Bar Hill
Encyclopedia
Bar Hill is a purpose-built village with a population of 4,000 about 4 miles (7 km) northwest of Cambridge
, England
on the A14 road.
The Prime Meridian
passes just to the west of Bar Hill.
, and the first residents arrived in 1967.
The village grew rapidly and by 1975 there was a population of 1,673 in its 599 homes, though it was only 40% of its intended size. Expansion continued in the 1980s and in 1989 the final house of the original plan was completed, 23 years after building had begun and 15 years after its planned completion. The population was at that time over 5000.
Its name originated from the fact that it was built along an old Roman Road that had a Toll Bar/gate (the "Bar" part) which was used in the local area as the farm's name, Bar Farm. The farm house still remains next to the village school. The toll gate was also located roughly near this building. The village was built on or around one of the many hills in the area, hence the name "Bar Hill". It is accessible on the B1050 road, off A14 exit 29.
(with a large Tesco Extra supermarket as anchor store
), library (in which, unusually, a post office is also located), primary school, multi-denominational church (rebuilt in 1991) and a pub called The Fox. A skate park has been built in the village. There is also a championship 18 hole Golf Course and Hotel. The village also has two fields (one large field known to locals mostly as "The village green" and a smaller field located near the farmhouse) which are used to host sporting events and council events such as the annual village féte.
It has a cycle path to Dry Drayton
, known as The Drift. There is also a footpath that leads to the small village of Lolworth.
Bar Hill was contained with a ring road when it was first developed, but with the expansion and development of the area, it began to spill out across the bounds of the ring road. The "Gleneagles" development overlooks the golf course.
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
on the A14 road.
The Prime Meridian
Prime Meridian
The Prime Meridian is the meridian at which the longitude is defined to be 0°.The Prime Meridian and its opposite the 180th meridian , which the International Date Line generally follows, form a great circle that divides the Earth into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.An international...
passes just to the west of Bar Hill.
History
Planning for the village began in the late 1950s to alleviate the housing shortage in South CambridgeshireCambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
, and the first residents arrived in 1967.
The village grew rapidly and by 1975 there was a population of 1,673 in its 599 homes, though it was only 40% of its intended size. Expansion continued in the 1980s and in 1989 the final house of the original plan was completed, 23 years after building had begun and 15 years after its planned completion. The population was at that time over 5000.
Its name originated from the fact that it was built along an old Roman Road that had a Toll Bar/gate (the "Bar" part) which was used in the local area as the farm's name, Bar Farm. The farm house still remains next to the village school. The toll gate was also located roughly near this building. The village was built on or around one of the many hills in the area, hence the name "Bar Hill". It is accessible on the B1050 road, off A14 exit 29.
Village life
The village has a shopping mallShopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
(with a large Tesco Extra supermarket as anchor store
Anchor store
In retail, an anchor store, draw tenant, anchor tenant, or key tenant is one of the larger stores in a shopping mall, usually a department store or a major retail chain....
), library (in which, unusually, a post office is also located), primary school, multi-denominational church (rebuilt in 1991) and a pub called The Fox. A skate park has been built in the village. There is also a championship 18 hole Golf Course and Hotel. The village also has two fields (one large field known to locals mostly as "The village green" and a smaller field located near the farmhouse) which are used to host sporting events and council events such as the annual village féte.
It has a cycle path to Dry Drayton
Dry Drayton
Dry Drayton is a village and civil parish about 5 miles northwest of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England. It covers an area of .-History:...
, known as The Drift. There is also a footpath that leads to the small village of Lolworth.
Bar Hill was contained with a ring road when it was first developed, but with the expansion and development of the area, it began to spill out across the bounds of the ring road. The "Gleneagles" development overlooks the golf course.
See also
- Cambourne, another, later, planned village in South Cambridgeshire