo-Saxon landowner named Leofric (or Alric) and his wife Leoflaed founded a small monastery in Eynesbury (at that time known as Ernulph's Bury. The settlement was established at the junction of Huntingdon Street and Cambridge Street.Wickes, page 58 However Leofric and Leoflaed built their priory near the river, adjacent to the present-day Priory Lane, St Neots.St Neots Conservation Area Character Assessment, Huntingdonshire District Council, October 2006, page 8The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Huntingdonshire, St Catherine Press, 1926, reprinted by the University of London, 1974, page 385
The Priory had the potential to generate considerable income from the visits and donations of pilgrims, but to attract pilgrims they needed relics. Leofric decided to obtain the remains of Saint Neot, a much-revered Saxon monk who had spent much of his life in Cornwall. He had died in about 875 AD and been buried there. The present day village in Cornwall is known as St Neot. Leofric arranged to abstract Neot's bones, bringing them to his Priory. This had the desired effect and the Priory became a major centre of attention for pilgrims.Young, page 18
According to Gorham, the name of the locality near the Priory was changed to Neotsbury about 974 AD.Gorham adds, "Neotsbury, however, appears to have been rather the classical than the trivial name of this town; it was still, popularly, called Eynesbury".G C Gorham, The History and Antiquities of Eynesbury and St Neot's in Huntingdonshire and of St. Neot's in the County of Cornwall, Harding, Mavor and Lepard, London, 1824, page 138; [apostrophes in the town names are printed in the book]
In 1765, a 12th century reliquary was discovered at Old Hall Place on Church Street. It is known as the Becket Casket and depicts the murder of the archbishop. While it is unknown how it came to be in the town, it is most likely linked to the town Priory. As an exemplary showcasing of the Limoges enamel technique, this reliquary is now located in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Viking incursion In the late 10th and early 11th centuries, Viking raiders from Denmark started to occupy areas inland from their established coastal territories; they rowed longboats up the River Great Ouse, attacking religious houses to plunder their treasure; as pagans they held no qualms about the practice. It is likely that the Priory was destroyed by the Danes in about 1010 AD. As a precaution, St Neot's bones had been sent to Crowland Abbey in Lincolnshire for safe-keeping from the invaders. Neot's remains were brought back to the Priory in Eynesbury in 1020.Gorham, pages 60 to 65
Takeover by the Normans
In 1066 AD, William, Duke of Normandy launched an invasion of southern England, and defeated English forces at the Battle of Hastings. The resulting subjugation of the Anglo-Saxon indigenous people is referred to as the Norman Conquest. The Normans found their subject population to be a multiracial mix of Celts, Angles, Saxons and Danes. At Eaton, on the west side of the river, the local chieftain 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 contained two water mills, a church and a priest; there were 38 villein families, seven smallholders and eight tied labourers.
On the east side of the river, there were two manors in Eynesbury: the southern manor was about the same size as Eaton, with about 42 houses and a church. These villagers kept sheep rather than pigs (as at Eaton) and they too had watermills. The northern community had about 25 houses, and it enjoyed fishing rights in the river as well as having a mill. In addition it had the Priory with its relics of Saint Neot, carrying considerable added prestige and income.
Local Norman control consolidated