The Village Green in 2018

The small area of grass at the junction of Water Lane and High Street is actually the village green. Owned by the Parish Council, it contains a public bench and the village sign. At one time it was the site of a pond used for watering passing livestock, but this was filled in during the 1930s.

View from the junction of Water Land and High Street, looking southwest along Water Lane towards the crossroads. The first picture shows the pond (on the bottom right of the photo) which occupied what is now the village green before it was filled in during the 1930s. The building on the right of the photo was the Butchers Arms public house. The second picture shows the view in 2024.

Village archivist Ralph Warboys (1927–2008) recalled an event on the village green during the 1930s:

After the pond was filled in in the 1930s on one occasion a man erected swing boats there. Before returning to school after lunch I had a ride on the swing boats but the school bell started to ring and knowing that children were caned if they were late, I jumped out of the swing boat too soon and it hit me in the eye, giving me a black eye. I returned to the infant class of the school and Miss Chandler, the Headmistress, came in to speak to my teacher and asked me what I had done to my eye. I explained what had happened and she gave me a penny to hold on it that the coldness might take out the bruise. When she was leaving the room I gave her the penny back but she told me I could keep it.

The Village Sign

The village sign in 2018

The village sign was erected in 1988 and commemorates various historical aspects of the area including RAF Oakington, St Andrew’s Church, and medieval farming. The plinth contains the date stone (1865) from the Oakington windmill, which was blown up in 1940 to prevent aircraft from RAF Oakington crashing into it. It also contains two plaques one commemorating the installation of the village sign and the other in memory of the horticulturalist Alan Bloom who lived and worked in Oakington.

Plaques on the village sign plinth (photographs taken in 2024). The first plaque reads
“This village sign was erected in 1988 using funds raised from a Village Day Oakington, referred to in the Doomsday Book as Hoccas Farm, had close ties with the R.A.F. during World War II The keystone was recovered from the ruins of the local mill, built in 1863”.
The second plaque reads
“Alan Bloom MBE VMH 19.11.1906–31.3.2005 One of the greatest horticulturalists of the 20th century, who lived and worked in Oakington. During his lifetime he raised and introduced over 200 plants many named after Oakington. He founded the Blooms Nursery business, developed a world famous garden and The Bressingham Steam Museum.“

If you have any information or photos of the Village Green, please leave a comment below.

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