One of the local history displays at the Arbury Court shopping centre. The origins of Arbury, of course, pre-date those of Chesterton by centuries. The display also mentions the Roman finds in the old Arbury Meadows/Manor Farm fields, including a Roman villa. More were found last year, including a plesiosaur bone - perhaps a prized curiosity of a Roman resident. The original Arbury Road connected the Milton (or Ely) Road to the Histon/Cambridge Road until the late 1970s, when the dead end King's Hedges Road, which led north of the guided busway to King's Hedges, a fifty-eight acre farm (what we term here the REAL King's Hedges), was redirected and expanded across the old Arbury/Harborough Meadows/Manor Farm and lopped off the end of Arbury Road as part of the A14 motorway development. Before Manor Farm, much of the land north of Arbury Road was known as the Arbury/Harborough Meadows, North Arbury/Harborough Furlong, West Arbury/Harborough Furlong, etc. A swathe of land sout...
Is Arbury simply an electoral ward in the university city of Cambridge, the boundaries of which are arbitrarily redefined by Council planners whenever they choose? Or is it an area with a history of its own? We've studied Arbury, North and South, its prehistoric origins, Roman times, the old farms, the early housing estate and right up to date. We cover the original area, from Carlton Way to King's Hedges Road.