Relhan Collection : 29 Barton. View of village from Comberton hill

Relhan, Richard, 1782-1844

Relhan Collection

<p style='text-align: justify;'><p>1798</p><p>This view from the open fields to N of the village is a remarkable record of this quiet scene before the Enclosure Award of 1840. Relhan shows the curving strips of the open arable fields that once limited development in towns and villages, separated by grassy balks and ending in a substantial balk that could be used as a footpath or bridleway for easy access to the whole parish; the horse rider is presumably on the footpath to Coton which is still marked on OS and is a popular walk today. The moated manor site lies E of the church. Apart from new houses along Cambridge Road the land is still used for arable agriculture but the fields are now generally rectangular and farmed separately, divided by solid Enclosure hedges. The village itself is grouped around the church and green and along roads into the centre. The population was reckoned at 219 at this time, and was still a modest 846 in 2011. A view of the church is still possible from Comberton Road but is masked by trees and a strip of housing N of Fen Road. The church tower may still be made out in the mist to the right of the photograph.</p></p>