Little Downham
Situated in the east of Cambridgeshire, the village of Little Downham is located 3 miles (5 km) north of the city of Ely.The village's church, dedicated to St Leonard, dates back to the 12th century, though it has been considerably modified since and restored multiple times.[3] Kelly's Directory, a British business and trade directory, recorded in 1929 that "The church of St. Leonard is a structure of rubble in the Transition Norman and Early English styles, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave of five bays, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing 4 bells, two of which are dated 1659: the clerestory windows are very small and are deeply splayed internally : the inner porch doorway is a good example of Transition Norman : in the chancel is an arcaded double piscina with cinquefoil-headed arch, but portions of the arch and one basin have been cut away to admit the insertion of a window: the rood screen is of carved oak: the chancel was restored and a vestry and organ chamber erected in 1890, at a cost of £1,144: in 1897 and 1899 extensive restorations were carried out at a cost of £800: the church had been previously reseated, and now affords 300 sittings: the north aisle was restored in 1912.It consists of three sections of land, measuring a total of 17 acres (6.6 hectares), and is the first designated Local Nature Reserve in East Cambridgeshire.The village also has a preschool and primary school as well as a sports area purchased by the council in the early 1960s which includes a pavilion and cricket ground, three football pitches, tennis courts, a basketball court, BMX dirt track, youth shelter and playground.
CambridgeshireOS grid referenceCivil parishDistrictEast CambridgeshireShire countyRegionCountryEnglandSovereign statePost townPostcode districtPymoorSurvey of English DialectsDomesday BookIsle of ElySt LeonardKelly's Directorytrade directoryNormanEarly Englishchancelclerestoriedpinnaclesarcadedpiscinarood screenvestryregisterVillage HallGrade II-listedguildhallworkhouseinfants schoolfeoffeesBishops of ElyLittle Downham Local Nature ReserveVillage signVictorianvillage shoppost officefish and chip shoppreschoolprimary schoolpavilioncricket groundfootball pitchestennis courtsbasketball courtdirt trackplaygroundMedieval Fair10k RaceGenukiNatural EnglandAldrethAshleyBarwayBottishamBrinkleyBurwellChettishamCheveleyChippenhamCoveneyDullinghamFordhamHaddenhamIslehamLittle ThetfordLittleportLongmeadowPrickwillowQueen AdelaideStetchworthStrethamStuntneySuttonSwaffham BulbeckSwaffham PriorUpwareWickenWilburtonWitchamWitchfordWoodditton