F J Smith photographer, Margett Street, Cottenham, subject unknown, (MoC)

Margett Street / Margaret’s Lane / School Lane, Cottenham

History of Margett Street

According to Cottenham in Focus, 2002, Margett Street was usually known as School Lane, but listed in old documents as Margaret’s Lane.

Local historian Francis Garrett suggested that the ‘Margaret’ was Margaret Mawrence who had kept a shop at the High Street end of Margett Street. She died in 1785 aged 80 and a printing firm in Cambridge had mistook the local pronunciation of Margaret.