Croydon is a quiet village in Cambridgeshire with a population of around 200 and is situated 11 miles South West of Cambridge near Wimpole Hall. The parish covers 1,106 hectares (2,734 acres).
The present parish of Croydon includes a Scheduled Ancient Monument, the former village of Clopton which was deserted by the fifteenth century with the exception of some farmhouses and cottages demolished by 1900. The parish boundaries on the south follow the River Cam or Rhee, and old field boundaries common to neighbouring parishes. The village of Croydon stretches along the north side of a street running east and west along the hillside. A green between the church and manor farm survives as earthworks of the original much larger village. There are several moated sites associated with former manors.
The parish church dates from the thirteenth century. The seventeenth century church farmhouse survives the former group of farm buildings beside the church. Most of the cottages and houses are brick-built with slate or plain tiled roofs which may have replaced earlier traditional buildings.
The sixteenth century enclosure of the open fields coincided with the desertion of Clopton village. The land today is used as grazing and arable. Brickworks opened in 1871 and closed c.1920.
In 1951, the population was 220, by mid 1991 this was estimated to have fallen to around 190 but increased slightly to 200 by mid 1996.
There is an interesting article, the Speculum Gregis written by the Rev Francis Fulford 1803-1868 who was the Rector at Croydon 1841-1845 which can be found below:-
Please note that these documents are temporary only until the original site is back up and running.