Waterbeach

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Waterbeach is a village about 6 miles north of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England. It sits on the edge of The Fens and had about 5,166 people in 2011, with the population rising since then.

History and landmarks
- The village sits on the Car Dyke, a Roman waterway that reaches as far as Lincoln. In 2020 archaeologists found signs of a Roman settlement nearby.
- Waterbeach is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Vtbech.
- In the 12th century the Knights Templar lived at Denny Abbey to the north. The abbey site is a scheduled monument, and its core buildings are part of the Farmland Museum.
- The Abbey and a stretch of the Car Dyke are protected monuments.
- A Royal Air Force station, RAF Waterbeach, stood to the north from the 1940s. It grew to include many hangars and runways and housed thousands of people at its peak. After the war it was run by different RAF commands, and in 1966 it became Waterbeach Barracks for the Royal Engineers.
- The Waterbeach Military Heritage Museum opened in 1984, closed in 2012, and reopened in 2017. The barracks closed in 2013, with most units moving away. The Army Cadet Force still uses part of the site. An area of the old base is now an industrial park known as Sterling House.
- The population rose quickly after 2001, from about 4,500 to more than 5,500 by 2019.

Development and economy
- In 2018 Waterbeach was named a new town in the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan.
- A major new development is planned on the old barracks site: around 6,500 homes, plus shops, offices, three primary schools, a secondary school, health facilities, a hotel and open spaces. The first residents began moving in around 2022.
- The Cambridge Innovation Park opened in 2012, and the nearby Denny End Industrial Estate and Milton Brewery site support local jobs.
- Waterbeach has grown into an important employment area thanks to these developments.

Facilities and community
- Waterbeach has a community primary school (enlarged in 2020 to accommodate about 400 pupils).
- There are three places of worship: the Anglican Church of St John the Evangelist, a Baptist church with ties to the 19th-century preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and a Salvation Army corps.
- Local groups include Scouts and Girl Guides, the Army Cadet Force, playgroups and a community association.
- Cow Hollow Wood, a Woodland Trust nature area, lies to the south-east and was opened in 2000.
- The Conservators of the River Cam have a site in Waterbeach.

Transport
- The village is near the A10 road, with bus services to Cambridge, Landbeach, Ely, Littleport and Stretham.
- Waterbeach railway station on the Fen Line has had its platforms extended (in 2020). A plan to move the station 1.5 miles north to better serve the new development was approved in 2018 and is expected to be completed around 2027.