Six Mile Bottom
| Six Mile Bottom | |
 St George's Church |
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  Six Mile Bottom |
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| Population | 83 (2006 estimate) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | TL577569 |
| District | South Cambridgeshire |
| Shire county | Cambridgeshire |
| Region | East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CAMBRIDGE |
| Postcode district | CB8 0 |
| Dialling code | 01638 |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
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Coordinates: 52°11′N 0°19′E / 52.19°N 0.31°E
Six Mile Bottom is a hamlet within the parish of Little Wilbraham, near Cambridge in England.
History
In the 1790s the only building at Six Mile Bottom was a paddock run by a stable keeper. In 1802, a sizeable country house was built nearby. Early residents were George and Augusta Leigh, the latter being Lord Byron's half-sister.[1] Their residence is now the Country House Hotel, Paddocks House.[2] There was little additional building until the 1840s, but it grew from there until there were 22 homes housing around 170 people in around 1920, most owned by the Six Mile Bottom estate.[3]
The hamlet derives its name from its distance from the start of Newmarket Racecourse and because it lies in a valley bottom.[4]
According to some local accounts the name also bears witness to a 12 mile horse race (perhaps more of a courtly procession than a race proper) which started in Newmarket and, at the valley bottom, required riders to turn and head North East back to the town. Supposedly the races occurred during the time of King Charles II's regular visits to Newmarket, where he stayed at his Palace. A small incline half way between Six Mile Bottom and Newmarket is known locally as Nine Mile Hill - remarkable in as much as it only has a name when travelling North East (towards Newmarket).
Six Mile Bottom railway station served the village from the 1860s (by the Newmarket and Chesterford Railway) until 1967.[3]
Village life
The hamlet has a pub/restaurant, The Green Man, which also provides accommodation. It has served since the hamlet grew in the early 19th century, but may also be the same inn with stabling for 22 horses that was reported in 1686.[3]
There was at one time a small school, reopened as a community centre in 1975. Christian services were held in the village's school from the 1890s to the 1920s. The brick-and-flint mission church of St George was built in 1933.[5][3]
Transport
There is no public transport. The previous station, on the Cambridge to Ipswich line, was at Six Mile Bottom. It is now a private residence.
Gallery
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The Green Man public house
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The old railway station
References
- ↑ Fraistat, Neil; Jones, Steven E.; Stahmer, Carl (eds.). The Byron Chronology: 1814-1816. University of Maryland, College Park. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
- ↑ "History". Swynford Paddocks hotel. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
- 1 2 3 4 Wareham, A F; Wright, A P M (2002). Little Wilbraham, A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely. 10: Cheveley, Flendish, Staine and Staploe Hundreds (north-eastern Cambridgeshire). Victoria County History. pp. 319–321. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ↑ A. D. Mills (2003). "A Dictionary of British Place-Names".
- ↑ Colburtn, Ben; Ynys-Mon, Mark (18 July 2005). "Cambridgeshire Churches: Six Mile Bottom, St George". www.druidic.org. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
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