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A Potted History of Sawtry 4

Information in this section is used by permission and is taken from "A Glimpse Into Sawtry's Past", by H. Milford, published by CARESCO, 1998

DRINKING WATER

In 1899 a project was begun to get a supply of fresh drinking water sited permanently in Sawtry. The Squire of Conington sold a half acre of land to Sawtry Parish Council for £50 5s 9d [£50 28p] and a penny rate was set to help pay for building a reservoir. It was finished in 1905, having taken six years to complete. Supply has long since outstripped demand and it ceased use many years ago.

The Green

The Green was always the centre of village activity. Fairs were held there on feast days. [Our Sawtry Feast celebrations are held in the first week of June.] During 1899 charges were fixed for public hire of the green: 1s 5d (7p) for 24 hours, with the proviso that there was to be no selling of goods or entertainment after 11pm.

A Police Constable's house faced the Green with a lock-up for miscreants. It is sited on the east side of the green. The lock-up key was formally handed over to the Parish Council in 1901 by the Superintendent of Police. There were two cells in it, one on each side of a passage. The cell doors were iron clad, well secured with iron bolts and had a small barred window. It was well used at the weekends, mostly by locals, who were enthusiastic drinkers, often ending their sessions by spending the night in a cell to sober up and cool off enough to be let out in the morning! A few locals can still remember its use well into the 20th century.

The fire engine shed faced the Green. The engine was horsedrawn and worked by hand and always seemed to be in need of repair. There was a charge for calling out the fire brigade, which was £4 for up to 10 hours, and over 10 hours the cost was 5s [25p] per hour. The Boy Scouts were assigned to look after the fire engine and so well did they do it, that by 1925, it was in such good condition that the Parish Council treated the Scouts to a new fire hose!

Village Facilities

Sawtry had a smock mill on Gidding Road, part of which is still visible. It ground corn into flour for bread for the local farmers and those villagers who collected the gleanings (the loose corn left in the fields after the harvest had been gathered). The local baker lit his ovens on a Sunday so that the locals could, for a fee, have their Sunday dinner cooked and their bread baked!

The village was well served and mainly self-supporting. It had a good supply of public houses, Churches, the miller, baker, two blacksmiths and an engineering works for the steam engines which worked he land. Adding to the growing list of small businesses were a cobbler, carpenter, saddler, and 'carrier' who went to the local markets at Huntingdon, Peterborough, Oundle, or Thrapston on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

It is likely some people only ever went as far from Sawtry as the local carrier could take them, and maybe some who never went that far. It seems that Sawtry has always been a lively, industrious, enterprising and friendly place to be so why go elsewhere?