Ұлы Грансден: Англияның тарихы мен географиясы

Village in Huntingdonshire, England

Great Gransden is a civil parish and village in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. In 2001, the parish population was 969, which rose to 1,023 at the 2011 Census. It lies 16 miles (25 km) west of Cambridge and 13 miles (21 km) south of Huntingdon. It contains the oldest post mill in England.

The village name translates as "valley of a man named Granta or Grante". It was spelled Grantandene in 973 and Grante(s)dene in the 1086 Domesday book. Great Gransden was mentioned in 973 when its land was endowed to Thorney Abbey by Aethelwold, Bishop of Winchester. It already consisted of 33 households in 1086, with an annual rent of £30 being paid to the lord of the manor. Great Gransden's older centre consists of cottages grouped round a 16th century church, dedicated to Saint Bartholomew, whose tower dates from about 1390. The connection between the village and Clare College, Cambridge appears to date from 1346, when the advowson for Great Gransden church parish formed part of the college's original endowment.

Barnabas Oley, Vicar from 1633, was a Fellow of Clare College who edited the works of the poet and orator George Herbert. Oley was one of the university's most active Royalists in the English Civil War. He was deprived of his fellowship and lodgings in 1644, but recovered them in 1660. From 1664 he lived mainly at Great Gransden and left many benefactions. His life is remembered each year on the school's Founder's Day, held in the parish church; leavers receive an "Oley Bible" from a Fellow of Clare College.

As a civil parish, Great Gransden has a parish council elected by the residents. The parish council has nine councillors and normally meets on the first Monday of the month in the Reading Room in Great Gransden. Great Gransden was in the historic and administrative county of Huntingdonshire until 1965. From 1965, it was part of the new administrative county of Huntingdon and Peterborough, until the Local Government Act 1972 placed it in the county of Cambridgeshire in 1972. The second tier of local government is Huntingdonshire District Council which is a non metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and has its headquarters in Huntingdon. Its 52 councillors represent 26 district wards. Great Gransden belongs to the district ward of Great Paxton, which has one councillor on the district council. It consists of 61 councillors representing 59 electoral divisions. where as part of the electoral division of St Neots East and Gransden, The subsoil is Ampthill Clay with Lower Greensand. Streams in the parish include Waresley Dean, College Dean, Vicars Dean, Mandean and Gransden Brook; Home Dole Brook marks the border with Little Gransden parish and South Cambridgeshire.

Great Gransden boasts the oldest post mill in England, constructed around 1612 – though the claim is disputed by nearby Bourn. It has two storeys, with a flour dressing machine, inscribed 1774 on the second floor. The mill ceased to operate about 1890. It was presented to the county council in 1950 and classified as an ancient monument in 1957. A restoration project was completed in 1984, and a more thorough restoration began in 2015. The mill still possesses its machinery. Newly constructed sails are due to be installed by 2022. It can be viewed inside by appointment. A local legend claims a book of black magic entitled An Infidel's Bible was hidden in the mill in 1867, causing it to stop working. When the book was removed, the mill began to work again. There are 53 other listed buildings in Great Gransden parish, including houses, barns and remains of a churchyard cross. The brick vicarage, north west of the church, was built by Barnabas Oley, probably between 1660 and 1685.

The Grade I listed parish church dedicated to Saint Bartholomew the Apostle consists of a chancel with a 19th century organ chamber, a vestry on the north side, nave, north aisle, south aisle, west tower and north and south porches. It was listed in the Domesday Book, but no remains of that time survive. The tower was built in the late 14th century, but the whole church rebuilt in the 15th. The organ chamber and vestry were added and the north porch rebuilt in 1873.

The Providence Baptist Chapel in Sand Road is a Grade II listed building that dates from soon after 1734, when the tractarian Anne Dutton (see Notable people) and her husband moved here.

Great Gransden has a pub in West Street, the thatched Crown and Cushion, which also serves food. The village has a small general store with a sub post office in Fox Street, and an antique shop in Hitchin Road. It also has a lawn tennis club, a bowls club, and a football team called the Gransden Chequers. The first gardening allotments became available in 2008 through the Gransden Allotment Society. An orchard and "Greenfingers" micro plots for children were added in 2009–2010, followed by a wildlife pond and a wildlife meadow in 2011. Tree planting continues. Gransden and District Agricultural Society Annual Show has been held every year since 1891, except during the Second World War and the COVID 19 pandemic. It takes place on the last Saturday of September.

Great Gransden has occasional buses to and from St Neots and Cambridge. The nearest railway station is St Neots (7 miles, 11 km), which has regular services to Huntingdon and Biggleswade and peak hour services to London King's Cross. The village is 3 miles (5 km) from the main A428 road to Cambridge at Eltisley and 11 miles (18 km) from the A1 trunk road between London and the North at Wyboston.