Pidley is a small village which lies approximately seven miles north-east of Huntingdon and according to the 2011 Census, the population is 388.
Along with the neighbouring hamlet of of Fenton, Pidley forms the civil parish of Pidley-cum-Fenton. The name of the village originally meant 'Woodland clearing of a man called Pyda'.
Pidley-cum-Fenton had its earliest mention in 1225 when it was referred to as 100 acres in the Manor of Somersham at ‘Strode’, almost certainly the area above Fen Road, now known as Stroud Hill.
A silver coin dating back to this period was found in a 2016 archaeological dig.
Records show that in the 13th Century, the two parishes were recorded as Pidele et Fenton and in Medieval times have been listed as Pidel, Puddele, and Pydele.
The manor was held by Ely Abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th Century.
The land rises from about three feet above the ordnance datum in Warboys Fen in the north to more than 100 feet in the middle and south parts of the parish, but is one of the flattest villages in the county of Cambridgeshire.
The small Grade II Listed church of All Saints was constructed with materials from an earlier church on site.
The medieval parish church of All Saints stood on the site of the present church between at least the 12th Century until it was pulled down in 1863. The Victorian replacement was constructed between 1864 and 1865 using much of the original stone for the facing. The church has a west tower with spire.
The only features surviving from the original church are a 14th Century window reset in the vestry, and a circular sundial in the north wall. The church register of baptisms dates from 1558.
According to a village history site, in 1855 the village was a thriving self contained community boasting such trades as a wheelwright, bootmaker, butcher, brickmaker, blacksmith and baker.
There were two beer retailers and five public houses: the Three Horseshoes, the Royal Oak, the Butchers Arms, the Red Lion as well as the existing Mad Cat. The chief crops were wheat, barley and beans.
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