View source for Knapwell

{{Short description|Human settlement in Cambridgeshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name=         Knapwell
| country=               England
| region=                East of England
| os_grid_reference=     TL331631
| coordinates = {{coord|52.25|-0.05|display=inline,title}}
| post_town=             [[Cambridge, Cambridgeshire|Cambridge]]
| postcode_area=         CB
| postcode_district=     CB23
| dial_code=             01954
| shire_county=          [[Cambridgeshire]]
| population = 110
| population_ref = (2001 estimate)
|hide_services=           Yes
|static_image = All_Saints,_Knapwell.jpg
|static_image_width = 250px
|static_image_caption = Knapwell, All Saints
}}
'''Knapwell''' is a hamlet in Cambridgeshire situated about {{convert|10|mi|0}} west of [[Cambridge]]. It is within the [[diocese of Ely]]. Its population was estimated at 110 in 2001. At the 2011 census the population had fallen to fewer than 100.
Nearby villages include [[Boxworth]], [[Conington, South Cambridgeshire|Conington]], [[Elsworth]] and the expanding new settlement of [[Cambourne]].
==History==
The place-name 'Knapwell' is first attested in an Anglo-Saxon will of 1043–5, where it appears as ''Cnapwelle''. It was referred to as ''Cnapenwelle'' in 1060, and was listed as ''Chenepewelle'' in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086, when it was held by the Abbot of [[Ramsey Abbey|Ramsey]]. The name means 'Cnapa's well or stream'. 'Cnapa' may be the [[Old English]] ''cnapa'' meaning boy or servant, so the name might mean 'boy's well'.<ref>[[Eilert Ekwall]], ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'', p.281.</ref> It seems likely that Knapwell is named after the [[chalybeate]] Red Well in the wood just to the east of the village.<ref name=victoria>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15471|title=Knapwell|publisher=Victoria County History}}</ref> The well was the only source of water for both the village and neighbouring [[Boxworth]]. Its waters were known for their medicinal properties.<ref name=mega>{{cite web|url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=15132|title=Knapwell - The Red Well|publisher=Megalithic Portal}}</ref>
A mound to the north-east of the church is believed to be the motte of a Norman [[motte-and-bailey castle]]. It would have been a small fortification, probably with a timber superstructure, and perhaps dating from [[The Anarchy]] under [[Stephen of England|King Stephen]].
The village's manor house was established in Norman times, between the church and the motte, and traces of a building and moat remain in the wood ([[Overhall Grove]]) to the east of the church.<ref name=victoria/>
==Church==
The village has had a church, dating back to at least 1180. A church, dedicated to All Saints, was probably built in the early 14th century. The medieval church had a long, low chancel and a three-bay aisled nave, all under a single roof, and a west tower. In 1864 the medieval church was demolished, except for the tower, and rebuilt in a plain Gothic style. The original 14th-century tower is built of field stones dressed with limestone and is unbuttressed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15475|title=Knapwell Church|publisher=Victoria County History}}</ref>
==The Knapwell elm trees==
[[File:Ancient gnarled tree stump (geograph 3049544).jpg|thumb|left|Remains of old pollard tree in Knapwell, once known for a group of pollarded Field Elms known as "the Dodds"]]
Knapwell was once celebrated for its many ancient [[pollarding|pollard]]ed [[Ulmus minor|Field Elms]], which marked the old boundaries, closes and lanes of the larger medieval village and which were locally called "the Dodds".<ref name=mabey97>Mabey, R. ''The Flowering of Britain'', Hutchinson, 1980, p.97</ref><ref name=rackham>[[Rackham, Oliver]] ''Trees and Woodland in the British Landscape'', Dent, 1976, p.1171</ref> The trees grew both in the fields immediately bordering the main street and amongst the houses of the modern village. The name may have derived from "dodderel", a dialect word for a pollard.<ref name="mabey97"/> The trees succumbed to [[Dutch Elm Disease]] in the 1980s.
[[Overhall Grove]] (not to be confused with Knapwell Wood) has a notably large number of surviving elm trees.
==Village life==
The village has no shops or pubs, though was home to the Three Horseshoes pub until its closure in 1880.<ref name=victoria/>
The local primary school is Elsworth CE(A) Primary School<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elsworthprimaryschool.org/|title=Elsworth Primary School}}</ref> in [[Elsworth]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Knapwell}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Villages in Cambridgeshire]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire]]
[[Category:South Cambridgeshire District]]