Exning
| Exning | |
|---|---|
 Church of St Martin, Exning |
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 Exning
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| Exning shown within Suffolk | |
| Population | 1,960 (2011) |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Newmarket |
| Postcode district | CB8 |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
Exning is a village in Suffolk, England.
It lies just off the A14 trunk road, roughly 12 miles (19 km) east-northeast of Cambridge, and 10 miles (16 km) south-south-east of Ely. The nearest large town is Newmarket.
The most conspicuous building in Exning is the church of St Martin, which is visible from the A14.
Local lore reputes Exning to have been the capital of the Iceni tribe and therefore the home of Queen Boadicea (Boudicca).
Since the time of William the Conqueror, Exning was in Lackford Hundred. Later the hundred was a part of the Liberty of Ely. When the Liberty was revoked, the hundred and thus Exning became a part of Suffolk again. Until boundary reforms in 1894, Exning was an enclave of Suffolk totally surrounded by the county of Cambridgeshire. In the reforms the parish of Newmarket All Saints (in Cambridgeshire) was transferred to Suffolk which gave Exning a "bridge" to the rest of Suffolk.
Exning is reputed to have been the birthplace of Saint Ethelreda, to whom the cathedral at Ely is dedicated, though this is disputed.
During the Second World War, the headquarters of No 3 Group of RAF Bomber Command were located in Exning House. Nearby Newmarket Heath, the northwest corner of which borders on Exning, was used as an airfield for, amongst others, Stirling III Bombers of No. 75 (NZ) Squadron RAF. Little evidence remains of this chapter in Exning's history, apart from a single aircraft hangar on Heath Road, Burwell (near the "One Thousand Guineas Connect" service station on the A14 trunk road) and a memorial plaque on the racecourse.
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