The Over History
Picture Gallery
Over Village is situated 11 miles North West
of Cambridge and the parish covers an area of approximately 2,535 acres. Some
archaeologists have it that the ridge of slightly higher land upon which the
village stands saw the furthest intrusion inland of the sea - unlike the village
in the fens, which were often surrounded by watery land after the sea receded.
Over was an edge-of-fen settlement.
There have been a number of variations on the
spelling of the village name but basically it is called Over because it was just
that - it was over, or above, the fen. Overcote
One
of the earliest photographs of Over High Street, probably in the late 1890's
By 1628 the fens and meres to the north
of the settlement were enclosed, as was the rest of the village land by 1837.
Originally, there were two distinct
settlements. One was around St Mary's Parish Church, which shows traces of 14th
Century stonework and whose size shows the importance of the wool trade of the
old village: income derived from ferrying wool brought from Suffolk and further
afield across the River Great Ouse to market at St Ives helped to pay for what
is a very large parish church by any standard. The other settlement was at Over
End - the South East part of today's High Street running towards where the
Village Green now stands.
Apart from the parish church, it is
said that the oldest structure in Over now is the wall running down Fen End from
the Willingham Road corner. To look at the old red brick of this small patch of
wall, now incorporated into newer brickwork, could be looking at something which
has stood for well over 500 years, according to the late Ernie Papworth.
Papworth's
- keen cricketers
The influence of the Dutch who, under
the leadership of the engineer Vermuyden, came to drain the fens, can be seen in
several of Over's older houses - The Old Black Horse in the High Street and the
Ivy House in Fen End are the most obvious, with their rounded end-walls and
angled brick-ties.
When it comes to buildings, Over is a
village full of contrast both in terms of age and designs. Some people ask why
there are not more thatched properties in the centre of the village. The answer
is that a huge fire, started by an arsonist, burned to the ground a whole row of
old thatched cottages on the north side of the High Street. These were replaced
by the large Victorian houses which feature balconies to the front.
Much of the older property in the
village is Victorian as many of the clunch and wattle cottages have long been
demolished.
Over's churches and public buildings
have a wealth of history. the Town Hall, in the High Street opposite Overcote Road, has the Latin date MDCCCXLIX carved over the door and some marks made to
show where flood waters reached.
St Mary's Church, whose spire dominates
the Over skyline, is made almost entirely of stone from Barnack, in the extreme
North of Cambridgeshire and has traces of 14th Century work. Church
architectural specialists point to the abundance of flower-ball carvings and
gargoyles representing birds and beasts, and a south porch of perfect
proportions.
The parish church is highly ornamented,
unlike many Fenland and edge-of-fen churches, and this tends to demonstrate the
money which was available at the time of construction and decoration: as with
today, the more complicated the work, the more it cost.
The Methodist Church in The Lanes was
built in 1848 and features a typical first-story design found in Methodist
churches, whilst the Baptist Church in New Road is built directly onto a house,
whose owner gave the land for the church to be built in 1737.
Beyond the church is Sycamore Farm and
the beautiful sycamore tree which is subject to a preservation order.
Over Village Today
Station
Road, Over 1997
Today's Over is within part of
Cambridgeshire upon which there is enormous pressure for expansion with new housing
and industrial and commercial buildings. The village has seen a number of
estates built over the past 30 years. plans have been approved for limited further
growth, most of this is likely to be on small sites dotted around the
village.
One hugely significant development in
the village is the Over Day Centre, set up by Dr Pamela Cressey and celebrating
it's 10th year in 1999 with plans for further development. Few villages have
such a facility for the elderly, and Over can be proud of it. Another major
event, and one of the biggest in Over's history was the opening in the summer of
1999 of the Over Community Centre, which took over nine years of planning and
the raising of close on £1 million from public donations and fund raising
events, from money derived from local and district rates and from National
Lottery funding. Today the centre offers a wide range of social and sport
activities.
In 1951 the population was 910. Forty
years later it was 2,420. Today, at the end of 1999, there are 1,200 households
with a population of 3,200 according to the most recent official figures.
The one thing which dose not seem to
change is the village's character and spirit: people born and bred here 80 years
ago will say Yes, the village is much bigger then it used to be, and Yes, there
are lots more people, and Yes, I don't know some of them when once upon a time
everyone knew everyone. But they will also tell you, that underneath all this,
Over remains essentially the friendly place it always was.
Sandpit
Pond Over 1999
The French have a phrase for it, which
when translated means: The more things change, the more they stay the same That
applies precisely to Over Village.
( The Over Millennium Book
2000 - Over Parish Council )
The Over History
Picture Gallery
