SWAFFHAM-PRIOR, a village and a parish in Newmarket district, Cambridge. The village stands 5½ miles W of Newmarket r. station; was once a market-town: and has a post-office under Cambridge. The parish contains also the ancient hamlet of Reach; was originally two parishes,-St. Mary, and St. Cyriac; and comprises 5,297 acres. Real property, £8,432. Pop., 1,329. Houses, 312. The property is subdivided. S. House is the seat ofP. Allix, Esq. The living is a double vicarage in the diocese of Ely. Value, £500.* Patron, alternately the Bishop of Ely and the Dean and Chapter. St. Mary's church is a picturesque ruin; St. Cyriac's church has been rebuilt; and both stand in one church-yard. There are two dissenting chapels, an endowed school with £30 a year, alms houses, and other charities.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))