Although fragments of pottery and other such remains have been found which indicate human activity in the area as far back as the Stone Age period, the first written reference to the Parish of Buckden occurs in the Domesday Book. This was a written survey carried out in 1086 and was an attempt to register the wealth of the country to determine the revenues due to William I. From the Domesday Book it is found that Buckden was held by the Bishop of Lincoln for the King. There are problems in translation and interpretation but a modern version of the entry for the medieval village of Buckden is:(1,2)

 

“Manor in Buckden the Bishop of Lincoln had 20 hides taxable. Land for 20 ploughs. Now in lordship 5 ploughs; 37 villagers and 20 smallholders who have 14 ploughs. A church and a priest. 1 mill, 30s; meadow, 84 acres; woodland pasture 1 league long and 1 league wide. Value before 1066 £20; now £16 10s.” (2)

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The village of ‘Bugden’ on John Speed’s map of Huntingdon,1610.

 

 

Over the years there have been a number of variants or spellings of the village name including Bucksden, Bugedene, Bugdene, Bugendena, Bokeden and Bugden. Indeed, the present version, although recorded as early as 1279, has only been relatively recently accepted. There are those who still refer to the village as ‘Bugden’. Whatever the spelling, the origin of the word is reasonably certain. ‘Dene’ is the old English word for valley and ‘Bucge’ the name of a person; hence ‘Bucge’s valley’. (2) (Although the stretch of water by the side of the village playing fields is called ‘the valley’, the ‘dene’ referred to is thought to be more likely to be the valley of the Great Ouse.)Two factors helped shape the character of the village. The first was Buckden Palace which was the residence of the Bishop of Lincoln and would have provided many of the villagers with employment and interest down the ages. The second was the Great North Road which used to run through the middle of the village. It was an established main road from London to the North at the time of the Conquest (and, of course, the one used by the Bishops of Lincoln; hence their palace). It was maintained as an important highway throughout the middle ages, and greatly improved by Edward I (1272-1307) who needed it for moving his armies. (2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Early sketch of Buckden Palace

 

In the eighteenth century, new methods of road building made coach travel much more comfortable and fast, and therefore more popular. This brought employment and prosperity to the village as there was a demand for farriers, wheelwrights, corn merchants and, of course hostelries.

 

The introduction of the railways had a dramatic impact on Buckden. In 1854 the ‘History, Gazetteer and Directory of the County of Huntingdon’ said of the village:

 

“…a quiet, insignificant place compared to what it was in coaching times, when the traffic through it was very considerable, but the many railroads which intersect the country have deprived it of its trade and support. Not one coach is now to be seen in the streets of this once bustling village. Signs of this decline in importance are visible everywhere; the most prominent is the large mansion-like inn (the George) now divided into several tenements.” (2)

 

There were two stations that served the village and surrounding area. Nearly two miles east was the Offord and Buckden station on the Great Northern Railway main line to Kings Cross; a mile north was Buckden Station proper on the Kettering to Huntingdon branch of the Midland Railway. Although called Buckden the station was actually in the Parish of Brampton. Buckden station was closed in 1959 and Offord and Buckden in 1962. (1,2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Train approaching the now-demolished Brampton Road bridge adjacent to Buckden Station.

 

The change in Buckden’s fortunes over the last two centuries is reflected in the figures for its population. In 1801 (the first National Census) it was 869. The number rose to 1095 by 1831 and to 1209 by 1841, but fell to around a thousand in 1871 where it remained for the next 90 years or so. It was only in the 1960s that the population started to increase dramatically. (2)

 

Today, Buckden is once again thriving with a population of nearly 3000 people. It has a number of excellent facilities. The Village Hall was built in 1974 and considerably extended in 1999 at a cost of £700,000 to become The Buckden Millennium Community Hall and Sports Centre. The original Village Hall replaced the Rifle Range in Church Street which had provided the previous central venue for social gatherings and meetings. The recreation ground where the Centre is situated was purchased by public subscription as a memorial to those killed in the Second World War and a monument recording this is to be found nearby.

 

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References:

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(1) A History of Huntingdonshire, Michael Wickes (Philimore & Co. Ltd. ISBN:0850339537)

(2) Buckden, S. B. Edgington

 

Map of Buckden (Bugden) and surrounding area from John Speede’s map of Huntingdonshire, 1610. Reproduced by kind permission of The Old Map Company, Sennen Cove, Penzance, Cornwall, TR19 7DF.