Swaffham Prior, Cambridgeshire

Description
Swaffham Prior or Great Swaffham, a village and a parish in Cambridgeshire. The village stands 6 miles W of Newmarket, and has a station on the G.E. branch line from Cambridge to Fordham. It was once a market-town, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Cambridge. The parish contains also part of the ancient hamlet of Keach, was originally two parishes, St Mary and St Cyriac, and comprises 5563 acres of land and 24 of water; population, 1006. There is a parish council consisting of twelve members. Swaffham Prior House is a chief residence. The living is a double vicarage in the diocese of Ely; net value, £410 with residence. Patrons, alternately the Bishop of Ely and the Dean and Chapter. St Mary's Church was long a picturesque ruin, but has been partially restored. St Cyriac's Church is a plain building in a debased Gothic style. Both stand in one churchyard. There are a Congregational chapel and an endowed school. The hamlet of Eeach is about a mile N from the railway station, and is partly in Burwell parish. It has a school church, erected in 1860, and a Congregational chapel.