Bourn is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, about eight miles west of Cambridge city centre as the crow flies. It takes its name from the Bourn Brook, which flows through the parish from north-west to south-east. The parish borders Cambourne to the north, Caldecote to the east, Kingston and Longstowe to the south and Caxton to the west, with short stretches of boundary with Boxworth, Knapwell and Childerley at its northern tip and Wimpole at its southern tip.
The 2021 Census recorded about 980 people living in the parish. Bourn is a separate village from Cambourne, which lies about two miles to the north and has had its own parish since 2004. The former Second World War airfield on the high ground north of the village, known as Bourn Airfield, received outline planning permission in July 2024 for up to 3,500 new homes.
Bourn Windmill stands off Caxton Road, just over a mile north-west of the village centre and within Bourn parish. It is a post mill, listed Grade I and also a scheduled monument. Historic England dates it to the early 17th century and notes that it is mentioned as standing in a deed of 1636. The Victoria County History describes it as perhaps the oldest preserved windmill in Cambridgeshire, and records that it was in constant use until about 1925.
The mill is owned and cared for by the charity Cambridge Past, Present & Future. It reopened in 2023 after being closed for three years for restoration work. The exterior can be seen at any time, and the interior is opened to visitors on selected days between May and September.
Bourn Hall stands on the site of the castle of Picot, Sheriff of Cambridge, who held more than two-thirds of Bourn in 1086. The remains of the ringwork and bailey castle, together with remains of a 17th-century formal garden, are a scheduled monument.
The hall is listed Grade II*. Historic England records that it is dated 1602 on its rainwater heads, was built for John and Frances Hager, and was considerably altered between 1817 and 1819 by J. A. Repton. The grounds, laid out by Humphry Repton between 1817 and 1819, are a Grade II registered park and garden.
In 1980 Patrick Steptoe, Robert Edwards and Jean Purdy established the fertility clinic at Bourn Hall, which the clinic describes as the world's first IVF clinic. Bourn Hall Clinic still operates from the hall on the High Street.
Bourn was the most populous parish in its hundred in the Middle Ages. The Domesday Book of 1086 records 76 peasants and servi (unfree labourers), and 299 people were assessed for the poll tax in 1377. The parish was farmed in three open fields until it was inclosed under an Act of 1809, with the award made in 1820.
The population rose to 945 in 1851 and 973 in 1871, then fell steadily to 587 by 1931. During the Second World War the high, flat ground north of the village became RAF Bourn, a bomber airfield. After the war squatters moved into the empty huts on the airfield, raising the population temporarily to 1,053 in 1951, and by 1956 some of them had been rehoused on a new council estate north and west of the church. The railway between Bedford and Cambridge, opened in 1862 and closed in 1965, crossed the south of the parish, with Old North Road station just inside its boundary.
The old village grew up along two streets running either side of the brook, joined at their ends and leading west to the group of houses called Caxton End, with two more streets running north to the area called Crow End. Ermine Street, the Roman road now known as the Old North Road, runs north to south a short distance west of the village.
The Bourn Conservation Area was designated in December 1974 and extended in May 1997, and a new appraisal was adopted in February 2026. It covers the village along the High Street, Caxton End, Crow End and Riddy Lane, the historic landscaped grounds of Bourn Hall, and open fields along the Bourn Brook. The appraisal counts around 40 listed buildings in the conservation area. Most houses are of Cambridgeshire gault brick or pale render, under clay tile or Welsh slate roofs, and a number of historic cottages are thatched in long straw.
The Parish Church of St Helen and St Mary is listed Grade I. Historic England dates its nave arcades and aisles to the 12th century and its tower to the 13th century. The transepts and south porch are 14th century, when the chancel was also rebuilt and a clerestory added. It is built of field stones and ashlar, and its leaded wooden spire was reduced in height, possibly in the 17th century.
Manor Farmhouse on Alms Hill is listed Grade II*. Historic England describes it as a 13th-century aisled hall, with late medieval and early 17th-century work. The timber-framed, weatherboarded barn to its south-east, of eight bays, is listed Grade II and dates from the 17th century or earlier.
Moulton Hills, a group of Roman barrows east of Alms Hill, is a scheduled monument.
Bourn CofE Primary Academy on Riddy Lane is a Church of England academy for children aged 4 to 11. Ofsted last inspected the school in September 2023, and the full report is available on the Ofsted website.
Bourn has no secondary school of its own. The district council's services and facilities study places the village in the catchment area for Comberton Village College. Catchment areas can change, so families should confirm current catchment with Cambridgeshire County Council admissions.
Check the operator or National Rail for current bus and train times before you travel.
Bourn's older homes include 17th-century farmhouses and timber-framed, thatched cottages of the 17th and 18th centuries scattered around the village. Later housing includes the council estate built in the 1950s and newer closes such as Hall Close, Kingfisher Close and Meadow Rise.
HM Land Registry recorded 20 standard residential sales in Bourn between October 2024 and July 2026. The median price was £622,500. Of those sales, 12 were detached houses, 5 semi-detached and 3 terraced, with prices ranging from £250,000 to £975,000. Because the mix of homes sold varies from year to year, these figures give a general picture rather than a precise valuation.
Thinking of moving to or from Bourn? Book a free valuation or browse property for sale with our team.
Bourn is about eight miles west of Cambridge city centre in a straight line.
No. Cambourne is a separate settlement about two miles north of Bourn, with its own parish since 2004. Bourn Airfield, the former wartime airfield north of the village, has outline planning permission for up to 3,500 new homes.
No. The nearest station in a straight line is Shepreth, just under seven miles away, while St Neots and Cambridge stations are each about eight to eight and a half miles away.
Bourn CofE Primary Academy serves children aged 4 to 11. The council's study places Bourn in the catchment area for Comberton Village College; please confirm current catchment with Cambridgeshire County Council.
