Townapedia
Wysing Arts Centre, Bourn, Cambridge, UK
Wysing Arts Centre, Bourn, Cambridge, UK · Jkcm, CC BY-SA 4.0
Gamlingay Cinques 4
Gamlingay Cinques 4 · Dudley Miles, CC BY-SA 4.0
Gamlingay Wood 8
Gamlingay Wood 8 · Dudley Miles, CC BY-SA 4.0
Waresleywood 3996
Waresleywood 3996 · Bogbumper, CC BY-SA 3.0
Hayley Wood 7
Hayley Wood 7 · Dudley Miles, CC BY-SA 4.0
Churchstdenis 4216
Churchstdenis 4216 · Bogbumper, CC BY-SA 3.0

Great Gransden, United Kingdom

Great Gransden is a town of 1,319 people in England, United Kingdom.

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Population1,319 GeoNames
RegionEngland
Elevation177 ft 54 m
Time zoneEurope/London
Nearest airportCambridge City Airport (CBG) 14 mi
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Why visit Great Gransden

Townapedia lists 5 museums and landmarks, 5 parks and trails, 1 place to eat and 2 places to stay in and around town.

Highlights include Wysing Arts Centre, base of medieval cross, Gamlingay Cinques Common and Gamlingay Wood.

About Great Gransden

Great Gransden is a civil parish and village in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. In 2001, the parish population was 969, which rose to 1,023 at the 2011 Census. It lies 16 miles (25 km) west of Cambridge and 13 miles (21 km) south of Huntingdon. It contains the oldest post mill in England.

From the Wikipedia article Great Gransden (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Museums and landmarks5

Wysing Arts Centre

Museum · 3.2 mi

Visual arts centre, gallery and artists studios

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base of medieval cross

Monument and historic site · 0.4 mi

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cross

Monument and historic site · 1.3 mi

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war memorial

Monument and historic site · 0.4 mi

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405 Squadron RCAF Memorial

Monument and historic site · 0.5 mi

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Parks, trails and playgrounds5

Gamlingay Cinques Common

Park · 3.2 mi

Nature reserve in the United Kingdom

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Gamlingay Wood

Park · 2.2 mi

Nature reserve in the United Kingdom

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Gransden and Waresley Woods

Park · 0.8 mi

Nature reserve in the United Kingdom

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Hayley Wood

Park · 2.2 mi

Nature reserve in the United Kingdom

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Waresley and Gransden Woods NR

Hiking and trails · 0.7 mi

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Restaurants and cafes1

The Chequers

Bar and pub · 0.4 mi

71 Main Road, Sandy

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Where to stay2

Great Gransden Campsite

Campground · 0.4 mi

Meadow Road, Sandy

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Elm's Farm (B&B)

Motel and hotel · 0.6 mi

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History

The village name translates as "valley of a man named Granta or Grante". It was spelled Grantandene in 973 and Grante(s)dene in the 1086 Domesday Book. Great Gransden was mentioned in 973 when its land was endowed to Thorney Abbey by Aethelwold, Bishop of Winchester. It already consisted of 33 households in 1086, with an annual rent of £30 being paid to the lord of the manor.

Great Gransden's older centre consists of cottages grouped round a 16th-century church, dedicated to Saint Bartholomew, whose tower dates from about 1390. The connection between the village and Clare College, Cambridge appears to date from 1346, when the advowson for Great Gransden church parish formed part of the college's original endowment.

Barnabas Oley, Vicar from 1633, was a Fellow of Clare College who edited the works of the poet and orator George Herbert. Oley was one of the university's most active Royalists in the English Civil War. He was deprived of his fellowship and lodgings in 1644, but recovered them in 1660. From 1664 he lived mainly at Great Gransden and left many benefactions.

The village school Oley founded in 1670, now a Church of England primary school in Little Lane, still bears his name. His life is remembered each year on the school's Founder's Day, held in the parish church; leavers receive an "Oley Bible" from a Fellow of Clare College.

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Anne Dutton (1692–1765), religious tractarian and poet, and her clothier husband Benjamin, a Baptist minister, moved to the village and paid for a chapel to be built there.

James Plumptre (1771–1832), dramatist, served as Vicar of Great Gransden church from 1812 until his death.

Arthur Tozer Russell (1806–1874) hymn-writer, served as a curate of Great Gransden church in 1829–1830.

From the History section of Great Gransden on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

More about Great Gransden

Geography

Great Gransden parish is 11 miles (18 km) west of the county town of Cambridge, 10 miles (16 km) south-east of Huntingdon and 47 miles (76 km) north of London. It covers an area of 3,402 acres (1,377 ha). The village stands on the B1046 road between Abbotsley, to the west, and Longstowe, to the east. Minor roads run south-west to Waresley and north-east to Caxton.

The parish ranges from 33 metres (108 ft), near its border with Abbotsley parish, to 75 metres (246 ft) above sea level on the disused airfield. The subsoil is Ampthill Clay with Lower Greensand. Streams in the parish include Waresley Dean, College Dean, Vicars Dean, Mandean and Gransden Brook; Home Dole Brook marks the border with Little Gransden parish and South Cambridgeshire.

From the Wikipedia article Great Gransden, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Churches and places of worship7

Schools, colleges and libraries1

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Map of Great Gransden

21 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.

Getting there and nearby towns

Cambridge City Airport (CBG) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 14 miles away.

Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.

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Page built November 10, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us or suggest a place.