In medieval times, quarries such as Swaddywell would have provided stone  for local churches and for the great cathedrals at Ely and Peterborough. John Clare, the famous Helpston-born poet, wrote about Swaddywell in the early 19th century, describing the changing landscape around the village brought about by the enclosure of common land and the consequent destruction of many familiar natural landmarks.

Lament of Swordy Well

For passers-by I never pin

No troubles to my breast

Nor carr y round some names to win

More money from the rest

I am Swordy Well a piece of land

Thats fell upon the town

Who worked me till I couldnt stand

And crush me now Im down

Swaddywell was one of Englands earliest nature reserves, leased by the National Trust between 1915 and 1924. Charles Rothschild, the man who initiated the modern nature conservation movement, included Swaddywell on his 1915 list of the countrys most important nature conservation sites.