The once-charming Cambridgeshire village that vanished without a trace

The small settlement was once a charming place but has since been lost in time

Throughout history, Cambridgeshire has seen multiple villages come and go, almost as if they never existed. These places would have been tight-knit communities centuries ago, but nowadays people probably don’t even realise they once existed.

This is the case for the once-charming village of Clopton – an abandoned medieval area with history extending back to the Roman occupation. It was located around a mile south-west of Croydon in Cambridgeshire. The village, which is referenced in the 1086 Domesday Book, had only 18 people recorded as living there.

However, in medieval times, the two communities had an above average population. Although, like many villages in the area there was slow decline in population.

The village was granted a Friday market in the 13th-century by Robert Hoo, Lord of Clopton and its name ‘Clopton’ suggests it may have been given the status of a town. The name means ‘town or settlement on a hill’.

It’s believed the village was deserted between 1500 and 1518 after John Fisher, a London lawyer, purchased the land from the Clopton family in 1489. Following his purchase, he evicted the villagers to make way for enclosures.

Archaeologists located the site from the little-left remains of the village. These included the parish church of Saint Mary, two moated sites, and a probable mill.

The church was recorded as being in poor repair by 1561, which is the same year it is believed that Clopton merged with neighbouring Croydon to its east, and it was subsequently demolished and turned over to agriculture by 1660.

Today, the site is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument and consists mainly of earthworks.