Horningsea is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, about four miles north-east of Cambridge city centre as the crow flies. The parish is a long, narrow strip of land on the east bank of the River Cam, and it includes the hamlet of Clayhithe and Eye Hall to the north of the village. Fen Ditton borders it to the south and east, Lode to the north-east beyond Bottisham Lode, and Milton and Waterbeach lie across the river to the west and north.
The 2021 Census recorded about 330 people living in the parish. The village is laid out along the High Street, the road between Fen Ditton and Waterbeach, with two older lanes, Dock Lane and St John's Lane, running west towards the river.
The Victoria County History records that the Cam was used for transport in the Roman period and the Middle Ages, and the council's conservation area appraisal describes Dock Lane and St John's Lane as ancient routes down to the hithes and wharves that lined the river. Lighters were still working between Horningsea and King's Lynn in the late 19th century.
At Clayhithe, towards the northern end of the parish, a ferry crossing was first recorded in the 1330s. It was replaced in 1872 by an iron toll bridge. The county council bought the bridge in 1938 and freed it from tolls, and it was rebuilt in 1939. Also at Clayhithe, on Clayhithe Road, stands The Conservators House, listed Grade II. Historic England describes it as a toll-house "dated 1842 on stone plaque in north gable", with a committee room used by the Conservators of the River Cam.
The name comes from the Old English words for hill and island. In the early Middle Ages the parish was an elongated peninsula jutting north into undrained fenland. Clay from Horningsea and Clayhithe was probably used for pottery from the 2nd century AD, and the Roman kilns just south of Clayhithe specialised in large storage jars, supplying a region stretching from Hertfordshire to Huntingdonshire.
A minster, a church served by a community of clergy, was recorded at Horningsea in the early 10th century. Bishop Aethelwold bought it from King Edgar between 963 and 970 and, before his death in 984, granted it to the monks of Ely. In 1086 the Domesday survey recorded Fen Ditton and Horningsea together, with 51 peasant households between them. The boundary between the two parishes was fixed in 1412.
In the late 19th century coprolites (fossil phosphate used as fertiliser) were dug in the parish. In 1871, 85 coprolite diggers lived in Horningsea, and the Crown and Punch Bowl inn had eleven lodgers. The parish population was 293 in 1801 and 336 in 1991. The village school, built on a site given by St John's College in 1841, closed in 1969, when its pupils moved to Fen Ditton primary school.
The Horningsea Conservation Area was designated on 17 May 1990, and South Cambridgeshire District Council adopted an appraisal in 2006. It describes a small village arranged mainly along the Fen Ditton to Waterbeach road. The southern part has cottages and public houses, while at the northern end gault brick walls enclose large farm groups. Locally made brick is used widely, often cladding earlier timber-framed buildings. The green on the east side of the High Street, with its Grade II listed K6 telephone kiosk and village pump, gives a feeling of openness in the centre of the village.
The parish has 23 listed buildings: the church at Grade I and 22 buildings at Grade II, including thatched and timber-framed cottages, farmhouses, both pubs and Eye Hall.
St Peter's Church is listed Grade I. Historic England dates it to the early 12th century, extended in the late 12th century, with an early 13th-century chancel, a west tower, and restorations around 1850, 1865 and 1890. Its list entry describes the church as "rebuilt in C12 on site of minster church", although the Victoria County History is more cautious, saying only that it may occupy the site of the 10th-century minster. Inside are an early 13th-century font, late 15th-century oak pews and a pulpit of around 1600.
The Crown and Punch Bowl on the High Street is listed Grade II, and Historic England dates it to the 17th and 19th centuries. The Plough and Fleece, also on the High Street and also listed Grade II, is dated by Historic England to the late 18th or early 19th century.
Anglian Water applied for development consent to move the Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant from its current site on Cowley Road, north-east Cambridge, to a new site south of Horningsea, next to the A14. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs granted development consent on 8 April 2025.
On 15 August 2025, however, Cambridge City Council and Anglian Water announced that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government had confirmed that Housing Infrastructure Fund money would not be made available for the relocation, after its costs had risen significantly. Anglian Water said the project would not now go ahead and that it was reviewing options to increase capacity at its existing treatment works in Cambridge. Anglian Water's project page, last updated on 8 April 2026, still states that the Government has decided not to fund delivery of the project.
The village's shop with post office closed in 1992.
Horningsea has no school of its own. The village is in the catchment area of Fen Ditton Primary School on Horningsea Road, Fen Ditton, which takes children aged 4 to 11 and is part of the Anglian Learning trust. Ofsted last inspected the school in April 2022, and the full report is available on the Ofsted website.
The catchment secondary school has been Bottisham Village College. Catchment areas can change, so families should confirm current catchment with Cambridgeshire County Council admissions.
Check National Rail and the bus operator for current times before you travel.
Horningsea is a small village. The Victoria County History notes that most houses on the High Street date from the 19th and 20th centuries, with earlier development along Dock Lane and St John's Lane. The Priory estate was built west of the High Street after 1945, and The Square was developed in the early 1970s.
Sales are infrequent. HM Land Registry recorded only two standard sales (homes sold at full market value) in Horningsea between October 2024 and August 2026, the latest month in its published data: a detached property at £1,850,000 in August 2025 and a semi-detached house at £500,000 in October 2025. With so few sales, these figures cannot show a typical price, and a local valuation will give a far better guide.
Thinking of moving to or from Horningsea? Book a free valuation or browse property for sale with our team.
Horningsea is about four miles north-east of Cambridge city centre in a straight line, on the east bank of the River Cam.
Not in the village itself. Waterbeach station is about a mile and a half to the north, across the river, and Cambridge North station is about 1.7 miles to the south-west.
Development consent for a new treatment plant south of Horningsea was granted on 8 April 2025, but in August 2025 the Government confirmed it would not provide Housing Infrastructure Fund money, and Anglian Water said the project would not now go ahead. Anglian Water's project page still gave that position when last updated on 8 April 2026.
The village is in the catchment area of Fen Ditton Primary School, for children aged 4 to 11. The catchment secondary school has been Bottisham Village College; please confirm current catchment with Cambridgeshire County Council.
