Yaxley, Cambridgeshire

Yaxley is a village and civil parish in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. Yaxley lies approximately 4 mi south of Peterborough, just off the A15 road. The village is located near the Hampton township, and is approximately three miles northeast of junction 16 of the A1(M) at Norman Cross.

History
Yaxley was listed as Lacheslei in the Domesday Book of 1086 in the Hundred of Norman Cross in Huntingdonshire. In 1086 there was one manor at Yaxley and 39 households.

The Church of England Parish Church of St Peter is a Grade I listed building.

Norman Cross Prison, the earliest known prisoner-of-war camp, was constructed between Yaxley and the villages of Folksworth and Stilton from 1796-97 for the purpose of holding captured troops during the French Revolutionary Wars.

Government
As a civil parish, Yaxley has a parish council. The parish council is elected by the residents of the parish who have registered on the electoral roll; the parish council is the lowest tier of government in England. A parish council is responsible for providing and maintaining a variety of local services including allotments and a cemetery; grass cutting and tree planting within public open spaces such as a village green or playing fields. The parish council reviews all planning applications that might affect the parish and makes recommendations to Huntingdonshire District Council, which is the local planning authority for the parish. The parish council also represents the views of the parish on issues such as local transport, policing and the environment. The parish council raises its own tax to pay for these services, known as the parish precept, which is collected as part of the Council Tax.

Yaxley was in the constituency of Huntingdonshire from 1290 until 1885 and again from 1918 until 1965, with it being part of the constituency of Ramsey during the intermittent years. Prior to this, Yaxley was located within the hundred of Norman Cross within Huntingdonshire from as early as the 10th century. From 1965, the village was part of the new administrative county of Huntingdon and Peterborough. In 1974, following the Local Government Act 1972, Yaxley became a part of the county of Cambridgeshire. Yaxley was represented by the rural district of Norman Cross from 1894 until the district was abolished under the Local Government Act.

The second tier of local government is Huntingdonshire District Council which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and has its headquarters in Huntingdon. Huntingdonshire District Council has 52 councillors representing 29 district wards. Huntingdonshire District Council collects the council tax, and provides services such as building regulations, local planning, environmental health, leisure and tourism. Yaxley is a part of the district ward of Yaxley and Farcet and is represented on the district council by three councillors. District councillors serve for four-year terms following elections to Huntingdonshire District Council.

For Yaxley the highest tier of local government is Cambridgeshire County Council which has administration buildings in Cambridge. The county council provides county-wide services such as major road infrastructure, fire and rescue, education, social services, libraries and heritage services. Cambridgeshire County Council consists of 61 councillors representing 59 electoral divisions. Yaxley is part of the electoral division of Yaxley and Farcet and is represented on the county council by one councillor. Councillor Mac McGuire of the Conservatives, who previously represented Sawtry from 1985 to 1992, represented Yaxley from 1997 until his death was announced in January 2024. The current councillor is Liberal Democrat Andrew Wood, whom was elected in March 2024.

Yaxley is in the parliamentary constituency of North West Cambridgeshire, and elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. Yaxley is represented in the House of Commons by Sam Carling (Labour). The previous members of parliament were Brian Mawhinney (Conservative), who represented the constituency between 1997 and 2005, and Shailesh Vara (Conservative), who represented the constituency from 2005 until 2024.

Population
In the period 1801 to 1901 the population of Yaxley was recorded every 10 years by the UK census. During this time the population was in the range of 986 (the lowest was in 1801) and 1,590 (the highest was in 1901).

From 1901, a census was taken every ten years with the exception of 1941 (due to the Second World War). The population at the Census 2011 included Denton.

All population census figures from report Historic Census figures Cambridgeshire to 2011 by Cambridgeshire Insight.

In 2011, the parish covered an area of 3296 acre and the population density of Yaxley in 2011 was 1781.4 persons per square mile (687.7 per square kilometre).

Sport and leisure
Yaxley has a Non-League football club Yaxley F.C., which play at Leading Drove. Yaxley also has a number of Rugby League players who play with Cambridge Lions in Cambridge. Denmark's Speedway World Cup winning captain Niels Kristian Iversen is the village's most famous sporting resident.

The Yaxley to Farcet cycleway was replaced after two men were hit by a vehicle and killed on the route.

Notable People

 * Olinthus Gregory (1774–1841), a mathematician, author and editor; born in Yaxley.
 * Peter Burroughs (born 1947), resided in Yaxley, running a shop and later in life becoming an actor.