The History of the Landscape

Buckden Towers (Grid reference TL193678) lies at the heart of the village of Buckden equidistant by 4 miles from Huntingdon and St. Neots in the County of Cambridgeshire. The village is located in gently undulating lowland falling to the River Ouse in the east and rising to a height of 50m north west of the village. The clay soils, with a subsoil of Oxford clay, have given rise to a landscape dominated by arable farming with limited woodland. Gravel deposits beside the River Ouse have been subject to extraction, resulting in the creation of a number of lakes.

The Great North Road (the A1) that formerly passed through Buckden now follows a bypass to the west of the village. The proximity of this major arterial route has had important

consequences for the settlement, both as the location for a palace serving the Bishops of Lincoln and as a halt for stagecoaches travelling between London, Lincoln and York.

The site is designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, contains Grade I, Grade Il’ and Grade ll listed buildings of Special Architectural and Historic Interest, forms part of the Buckden Conservation Area and has a number of trees which are protected by Tree Preservation Orders.