A double sided sign (the other was in heavy shade, so no photo), both showing a rural scene. The Haddenham Great Mill which is undergoing restoration is shown on this side.

A Steam Rally is held each year in Haddenham, emphasising the rural nature of the area.

Haddenham on Wikipedia
Haddenham Web Site
Holy Trinity, Haddenham
Holy Trinity, Haddenham
Haddenham Station (LNER)
Haddenham Roll of Honour

Haddenham, OS Grid Ref: TL 463 754

A double-sided sign, the view above commemorates St Pandionia who, after her chastity was threatened, is said to have taken refuge in the nunnery of Eltisley where she adopted the religious life and was eventually canonised for her virtue. She died in the convent, and was buried by a well called St. Pandionia’s Well. Her body was removed into Eltisley church in the year 1344.

Robert Palmer, vicar in 575, destroyed a well in the churchyard, presumed to be St. Pandionia’s well.

The other side of the sign shows a more typical village scene of cricket being played on the green.

Eltisley on Wikipedia
Eltisley – British History Online
Eltisley Roll of Honour
Six Villages – Eltisley
Eltisley Local History Initiative
Church of SS Pandionia & John the Baptist

Eltisley, OS Grid Ref: TL 270 597

Earith is situated on the northerly banks of the Great Ouse River at the junction of the Old West River and the Old and New Bedford Rivers, and this connection with the local waterways is depicted in the motifs on the sign.

The two townships of Bluntisham and Earith, a mile apart on the A1123, form one ecclesiastical parish. Evidence of Neolithic and Roman habitation has been found in the area, including a small bronze statue (8 1/2 inches high) found in nearby Bury Fen in 1826. The statue is now in the British Museum.

Keeping time by the crows: Oral history from Earith, Bluntisham and Colne

Earith on Wikipedia
Earith – British History Online
Earith Roll of Honour
Camra Pub Walk

Earith, OS Grid Ref:TL 383 748

This sign almost looks like an oil painting, depicting 4 different rural scenes of old. The name of the village actually doesn’t stand out as much as appears in the picture above, when looked at head-on, it’s almost invisible! Driving past in the car, I almost missed this one as I assumed it was a pub sign at first glance.

Cottenham village plan

Community web site
Cottenham Newsletter
Cottenham Parish Council
Cottenham on Wikipedia
Roll of Honour
All Saints Church
British History Online

Cottenham OS Grid ref: TL 449 677

The parish of Holywell-cum-Needingworth lies on the north bank of the River Ouse near the old boundary between Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire. To the east, the Greenwich Meridian passes through a corner of the parish.

The village of Holywell itself developed by the river as a traditional ring village which takes its name from the ancient spring which can still be seen in the churchyard. This was surmounted by a stone canopy in 1845 and was originally credited with healing properties. Each year in June there is a well dressing to celebrate the Church Patronal Festival.

As river traffic declined, the prosperity of Holywell as a trading centre diminished and the hamlet of Needingworth began to develop alongside the road which linked St Ives with Ely. Needingworth steadily developed until it became the larger of the two settlements.

Between Holywell and Needingworth, there was an old post windmill, and part of this road is still called Mill Way. The stones which may be seen both outside Mill Bungalow and in Holywell are still owned by the Parish.

The village sign was erected in September 1996 to mark the 75th anniversary of Needingworth WI. Funds were raised by the WI who commissioned the sign. It now belongs to the parish council.

The sign was made by Richard Bateman of Warboys, and depicts various facets of village life:

• The annual dressing of the Holy Well
• The Lock-Up
• A Mill Stone
• Cornfields and orchard representing the agricultural links of the parish.

Looking back on a village, 1875-1975: Holywell cum Needingworth
Focus on Holywell-cum-Needingworth: Images of a Village

Holywell-cum-Needingworth Parish Council
Holywell-cum-Needingworth – HuntsDC
St John the Baptist Church
The Holy Well

Holywell-cum-Needingworth OS Grid Ref: TL 340 722

Whaddon derives from ‘Wheat Hill’, is mentioned in the Domesday book and very likely predates that document by some considerable time.

The village sign was erected in 1994, at which time it was quite brightly painted. I’m not sure what happened for it to appear in the state shown above. The sheaf of corn represents wheat hill; the dinosaur, the local coprolite industry; the fountain, the springs (of there were once 13 in the area!); the oak branch, the Whitsun tradition. There is a good history of Whaddon on the village web site.

Whaddon Village web site

Whaddon St Mary

Whaddon Village OS Grid Ref: TL 348 462

A wonderful cartoon dragon, signifying Pendragon Hill to the north of the village, is the main motif on this sign. The sign was first erected in 1988, but by 2002 was in a sorry state being heavily waterlogged and suffering from surface damage caused by frost and general weathering. This resulted in peeling paint and exposed bare wood. The sign was restored early in 2003 after being carefully dried out and sealed.

Papworth Everard straddles the old Roman Road or Ermine street, and a settlement has been here since Saxon times.

In 1918, the Cambridgeshire Tuberculosis Colony, consisting of 17 patients, moved from the nearby village of Bourn into Papworth Hall, which was vacant at the time. The Papworth Colony rapidly expanded. At Papworth, the aim was to rehabilitate sufferers by arresting their disease, giving them appropriate work, and by allowing their families to come and live in the village with them. Papworth ultimately offered free medical care, excellent housing, schools, recreation and a chance for the TB patient to rebuild their life. In the late 1940’s, the hospital became the East Anglian centre for chest and heart medicine. Papworth was one of the very first hospitals in the country to successfully undertake open-heart surgery.

Papworth Everard Parish Council

St Peter’s Church

Papworth Everard OS Grid Ref TL 287 625

The local church of St Mary’s features prominently, above scenes of rural life. The church is unspectacular, having been largely rebuilt on the 1800’s.

The racehorse Golden Miller also features on the sign, having been trained locally. Owned by the legendary Dorothy Padgett, Golden Miller was to chalk up a remarkable five successive victories in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The first of these wins came in the 1932 season when Golden Miller was just five years old. Better was to follow in 1934, when still at just seven years of age he won both the Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same season.

Longstowe, St Mary

Longstowe Village OS Grid Ref: TL 309 552

The sign in Hilton is located by a bus stop on the B1040.

The village’s main attraction is a turf maze built (by a William Sparrow) in the 1660’s on the green near to St Mary Magdalene church. A memorial to Mr Sparrow sits at the centre of the maze. The church dates mainly to the 14th or 15th century, though some parts are as old as 12thC.

At one time ‘Capability’ Brown, the famous landscape gardener, was Lord of the Manor here, so may have had a hand in the layout of the village.

Laying as it does on the edge of the fens,  there is always plenty of waterin the various ponds in the village, which at times spill over creating a deep ford in the road. Willows are in abundance.

Hilton History

Hilton Village OS Grid Ref: TL 289 661

This sign is situated on the now much-dimished green (a small patch of grass on a road junction). A honey skip (beehive) and rookery are depicted, whilst the lower half of the sign refers to the fact that the village is well supplied with excellent water, derived from many artesian wells and springs in the area.

The name of the village is said to derive, along with other nearby villages, from the hunting exploits of Queen Elizabeth I – Hares Town, Foxes Town and Hawk’s Town. However, an alternate theory suggests that the name has a Saxon origin.

The mainly 14thC All Saints Church was extensively restored in the mid-1800s.

Harston Parish Council

Harston, All Saints

Harston Village – OS Grid Ref TL 422 507