Comberton is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, about four and a half miles west-south-west of Cambridge city centre as the crow flies. The parish is long and narrow, stretching about three miles from the Cambridge to St Neots road in the north to the Bourn Brook in the south. It borders Barton to the east, Toft to the west, Hardwick to the north-west and Madingley to the north, with Little Eversden and Harlton along its southern edge.
The 2021 Census recorded about 2,250 people living in the parish. The village grew quickly after the Second World War, when the county council chose Comberton as a centre for growth in the surrounding district, and Comberton Village College opened on its western edge in 1960.
By 1800 the village green near the crossroads included a maze. The Victoria County History describes it as circular and some 50 feet across, sinking towards the centre, with its windings separated by trenches and marked out with pebbles that villagers renewed every three years in the early 19th century. After inclosure it became part of the playground of the National school built in 1846 and was gradually trampled down. It was restored to an old plan in 1908 under the auspices of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society, but by 1960 it had been obliterated again.
The Domesday Book of 1086 records 43 peasants at Comberton, and 152 people were assessed for the poll tax in 1377. In 1200 King John granted the royal manor later called Greens to John Merk, a royal falconer, who held it by the service of keeping two lanner falcons and one retriever for the king. The parish was farmed in four open fields until inclosure in 1839.
The old village grew up where the road from Harlton crosses the road from Toft to Barton, with most of its houses along West Street until the 19th century. The population was 295 in 1801, peaked at 619 in 1871 and fell to 419 by 1901. After the war it rose from 597 in 1951 to 812 in 1961, and new building in the 1960s, including a private estate of about 300 houses between Barton Road and Long Road, took it to almost 1,650 by 1970.
In 1842 the remains of a Roman building, occupied in the 2nd century AD, were found in a field a little east of Fox's Bridge.
Comberton has two conservation areas, both designated in March 1973: Comberton Village, covering the centre of the village, and Comberton St Mary's, around the parish church at Church End. The national list includes 42 listed buildings in the parish, all but two of them Grade II. The Victoria County History noted several 17th and 18th-century timber-framed and plastered cottages along West Street and Swaynes Lane.
The Church of St Mary is listed Grade I. It stands at Church End, about half a mile south-south-east of the village centre, across the Tit Brook, and the Victoria County History notes that it is not clear why the church is separated from the village. Historic England dates part of the chancel to the late 13th century, the nave to the early 14th century and the 15th or early 16th century, and the west tower to the 14th century. It is built of pebblestone with limestone dressings and some clunch, and inside are a 13th-century font, a chancel screen of the 15th to 16th century and a number of 16th-century pews with carved ends.
Glebe Cottage on Church Lane, near the church, is listed Grade II*. Historic England describes it as a timber-framed cottage with a 14th to 15th-century open hall and 17th-century work, under a thatched roof.
Meridian Primary School on Harbour Avenue is a community primary school for children from Reception to Year 6. It opened in 1968, replacing the village's Church of England school. Ofsted last inspected the school in September 2024, and the full report is available on the Ofsted website.
Comberton Village College on West Street is a secondary academy for students aged 11 to 18, with a sixth form, and is part of The Cam Academy Trust. It opened in 1960; its site lies just across the parish boundary in Toft, at the western edge of the village. Ofsted last inspected the college in November 2024, and the full report is available on the Ofsted website.
Comberton's catchment secondary school has been Comberton Village College, whose admissions policy for 2026 to 2027 lists Meridian, Comberton among its feeder primary schools. Catchment areas can change, so families should confirm current arrangements with Cambridgeshire County Council admissions.
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Comberton's older homes include 17th and 18th-century timber-framed cottages along West Street and Swaynes Lane and farmhouses close to the crossroads. Almost 100 houses were built in the 1950s and the village was greatly enlarged in the 1960s, including the estate of about 300 houses between Barton Road and Long Road.
HM Land Registry recorded 66 standard residential sales in Comberton between October 2024 and August 2026. The median price was £442,500. Of those sales, 30 were semi-detached houses, 21 detached, 11 terraced and 4 flats or maisonettes, with prices ranging from £126,000 to £1,120,000. Because the mix of homes sold varies from year to year, these figures give a general picture rather than a precise valuation.
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Comberton is about four and a half miles west-south-west of Cambridge city centre in a straight line.
Yes. Comberton Village College on West Street takes students aged 11 to 18 and has a sixth form. Its site lies just across the parish boundary in Toft. Families should confirm current catchment with Cambridgeshire County Council.
No. Cambridge South, Cambridge, Foxton and Shepreth stations are each about five miles away in a straight line.
Comberton has two conservation areas, designated in 1973: one covering the village centre and one around St Mary's Church at Church End.
