Our Story

The prime reason for establishing the charity was to facilitate the purchase and continuing management of the two Abbey Fields sites, Long Meadow and Croft Close Set-aside (since renamed Croft Close Nature Reserve).

Generations of Histon and Impington folk have enjoyed outdoor activities at Abbey Farm – though it has to be said at times the enjoyment was at best tolerated by the Rowley family who owned the farm.

When the farm was put up for sale in three lots, far sighted residents saw the opportunity to secure Long Meadow and Croft Close Set-aside for the community, to be retained in perpetuity as wild green spaces with open access.

This vision was shared by the Watson family, the eventual purchasers of the farmhouse and surrounding land.

To go from the germ of an ambitious idea to raising £0.5 million was a tall order, but with a mix of perseverance and good fortune, this has been achieved.

The Abbey Fields project has been from the start community led. The Parish Council played a pivotal role at the outset, providing both financial support and gravitas. With their support the Histon & Impington Green Spaces (HIGS) charity was set up to save the land for the benefit of the community.

Galvanised by the first notice of sale the parish council and local activists employed a novel approach of inviting members of the community to ‘pledge’ donations. The website publicising progress was established early in this process. The level of pledging (some 300 pledges amounting to around 60% of the required sum) gave the parish council and key players the confidence that the community was strongly behind the project.

At the March 2021 Histon & Impington Parish Council meeting it was unanimously agreed to back the Abbey Fields community campaign (see box).

Two public meetings were held in June and September 2021 to explain the project and canvas support (news reporting, see box above). Footage of the latter meeting can be viewed on the Abbey Fields website here.

Crucial to our story are the Jenking family who provided a bridging facility allowing the land to purchased once the community fundraising was complete, and Sally London who purchased Long Meadow on behalf of HIGS.

Since the charity was established and formally introduced to the community in September 2021 we have run a number of events of our own – including work parties, fundraising sales, and opportunities to learn about biodiversity aimed at all ages- and actively participated in village events run by others.

By June 2023 we had raised the funds to complete the purchase of Croft Close Set-aside, and thus secure Abbey Fields - a fantastic achievement by the community!

Having achieved this, the charity set out its strategic priorities. This document was framed mindful of the original aspirations of the group that started the venture as well as, importantly, the intentions announced publicly from the initial fundraising through to the ambitions more recently developed.

In January 2023 HI Friends, the organisers of the 2023 Histon & Impington Wellbeing Festival, carried out a survey of what wellbeing activities people would be most interested in. The results, nature appreciation 38% and outdoor wellbeing activities 43%, indicates strong support for having and using the villages’ green spaces.

We see families and young people as key users. We have had over 100 children take part in both of our April/Easter nature trails and similar numbers of people have come to our bird ringing and moth demonstrations. This illustrates the appetite within the community for opportunities for children to engage with nature (see box below).

2022 Children’s Easter Nature Trail – Activity 5 ‘why I love nature’

Children put their thoughts and drawings on cards strung on a line like bunting, their messages included: