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385:, which marked the old boundaries, closes and lanes of the larger medieval village and which were locally called "the Dodds". 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. The trees succumbed to
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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,
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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.
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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 (
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Red Well in the wood just to the east of the village. The well was the only source of water for both the village and neighbouring
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meaning boy or servant, so the name might mean 'boy's well'. It seems likely that
Knapwell is named after the
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Remains of old pollard tree in
Knapwell, once known for a group of pollarded Field Elms known as "the Dodds"
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338:. It would have been a small fortification, probably with a timber superstructure, and perhaps dating from
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The village has no shops or pubs, though was home to the Three
Horseshoes pub until its closure in 1880.
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The place-name 'Knapwell' is first attested in an Anglo-Saxon will of 1043–5, where it appears as
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A mound to the north-east of the church is believed to be the motte of a Norman
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The local primary school is
Elsworth CE(A) Primary School in
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The
Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names
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378:Knapwell was once celebrated for its many ancient
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509:Trees and Woodland in the British Landscape
16:Human settlement in Cambridgeshire, England
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557:South Cambridgeshire District
353:) to the east of the church.
304:in 1060, and was listed as
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21:Human settlement in England
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547:Villages in Cambridgeshire
479:. Victoria County History.
451:. Victoria County History.
522:"Elsworth Primary School"
463:"Knapwell - The Red Well"
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494:The Flowering of Britain
300:. It was referred to as
272:Nearby villages include
84:110 (2001 estimate)
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336:motte-and-bailey castle
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366:The Knapwell elm trees
178:Postcode district
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465:. Megalithic Portal.
156:Sovereign state
38:Knapwell, All Saints
511:,Dent, 1976, p.1171
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190:Dialling code
477:"Knapwell Church"
387:Dutch Elm Disease
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541:Categories
492:Mabey, R.
449:"Knapwell"
414:References
383:Field Elms
325:chalybeate
81:Population
380:pollarded
298:Cnapwelle
286:Cambourne
278:Conington
263:Cambridge
171:Cambridge
166:Post town
433:, p.281.
408:Elsworth
329:Boxworth
282:Elsworth
274:Boxworth
259:Knapwell
97:TL331631
63:Knapwell
27:Knapwell
308:in the
292:History
229:52°15′N
213:England
148:England
142:Country
357:Church
342:under
314:Ramsey
232:0°03′W
124:Region
321:cnapa
194:01954
183:CB23
132:East
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