Snailwell
| Snailwell | |
|---|---|
 The church of St Peter |
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 Snailwell
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| Snailwell shown within Cambridgeshire | |
| Population | 224 (2001) 186 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | TL6467 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Newmarket |
| Postcode district | CB8 |
| Dialling code | 01638 |
| Police | Cambridgeshire |
| Fire | Cambridgeshire |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
Snailwell is a small village and civil parish in East Cambridgeshire, England around 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of Newmarket.
The parish of Snailwell covers an area of 2,034 acres (823 ha) in the extension of eastern Cambridgeshire that surrounds the town of Newmarket in Suffolk. The western and southern boundaries also form the border between Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, with the southern boundary following the line of the ancient Icknield Way (now the B1506). The northern boundary with Fordham follows the River Snail that rises in the parish, and the eastern boundary with Chippenham follows field boundaries.
The parish has been occupied since at least the Bronze Age when woodland was cleared. Ten tumuli, discovered in 1879, were situated alongside the Icknield Way but were flattened in 1941 when preparing space for a wartime airfield. RAF Snailwell was open from 1941 until 1946 just north of the railway line towards Bury St Edmunds and housed primarily American Air Force personnel with contingents from the R.A.F., 302 Polish squadron and the Royal Belgian Air Force. Sections of the concrete track and air-raid shelters can still be seen.
Due to its proximity to Newmarket, the village has been heavily involved in the breeding and training of horses since the Jockey Club of Newmarket bought 421 acres (170 ha) in the village for training in around 1882. In around 1900 Snailwell Stud was founded to the south-west of the village and grew to one of the most renowned in the country. Its most famous stallion was Chamossaire (1943–65), and in 1965 a life-size bronze statue of the horse was made by John Skeating to stand where the Newmarket Road reaches the village. Around a third of the land in the parish is now involved in the horse-racing industry.
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Wikipedia