Place:Oakington, Cambridgeshire, England

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Oakington is a small village and civil parish seven miles (11 km) northwest of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England, and belongs to the administrative district of South Cambridgeshire. In 1985 the name of the civil parish was changed to Oakington and Westwick, Westwick being a hamlet within the parish.

Oakington is located on a low-lying ridge just over a mile to the northeast of the former Roman road Via Devana (now the A14 major road) where it joins the M11 motorway, and is five miles (8 km) from Cambridge. The ancient parish of Oakington covered 1,692 acres (685 ha) with the Via Devana forming its southwestern boundary with Dry Drayton. The Beck Brook separated it from Westwick to the north and Histon to the east, and field boundaries divided it from Longstanton to the northwest, and Girton to the south.

Population Growth

Oakington was quite a large village in the Middle Ages with 55 residents counted in the Domesday Book of 1086 and 100 by 1279. Listed as "Hochinton" in the Domesday Book, the name "Oakington" means "estate of a man called Hocca".

The Black Death decimated the population in the 14th century wiping out half the tenants of the largest manor. By the 17th century there were around 180 residents and the population steadily grew until the early 19th century when it began to rise rapidly reaching a peak population of 610 in 1851. But poverty and unemployment then took their toll with up to a third of the villagers leaving (some for Adelaide, Australia). The population stabilised at circa 425 by the 1890s and by 1950 there were around 500 inhabitants. According to the UK census of 2011 the combined settlements of Oakington and Westwick had a total of 1,597 residents.

History

In the 17th century, Oakington was considered to be a "hot-bed of religious dissent" which led the local Bishop, in 1685, to describe it as "the most scandalous and vile parish in his Diocese". Behind the churchyard, there is a private burial ground containing the graves of three vicars. The Reverends Francis Holcroft and Joseph Oddy were 17th century pioneers of the non-conformist movement, and known as the 'Apostles of Cambridgeshire'. It was by their heroic zeal that various non-conformist churches were established in Cambridgeshire. Ejected from their livings, persecuted and imprisoned for propagating their faith during their lives they became known as the 'Oakington Martyrs' in death. Along with their successor, the Reverend Henry Osland, the site of their graves is preserved today as a memorial to non-conformist Protestantism.

In 1847 the railway reached the parish, with the railway station situated between the village of Oakington and the hamlet of Westwick opening in 1848. The line was finally closed in 1970.

From 1940 until 1945 a Royal Air Force bomber airfield, RAF Oakington, was constructed at Oakington covering 540 acres (220 ha) and served as a station for Short Stirling bomber forces and reconnaissance planes.

Research Tips

• Original historical documents relating to Cambridgeshire are now held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at Shire Hall, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 4GS
• The Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Family History Society has transcribed the parish registers for many if not all the ancient parishes of Cambridgeshire and these can be purchased from the Society as separate pdfs.
• A History of the County of Cambridge. Seven volumes from British History Online (Victoria County Histories). This is by far the most complete history of the parishes of the county to be found online. From the numbering it would appear that some parts of the county are yet to be published online, but the first two volumes for any county are of little interest to the genealogist. The chapters are ordered by the divisions of the county called hundreds, but each parish is listed in the volume's content page.

• A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 3, the City (Cambridge) and University of Cambridge (published 1959)
• A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 4, City of Ely; North Ely and South Ely, Witchford and Wisbech Hundreds (the cathedral city and liberty of Ely and the rural areas to the west and northwest, including the port of Wisbech) (published 2002)
• A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 5, the Hundreds of Longstowe and Wetherley, west of Cambridge (published 1973)
• A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 6, the three Hundreds of Chilford, Radfield and Whittlesford (in the south of the county, on the border with Essex) (published 1978)
• A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 8, Armingford and Thriplow Hundreds (south and west of Cambridge) (published 1982)
• A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 9, Chesterton, Northstowe, and Papworth Hundreds (the suburban and rural areas to the north and northwest of Cambridge) (published 1989)
• A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 10, Cheveley, Flendish, Staine and Staploe Hundreds (northeastern Cambridgeshire) (published 2002)

• GENUKI has a page on Cambridgeshire and pages for each of the ecclesiastical or ancient parishes in the county. These give references to other organizations who hold genealogical information for the local area. Each parish page includes a map of the parish provided by Open Street Maps.
• The FamilyTree Wiki has a series of pages similar to those provided by GENUKI which may have been prepared at a later date.
• A Vision of Britain through Time, section "Units and Statistics" for each parish and borough leads to analyses of population and organization of the county from about 1800 through 1974.
• Map of Cambridgeshire divisions in 1888 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Map of Cambridge divisions in 1944 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time