Welcome to the Hatley website

Hatley is roughly halfway between Bedford and Cambridge, linked by footpaths and bridleways to the surrounding villages.

The two hamlets predate Domesday. They share two medieval churches, a village shop-cum-post office and a cricket green.  There is a useful, and up-to-date, section on Hatley on the Wikipedia website.  Details of the listed buildings in Hatley can be found on the British Listed Buildings website.

The Grade II* listed parish church of Hatley St George stands opposite St George's Tower, originally a water tower, now a small business park.

A feature of the Hatleys is that the more important buildings were once surrounded by moats.  These can still be seen, especially in East Hatley.

Next to a good water-supply, a dry soil for building was generally essential, though some west Cambridgeshire villages planted upon heavy ill-drained clays put a moat around every house to drain the site, as at East Hatley, where most of the moats, or the remains of them, can be traced to this day.

From English Landscapes by W G Hoskins, BBC Publications, 1973 (ISBN 0563 12407 5).

Professor W G Hoskins (1908 - 1992) is usually credited with establishing English local history as a formal academic discipline.  His pioneering book The Making of the English Landscape, first published in 1955 (ISBN 0140154108), is well worth reading, although currently out of print – second hand copies can be obtained via Amazon.

St. Denis church – also Grade II* listed and now an empty shell no longer in use and on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk register, although the churchyard is still consecrated – retains its moat; other moats can be seen from the road near Manor Barn and The Palace.

There is more about the history of the Hatleys on our About Hatley page – and photographs of Hatley and the surrounding area on the Geograph site.   The Geograph Britain and Ireland project is in the process of collecting geographically representative photographs and information for every square kilometre of Great Britain and Ireland from material supplied by, well, anyone.

This website is primarily for the residents of Hatley St George and East Hatley, with news, history, community updates and local services.