Our History & Impact
Cambridge Past Present & Future (formerly the Cambridge Preservation Society) was founded in 1928 to protect the historic city of Cambridge and its countryside setting from being harmed by inappropriate development. Over the years our charity has grown and our remit has broadened to encompass the wider environmental needs of Cambridge and its surrounding areas.
Protecting what makes Cambridge special
Cambridge Past, Present & Future is an independent local charity protecting the nature, beauty and heritage of Cambridge and its surrounding countryside.
We care for green spaces and historic buildings, restore habitats for wildlife, and help people discover and enjoy the places on their doorstep. We also speak up for Cambridge’s future, working to ensure that decisions about its growth respect its landscapes, history and communities.
From a woodland walk at Wandlebury to a campaign to protect a much-loved landscape, our work connects people with the places that make Cambridge special.
The places we care for
We look after some of Cambridge’s most treasured countryside and heritage:
Wandlebury Country Park: Woodland walks, meadows and an ancient Iron Age hillfort in the Gog Magog Hills, just south of Cambridge.
Coton Countryside Reserve: Countryside walks, wildlife habitats and views towards Cambridge, west of the city.
Grantchester Meadows: Much-loved riverside meadows between Cambridge and Grantchester, which we help care for in partnership with King’s College.
The Leper Chapel and Barnwell Meadows: A remarkable medieval building and neighbouring green space in east Cambridge.
Bourn Windmill: One of the country’s oldest surviving windmills.
Hinxton Watermill: A historic working watermill on the River Cam.
These places offer space to explore, learn, find quiet and spend time together. Looking after them means caring for both their history and their future.
What we do
Help nature recover
Our countryside team and volunteers manage woodlands, meadows and hedgerows, creating richer habitats and helping wildlife thrive. We work with partners to restore and connect nature across the wider Cambridge area.
Protect local heritage
We maintain and restore historic buildings and care for important archaeological sites. Through open days, events and interpretation, we help people discover the stories these places hold.
Connect people with nature and history
Our outdoor education, guided walks, events and volunteering give people of all ages opportunities to learn, get involved and enjoy their local environment.
Speak up for Cambridge
We scrutinise planning proposals and campaign for development that respects Cambridge’s character, protects important landscapes and heritage, and provides space for nature and people.
Rooted in Cambridge since 1928
Founded as the Cambridge Preservation Society in 1928, we have spent almost a century helping protect the city and its countryside.
Our work has helped safeguard the Gog Magog Hills, establish Cambridge’s Green Belt, save historic buildings and create Wandlebury Country Park.
As we approach our centenary in 2028, we are building on that legacy: restoring nature, caring for heritage and helping shape a future in which Cambridge remains a special place to live, work and visit.
Made possible by people like you
Our work depends on the generosity and commitment of our members, volunteers, donors and partners.
By joining, donating or giving your time, you can help care for the places you love, and protect them for the generations who follow.
We succeed in our work because of the support of people like you
There are many ways you can support our charity from becoming a member or patron, supporting our appeals, making a donation, sponsoring a project or leaving a legacy.
Our Achievements
Cambridge Past Present & Future (formerly the Cambridge Preservation Society) was founded in 1928 to protect the historic city of Cambridge and its countryside setting from being harmed by inappropriate development.
Over the years our charity has grown and our remit has broadened to encompass the wider environmental needs of Cambridge and its surrounding areas.
Nature and climate mitigation
Cambridge Past, Present & Future owns Wandlebury Country Park, Coton Countryside Reserve and Barnwell Meadows, where we work hard to enhance nature and help mitigate climate change. We also partner with other organisations to protect and improve nature across greater Cambridge.
Built heritage
CambridgePPF is the only local charity that cares for multiple heritage buildings in and around Cambridge. We are responsible for the restoration and upkeep of Bourn Windmill (Ancient Monument), Cambridge Leper Chapel (grade I listed), Hinxton Watermill (grade II listed) and the historic buildings and archaeological sites at Wandlebury Country Park (Ancient Monument and grade II listed buildings). We are also the only local charity campaigning to protect Cambridge’s wider built heritage.
Green space and wellbeing
Our charity owns and manages more than 550 acres of land in and around Cambridge. Every year, we welcome over 150,000 visits to our green spaces and historic buildings, including thousands of school children. We organise an annual programme of over 150 cultural and educational activities for the local community.
The development of Cambridge
A large (yet not so obvious) part of our work is in lobbying and advising on the responsible development of Cambridge – its housing, employment and infrastructure. Our work here is centred on ensuring a balance between the needs of people and the environment. Our work in Cambridge’s town planning and civic sector often involves collaborations with local residents, parish councils, government bodies, and environmental groups.
In our first 50 years we:
- Purchased land to save the attractive countryside and historic villages of Grantchester, Coton and Madingley from inappropriate development
- Saved and restored the country’s oldest windmill at Bourn
- Prevented a ring road being built across Grantchester Meadows
- Saved the Gog Magog Hills from development
- Created Cambridge’s first country park at Wandlebury
- Took on responsibility for maintaining the historic Leper Chapel
- Saved and restored historic cottages in the village of Melbourne
- Mapped out footpaths to protect them for future generations to use (before The Rights of Way Act came into effect)
- Helped to establish Cambridge’s ‘Conservation Areas’ and ‘Buildings of Local Interest’
Since the 1980s we have:
- Saved and restored the 17th century watermill at Hinxton
- Established Cambridge’s Green Belt, after 50 years of campaigning
- Created a countryside reserve near Coton village
- Planted over 10,000 trees, with the help of the local community
- Converted arable farmland into wildflower meadows
- Saved Grade II listed cottages on Orchard Street
- Converted Wandlebury’s derelict stables into a successful outdoor education centre
- Championed a Nature Recovery Network
Our Mission and Aims
We are the local charity that cares about the Cambridge area and its green landscapes. Cambridge, Past, Present & Future is the only independent, local charity that looks at the bigger picture of the development of Cambridge.
Whether historic buildings, green spaces, nature, housing or infrastructure – we are passionate about all of it. Protecting, enhancing and celebrating all that’s good about this special city, and its surrounding areas.
We act as a voice of reason and conscience for those who are responsible for greater Cambridge’s future. Ensuring that it moves forwards with respect for nature, history and the people who live here. No other local charity has as broad a reach or remit. No other organisation cares about the past, present and future of Cambridge the way we do.
Our sole purpose is to make sure that, no matter how Cambridge progresses, it retains everything that connects us to its history and makes it a vital, and beautiful place to be. To this end, we work with the people of Cambridge and other organisations to protect, enhance and celebrate everything that makes Cambridge special, for today and for generations to come.
Our mission is very simple (yet, at the same time, very complex) – to make sure the development of Cambridge is carried out responsibly. Improving this great place, for people and nature.
People.
We will inspire people of all ages to get outdoors and help them to enjoy, learn about and get involved with their local environment, heritage and culture.
Natural heritage.
We will protect the green setting of Cambridge and its most valuable landscapes and we will enhance and connect them for people and nature.
Built heritage.
We will protect, celebrate and improve the important built heritage of the Cambridge area.
What We Want To Do
- Reduce river pollution, help nature and capture carbon, by creating a large new wetland at Coton Reserve
- Provide more green space, by converting farmland into new habitats at Coton Reserve
- Help deliver Cambridge Nature Network’s vision of doubling habitats for nature and people by 2050
- Improve CambridgePPF’s green spaces to meet the needs of a growing, ageing and more diverse community
- Maximise the benefits of CambridgePPF’s green spaces for nature, climate mitigation and wellbeing
- Repair the Leper Chapel and transform it into an accessible, well-used community building
- Ensure our two mills continue to grind corn, as they have done for centuries
- Protect and restore the historic buildings and archaeology at Wandlebury
- Inspire more people to get outdoors and connect with their local environment, heritage and culture
- Influence the future development of our area, working to protect the best of Cambridge’s landscapes, ecology and heritage for future generations
- Increase CambridgePPF’s capacity to do all of the above, to the highest possible standards.
Barnwell Meadows
Managing for nature at Barnwell Meadows
The land surrounding the Leper Chapel is also owned by Cambridge PPF. Barnwell Junction Pastures (also known as Barnwell Meadows) City Wildlife Site and was the site of the medieval Stourbridge Fair which was the largest fair in Europe at one point and took place on the site for 800 years.
Stourbridge Fair was revived by Cambridge PPF in 2004.
The Meadows were leased for around 60 years and most recently used for horse pasture, as a result they were not in good ecological condition. As part of a new Chisholm Trail project, in 2018 we took back the management of the meadows and we are working
to enhance their biodiversity. Since then we have planted 300m of new hedge, installed bird boxes and re-instigated meadow management (grazing with livestock). The new Chisholm Trail runs through the meadows.