Village Focus on Alconbury and Alconbury Weston
There is lots to do in and around Alconbury. - Credit: ARCHANT
Alconbury lies approximately five miles north-west of Huntingdon and the current population, according to the 2011 Census, is 1,569.
Alconbury Weston is situated 4.5 miles north-west of Huntingdon and has a population of 800 people.
The villages are closely linked, but have their own separate parish councils.
Alconbury village has previously been listed as Acumesberie and Almundeburie in the Hundreds of Leightonstone in Huntingdonshire in the Doomsday Book. The Doomsday records show one manor and 17.5 households at Alconbury.
Alconbury Weston was listed in the Domesday Book under the name of Westune. In 1086, there was just one manor at Alconbury Weston; the annual rent paid to the lord of the manor in 1066 was £1.
The Domesday Book does not explicitly detail the population of a place but it records that there were four households at Alconbury Weston.
Alconbury Brook runs through both villages and on into Hinchingbrooke park. The brook often floods during the winter months and has caused much hardship for people living in the area.
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Alconbury airbase, situated on the outskirts of the villages, was operational from 1938 to 1995. There is still some administrative function on the site, but is has largely been redeveloped and is now home to the Alconbury Weald business and housing development. It retains some of the historic elements of the airbase, including the old watchtower office, which is now a community centre.
In 2005 there were proposals to convert the former RAF Alconbury airfield into a freight-only commercial airport - however these proposals, never came to fruition.
Like many Huntingdonshire towns and villages, the old Great North Road passed through Alconbury, which meant the village provided a regular stopping-off point for travellers to and from London from as early as the 17th Century.
The A1 was dualled from Water Newton, in Peterborough, to Alconbury Hill in three stages, starting in 1958. The £1.25m two-mile A1 bypass opened in December 1964, joining the road at the point where it now meets the A14 (former A604) at the junction at the top of a hill.
