St Neots

St Neots is a town of about 26,000 people on the River Great Ouse, the largest town in Cambridgeshire, England (Cambridge itself is a city). It is named after the Saxon monk St Neot whose bones were housed in the nearby priory of the same name.

Local geography

St Neots lies close to the south-western edge of Huntingdonshire district and is situated in the valley of the River Great Ouse, partly on the flood plain and partly on slightly higher ground a little further from the water. The Great Ouse is a mature river, once wide and shallow but now controlled by weirs and sluices and restrained in a well-defined channel. Tributaries entering the Ouse in the town are the River Kym, Hen Brook, Duloe Brook, and Colmworth Brook.

Related Topics:
Huntingdonshire - River Great Ouse - Flood plain - River - Weir - Sluice - Tributaries

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St Neots developed at the site of a ford where overland routes converged. This was replaced by a medieval bridge, and today there are two further crossings just outside the town, one to the north and another to the south. The three-mile £8m A45 St Neots Bypass opened in December 1985.

Related Topics:
Ford - A45

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The soil is mainly light, overlying gravel beds, and gravel extraction is one of the local industries. Older disused gravel pits form useful nature reserves and amenity areas at nearby Paxton Pits and at the Wyboston Leisure Park. Away from the river, the higher land is mainly a heavy clay soil with few large settlements. Much of the land is used for arable farming.

Related Topics:
Gravel - Gravel pit - Paxton Pits - Clay - Arable

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St Neots is close to Cambridge, Bedford and Peterborough. The A1 links the town by road with London to the south and Peterborough to the north while the nearby A14 provides access to the Midlands and East Anglia. There is also a good rail service from Peterborough via St Neots to London.

Related Topics:
Cambridge - Bedford - Peterborough - A1 - London - A14 - Midlands - East Anglia

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