Eaton Ford
Eaton Ford is an area of St Neots, Cambridgeshire, England, approximately north of London. Historically in Bedfordshire, it was transferred to Huntingdonshire in 1965, before becoming part of Cambridgeshire in 1974.
Although the majority of St Neots is east of the Great Ouse, Eaton Ford is on the west bank and is still part of the ecclesiastical parish of Eaton Socon. An old cluster of houses is identifiable with a triangular village green. Old farmhouses are dotted among newer houses.
History
In Anglo-Saxon times the place was known as Sudbury but became known as Eaton Ford as it was next to the village of Eatun and hosted a great ford across the river, a main route from the south to the town of St Neots and nearby parts of its county.In recent decades Eaton Ford expanded quickly. From the 1960s until the 1980s four neighbourhoods/estates have been built:
| Centred on | Name |
| Milton Avenue and Gainsborough Avenue | The Poets |
| The Meadowsweet, Silverweed and Burwell Road | Bovis Homes/Bovis |
| Brook Road and Orchard Road | - |
| Trafalgar Road / Jutland Rise | The Battles |
;Notes
Smaller infill and brownfield site additions are, as across areas having had sufficient demand in England since the 1990, widespread as meet general planning policy save for protected /covenanted land.
This place has absorbed medieval-founded hamlet Crosshall, still a crossroads in the north, next to St Neots Golf Club which bounds the village briefly. The name 'Crosshall' remains in the name of a local school, a road, and a history board. The secondary triangular green near the main green is Maltmans Green, at the north end of which is The Barley Mow and Barley Court. On this green another history board sets out the history of Crosshall Ford
Government
A second tier of local government operates, Huntingdonshire District Council, headquartered in Huntingdon. It has 52 councillors representing 29 wards. It collects all council tax and administers/provides building regulations, planning and environmental checks/approvals, day centres, assessed housing benefits, parks, waste collections, a communal leisure budget and supports tourism. Eaton Socon lately approximates to the St Neots Eaton Ford ward having two councillors. District councillors serve four-year terms after District elections.The first tier of local government is Cambridgeshire County Council, headquartered in Cambridge. This provides county-wide services such as in road infrastructure, fire and rescue, education, social services, libraries and heritage. Cambridgeshire County Council consists of 69 councillors representing 60 electoral divisions. Eaton Socon is of late in electoral division Little Paxton and St Neots North having two councillors.
In parliamentary elections voters contribute to the Huntingdon seat. This is represented by Jonathan Djanogly since 2001, succeeding Sir John Major .
Boundaries
The boundaries between Eaton Ford and neighbouring Eaton Socon are arbitrary but in a few places have signposts.The limits are widely seen as the A1 at Duloe Road, along the latter, to Great North Road, then south along the latter to culverted Duloe Brook, then east along the latter to the Ouse, then the latter to St Neots Golf Course, then the latter to the A1. Everything south of the southern limit is associated with Eaton Socon, save Field Cottage Road parallel to the brook, in 1900, like most of the settlement, fields.