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Many street names in Impington have an historical association and
this is certainly so in respect of Burgoynes Road and Doctor's Close.
Burgoyne was the name of the family who owned Impington Manor in
the 15th century. Their memory is preserved in Impington Church where there is
a fine brass of the son and his daughters. However, at the turn of the 19th century,
when the area around the Church was known as Great Impington, the road from the
end of Impington Lane to the Milton Road was known as the High Street. (Little
Impington was the area around The Dole and Christmas Bridge). By 1881 this stretch
was downgraded and had become part of Milton Road but by 1930 a Post Office map
showed it named as Burgoynes Road.
Off Burgoynes Road to the east, just beyond the Paddock, runs Doctor's
Close. There appear to be two possibilities for the naming of this lane. It could
be in memory of Dr. Tom Pepys, second cousin of the diarist Samuel and grandson
of John Pepys who built Impington Hall. Tom's death appeared to be not greatly
mourned as in 1665 Samuel Pepys recorded: "Yesterday I received the news that
Dr. Tom Pepys is now dead at Impington, for which I am but little sorry, not only
because he would have been troublesome to us but a great shame to his family and
to his profession... he was such a coxcomb."
At the time of the enclosures in 1806 the Pine Coffin family (descendants
of Pepys on the female side) owned a Doctor's Close, but this was to the north
of the present Close. The first Close is now the site of "Grove House", the double
span brick property which once belonged to "Watty Papworth", bookmaker and pig
farmer (he made lovely sausages during the War).
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The second possibility is that Doctor's Close was named after Dr.
Charles Lestrourgeon. According to Kelly's Directory of 1879, Dr. Lestrourgeon
lived at this close - named Finkhills Close in 1806 - when it was owned by Christ's
College. The strange thing is that in the 1881 Census, Dr. Lestrourgeon is recorded
as still living in Hawes House in Huntingdon Road (once part of Impington Parish!),
which he had designed and built in 1852. No trace can be found of a house in the
Close grand enough for this eminent surgeon of Addenbrooke's Hospital. In addition,
the Close was the home of James and Frances Unwin (parents of seesdman William
Unwin) who lived at the Walnut Tree Beer House.
So there is no certainty about the naming of Doctor's Close but
both possibilities link us with the past.
Walnut Tree Beer House
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Dear Friends, We now know Sainsbury's will not be allowed to build
on the Arbury Park site. However, one fact cannot be altered and that is that
shopping is now considered a leisure activity. In recent surveys people were asked
what they did in the free time- and frequently the answer was "we go shopping".
Thirty years ago that would have been inconceivable. People went to the shops
to buy enough food for the week, children were dragged round and husbands went
with gritted teeth. Now the whole family can enjoy the event, children as well
as partners. We shop when we want to celebrate something. We shop when we are
bored, we shop when we feel down and want something to cheer us up. As I read
on the back window of a car "When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping".
Shopping has become the religion of the late twentieth century. Supermarkets
have moved from the High street to the edge of town and have become places of
worship. If you don't agree, think for a moment about the architecture of the
shopping complexes. They are our new cathedrals. Lakeside just down the road looks
more like St Paul's Cathedral with its domes soaring above the skyline. Consider
closer to home, Milton Tesco's with its spire and a clock- usually the preserve
of the Anglican Church in years gone by.
Inside these modern temples we can pay homage to the god, mammon. Our offerings
can be made by plastic so we don't feel the pain, the music is provided by the
cash registers ringing- oh happy days!
This weekend, where will you be worshipping?
Hugh McCurdy
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