Swavesey is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, about eight and a half miles north-west of Cambridge city centre as the crow flies. The parish runs from the River Ouse in the north to the Cambridge to Huntingdon road in the south. Its neighbours include Fen Drayton to the west, Longstanton to the south-east and Over to the north-east, across Swavesey drain.
The 2021 Census recorded about 2,750 people living in the parish. The village is long and narrow. The parish church stands at its northern end, and the main street runs south along a ridge of higher ground through High Street, Middle Watch and Boxworth End.
Swavesey's position near the Ouse made it a river port. It was apparently a port by 1177, and in about 1200 the rights of the port were granted to the prior of Swavesey. A navigation channel linked the village to the river, and the Victoria County History suggests that Swan Pond in Station Road and the dried-up pond in Market Street are the remains of old dock basins.
In 1244 the lord of the manor, Alan la Zouche, was granted a weekly market and a yearly fair, and he presumably laid out Market Street, with a dock at its eastern end. By 1279 there were 20 single and 4 double burgage plots in the market. A Swavesey ship was at sea in 1251, when it was robbed by North Sea pirates. The market had probably lapsed by 1738 and the fair by 1806.
A new dock for boats of up to 30 tons was built west of the church between 1838 and 1840, but the coming of the railway, with a station at Swavesey, was presumably responsible for the end of waterborne trade.
The Domesday Book of 1086 records a peasant population of 65. In the Middle Ages Swavesey was the administrative centre of a large 11th-century estate, with a castle built in the late 11th or early 12th century and a priory founded in the late 11th century. Earthworks at Castle Hill and at the priory site are now scheduled monuments.
The surrounding fens shaped village life. Some of them were enclosed in the early 17th century and the rest, with the open fields, between 1838 and 1840, though flooding remained a problem. The fens were also used for skating, and skating championship meetings were held on Mare Fen from 1880 until 1933.
Fire has also left its mark. A fire in 1719 reportedly destroyed property worth £1,755, at least 37 houses and cottages were lost in fires between 1848 and 1889, and a fire that began in Taylor's Lane in 1913 destroyed at least 28 houses, most of them in Station Road. Bottle House in Station Road, named after a diamond of nine bottle bottoms set in its west gable, is one of the houses rebuilt after the 1913 fire.
The Cambridge to St Ives railway opened across the parish in 1847, with Swavesey station north-east of the church. The station closed to goods in 1966 and to passengers in 1970. The population rose from 831 in 1801 to 1,385 in 1851 and fell back to 899 by 1901. After 1945, and particularly after a village college opened in 1958, the village expanded beyond its old limits.
The Swavesey Conservation Area was first designated in September 1975, extended in April 1992 to take in the priory and castle earthworks, and extended again slightly in April 2006. South Cambridgeshire District Council approved a conservation area appraisal and design guidance for the village in 2006.
The Church of St Andrew is listed Grade I. Its nave was rebuilt soon after 1200 to a length of 22.5 metres, which the Victoria County History describes as exceptional in Cambridgeshire. The nave arcades and clerestory are 15th century, and medieval pew ends survive in the south aisle. The church was restored in 1866 to 1867, apparently to designs by G. E. Street.
The Old Manor House on Station Road is also listed Grade I. Historic England describes it as late medieval and early 17th century, with 19th-century alterations.
Elsewhere, the older houses of High Street, Middle Watch and Boxworth End are mostly 19th-century brick. No. 31 Station Road, once the Swan inn, keeps the hall and cross wing of a late medieval house.
Swavesey Primary School on Middle Watch is a community school for children aged 4 to 11. Ofsted last inspected the school in November 2024, and the full report is available on the Ofsted website.
Swavesey also has its own secondary school. Swavesey Village College on Gibraltar Lane, which first opened in 1958, is an academy in the Meridian Trust for students aged 11 to 16, with no sixth form. Ofsted last inspected the school in January 2024. Catchment areas can change, so families should confirm current arrangements with Cambridgeshire County Council admissions.
Check National Rail and current bus timetables before you travel.
Swavesey's older houses line Market Street, High Street, Middle Watch and Boxworth End. After 1945 the village grew, mainly to the west of the main street, with estates such as Carter's Way and Priory Avenue, built around 1972, and Thistle Green from around 1980.
HM Land Registry recorded 55 standard residential sales in Swavesey between October 2024 and June 2026. The median price was £342,000. Of those sales, 25 were detached houses, 18 semi-detached, 10 terraced and 2 flats or maisonettes, with prices ranging from £100,500 to £1,995,000. 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 Swavesey? Book a free valuation or browse property for sale with our team.
Swavesey is about eight and a half miles north-west of Cambridge city centre in a straight line.
Not any more. Swavesey station closed to passengers in 1970. The nearest stations are Huntingdon, about eight miles away, and Cambridge North, about eight and a half miles away. The village does have a stop on the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway.
Yes. The Swavesey Conservation Area was designated in 1975 and extended in 1992 and 2006. It includes the Grade I listed Church of St Andrew and the Old Manor House.
Swavesey Primary School takes children aged 4 to 11, and Swavesey Village College is a secondary school for ages 11 to 16. Please confirm current catchment with Cambridgeshire County Council.
