Soham was first founded around the year 630 CE when St. Felix of Burgundy founded one of England’s first monasteries. By the 12th Century it had become St. Andrew’s Church.
For centuries, Soham was a thriving agricultural and trading hub, with farming becoming easier after the Fens were drained by Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden in the 17th Century.
The railway arrived in Soham in the 19th Century and boosted trade but in 1944 the Soham Train Disaster, in which a munitions train exploded, nearly devastated the town. The bravery of railway workers Benjamin Gimbert, James Nightall, Frank Bridges and Herbert Clarke averted disaster, and their heroic act is still honoured today. The original station was closed in 1965, but a new station was opened in 2021.
Here are some of the things you might spot on a visit to the town:
St. Andrew's Church
Soham's new railway station
For more information:
Soham Community Association works in partnership to share information; encourage volunteering; connect people and groups; be neighbourly; and listen to, involve, and be a voice for Soham residents. They also produce the village Jigsaw magazine.
Soham Town Council is a further source of information about what’s happening in Soham.