6. Soham Conservation Area - East Cambridgeshire District Council

High Street c.1930
7 Geology and Landscape Setting
7.1 The parish of Soham lies on the border between the Isle of Ely and the
southern part of Cambridgeshire, at its northeastern angle. Soham’s
eastern and western boundaries largely follow existing or former
curving fen watercourses. To the north Soham is divided from Ely
parish by the Crooked Drain (so called by the late 19 th century) that
curves south and further west, the modern southern boundary follows
the division for tithe collection, which ran in places across shared open
fields.
7.2 Most of Soham parish lies within the fens. It is virtually level at
significantly below 10m above sea level. It lies mostly upon gault,
although in the far southeast it lies upon the Lower Chalk and in the far
west upon greensand and Ampthill clay. The gault is exposed
southwest and north of the village, upon land later used as arable, but
elsewhere is overlaid with gravels east of the village and with alluvium
to its north and west.
7.3 Entering the village from the south, the central spine route veers off
from the new bypass that skirts around the eastern edge of the village
and borders the Commons. The initial feeling upon entering Soham is
of going into the suburbs of a larger town with the very suburban Local
Authority estates dominating the townscape. It is quite a distance
before the village centre is reached.
7.4 The shrubs that line the road limit views east across the Commons
from the bypass, but glimpses of the open grazing land with outcrops of
buildings encroaching upon the Commons can be gained.
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