Burwell Cambridgeshire
Burwell	Electronics & DIY	Family History	Dorset holiday	Misc	Natural History	Wild Food	Walks
Burwell brook	New River	Brick Pits	Burwell Castle	Paulines Swamp		Demolition	Local walks

The Smith factory site was once the site of Burwell Railway station. The housing estate that now stands on the site has its roads named Station Gate and Railway Close in memory of that fact.

There is a page on the British History Online which gives more detail of the factory's history. The factory was built in the late 1950s. There are pictures of Burwell Station on the Disused Stations WWW site.

The factory's reception was about 100 meters east of and opposite to Scotred Close. Underneath this was a sump with a pump running continuously, for once this area was a watercress bed with springs. All that remains of this swampy area today is Pauline's swamp. The final photos show an area being pile-driven prior to capping with concrete in March 2003.

Click on a thumbnail to view a larger version with more details.
Click on this larger version and you will download the original full size (typically 3-10MB) JPEG.

I understand that some of the houses in this estate suffer, unsurprisingly, from damp. The new estate, Birches Tye (what a stupid name - there are no birches anywhere near, but there are aspens - and would Aspen Tye not be a better name?) which is being build (2016-2017) has pumps 24/7 to remove ground water as they build it.

Top of page