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CAMBRIDGESHIRE
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CAMBRIDGESHIRE , an eastern See also:county of See also:England, bounded N. by See also:Lincolnshire, E. by See also:Norfolk and See also:Suffolk, S. by See also:Essex and See also:Hertfordshire, and W. by See also:Bedfordshire, See also:Huntingdonshire and See also:Northamptonshire. The See also:area is 858.9 sq. m. The greater See also:part of the county falls within the See also:district of the See also:Fens, and is See also:flat, elevated only a few feet above See also:sea-level, and intersected with innumerable drainage channels. The See also:physical characteristics of this district, and the See also:history of its reclamation from a marshy and in See also:great part uninhabitable See also:condition, fall for See also:consideration under the heading FENS. Except in the See also:south of the county the scenery of the flat See also:land is hardly ever varied by rising ground or See also:wood, and owes the attraction it possesses rather to individuality than to beauty. At the south-eastern and See also:southern boundaries, and to the See also:west of See also:Cambridge, bordering the valley of the See also:Cam on the See also:north, the land rises in See also:gentle undulations; but for the See also:rest, such elevations as the See also:Gog Magog Hills, S.E. of Cambridge, and the gentle hillock on which the See also:city of See also:Ely stands, are isolated and conspicuous from afar. The See also:principal See also:rivers are the See also:Ouse and its tributaries in the south and centre, and the Nene in the north; the greater part of the See also:waters of both these rivers within Cambridgeshire flow in artificial channels, of which those for the Ouse, two great parallel cuts between Earith and See also:Denver Sluice, in Norfolk, called the See also:Bedford Rivers, See also:form the most remarkable feature in the drainage of the county, The old See also:main channel of the Ouse, from Ely downward to Denver (below which are tidal waters), is filled chiefly by the waters of the Cam or Granta, which joins the Ouse 3 M. above Ely, the See also:Lark (which with its feeder, the See also:Kennett, forms the boundary of the county with Suffolk for a considerable distance) and the Little Ouse, forming part of the boundary with Norfolk. See also:Geology.—By its See also:geological features, Cambridgeshire is divisible into three well-marked regions; in the south and south-See also:east are the See also:low uplands formed by the See also:Chalk; north of this, but best See also:developed in the south-west, is a See also:clay and See also:greensand area; all the remaining portion is alluvial Fenland. The See also:general strike of the rocks is along a south-west and north-east See also:line, the See also:dip is south-easterly. The See also:oldest See also:rock is the See also:Jurassic See also:Oxford Clay, which appears as an irregular See also:strip of elevated flat ground reaching from Croxton by See also:Conington and Fenny See also:Drayton to Willingham and Rampton. Eastward and northward it no doubt forms the See also:floor of the Fen See also:country, and at Thorney and See also:Whittlesea small patches rise like islands, through the level fen See also:alluvium. The Coralline Oolite, with the Elsworth or St Ives rock at the See also:base, occurs as a small patch, covered by Greensand, at Upware, whence many fossils have been obtained; elsewhere its See also:place is taken by the See also:Ampthill See also:Clays, which are passage beds between the Oxford and Kimmeridge Clays. The latter clay lies in a narrow strip by Papworth St See also:Agnes, Oakington and See also:Cottenham; a large irregular outcrop surrounds Haddenham and Ely, and similar occurrences are at See also: See also:Industries.—The See also:climate is as a whole healthy, the fens being so carefully drained that diseases to which dwellers in marshy districts are commonly liable are practically eliminated. The land is very fertile, and although some decrease is generally apparent in the acreage under See also:grain crops, Cambridgeshire is one of the principal grain-producing counties in England. Nearly nine-tenths of the See also:total area is under cultivation, and an unusually small proportion is under permanent pasture. See also:Wheat is the See also:chief grain See also:crop, but large quantities of See also:barley and oats are also grown. Among See also:green crops potatoes occupy a large and increasing area. See also:Dairy-farming is especially practised in the south-west, where the district of the Cam valley has See also:long been known as the Dairies; and much See also:butter and See also:cheese are sent to the See also:London markets. See also:Sheep are pastured extensively on the higher ground, but the number of these and of See also:cattle for the county as a whole is not large. Beans occupy a considerable acreage, and See also:fruit-growing and See also:market-gardening are important in many parts. There is no large manufacturing See also:industry See also:common to the county in general; among See also:minor trades See also:brewing is carried on at several places, and See also:brick-making and See also:lime-burning may also be mentioned. Communications.—The principal railway serving the county is the Great Eastern, of which See also:system numerous See also:branch lines centre chiefly upon Cambridge, Ely and March. Cambridge is also served by branches of the Great See also:Northern line from See also:Hitchin, of the London & North-Western from Bletchley and Bedford, and of the Midland from Kettering. A See also:trunk line connecting the eastern counties with the north and north-west of England runs northward from March under the See also:joint working of the Great Northern and Great Eastern companies. The artificial See also:water-ways provide the county with an extensive system of inland See also:navigation; and a considerable proportion of the See also:industrial See also:population is employed on these. In this connexion the building of boats and See also:barges is carried on at several towns. Population and See also:Administration.—The area of the See also:ancient county is 549,723 acres, with a population in 1891 of 188,961, and in Igor of 190,682. The ancient county includes the two administrative counties of Cambridge in the south and the Isle of Ely in the north. The See also:liberty of the Isle of Ely was formerly of the See also:independent nature of a county See also:palatine, but ceased to be so under acts of 1836 and 1837. Its area is 238,048 acres, and that of the administrative county of Cambridge 315,171 acres. Cambridgeshire contains seventeen hundreds. The municipal boroughs are Cambridge, the county See also:town (pop. 38,379), in the administrative county of Cambridge, and See also:Wisbech (9381) in the Isle of Ely. The other See also:urban districts are-in theadministrative county of Cambridge, See also:Chesterton (9591), and in the Isle of Ely, Chatteris (4711), Ely (7713), March (7565) and See also:Whittlesey (3909). Among other considerable towns Soham (4230) and Littleport (4181), both in the neighbourhood of Ely, may be mentioned. The town of See also:Newmarket, which, although wholly within the administrative county of West Suffolk, is mainly in the ancient county of Cambridgeshire, is famous for its See also:race-meetings. The county is in the south-eastern See also:circuit. and assizes are held at Cambridge. Each administrative county has a See also:court of See also:quarter sessions, and the two are divided into ten See also:petty sessional divisions. The See also:borough of Cambridge has a See also:separate court of quarter sessions, and this borough and Wisbech have separate commissions of the See also:peace. The university of Cambridge exercises disciplinary See also:jurisdiction over its members. There are 168 entire See also:civil parishes in the two administrative counties. Cambridgeshire is almost wholly in the See also:diocese of Ely and the archdeaconries of Ely and See also:Sudbury, but small portions are within the dioceses of St Albans and See also:Norwich. There are 194 ecclesiastical parishes or districts wholly or in part within the county. The See also:parliamentary divisions are three, namely, Northern or Wisbech, Western or Chesterton, and Eastern or Newmarket, each returning one member. The county also contains the parliamentary borough of Cambridge, returning one member; and the university of Cambridge returns two members. History.—The earliest See also:English settlements in what is now Cambridgeshire were made about the 6th See also:century by bands of Engles, who pushed their way up the Ouse and the Cam, and established themselves in the fen-district, where they became known as the Gyrwas, the districts corresponding to the See also:modern counties of Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire being distinguished as the lands of the North Gyrwas and the South Gyrwas respectively. At this See also:period the fen-district stretched southward as far as Cambridge, and the essential unity which it preserved is illustrated later by its inclusion under one See also:sheriff, chosen in successive years from Cambridgeshire proper, the Isle of Ely and Huntingdonshire. In 656 numerous lands in the neighbourhood of Wisbech were included in the endowment of the See also:abbey of See also:Peterborough, and in the same century religious houses were established at Ely and Thorney, both of which, however, were destroyed during the Danish invasions of the 9th century. After the treaty of See also:Wedmore the district became part of the Danelaw. On the See also:expulsion of the Danes by See also:Edward in the loth century it was included in East Anglia, but in the r rth century was again overrun by the Danes, who in the course of their devastations burnt Cambridge. The first mention of the See also:shire in the Saxon See also:Chronicle records the valiant resistance which it opposed to the invaders in See also:Toro when the rest of East Anglia had taken ignominious See also:flight. The shire-system of East Anglia was in all See also:probability not definitely settled before the See also:Conquest, but during the Danish occupation of the 9th century the district possessed a certain military and See also:political organization See also:round Cambridge, its chief town, whence probably originated the constitution and demarcation of the later shire. At the See also:time of the Domesday Survey the county was divided as now, except that the Isle of Ely, which then formed two hundreds having their See also:meeting-place at Witchford, is now divided into the four hundreds of Ely, Wisbech, North Witchford and South See also:Witch-See also:ford, while Cambridge formed a See also:hundred by itself. The hundred of Flendish was then known as Flamingdike. Cambridgeshire was formerly included in the diocese of See also:Lincoln, until, on the erection of Ely to a See also:bishop's see in 1ro9, almost the whole county was placed in that diocese. In 1291 the whole county, with the exception of parishes in the deanery of See also:Fordham and diocese of Norwich, constituted the archdeaconry of Ely, comprising the deaneries of Ely, Wisbech, Chesterton, Cambridge, Shingay, Bourn, See also:Barton and Camps. The Isle of Ely formerly constituted an independent See also:franchise in which the bishops exercised quasi-See also:palatinate rights, and offences were held to be committed against the bishop's peace. These privileges were considerably abridged in the reign of See also: No Englishmen retained lands of any importance after the Conquest, and at the time of the Domesday Survey the chief See also:lay proprietors were Alan, See also:earl of See also:Brittany, whose descendants the Zouches retained estates in the county until the 15th century; Picot the sheriff, whose estates passed to the families of Peverell and Peche; See also:Aubrey de See also:Vere, whose descendants retained their estates till the 16th century; and Hardwinus de Scalariis, ancestor of the Scales of Whaddon.
From the time of See also:Hereward's famous resistance to the Conqueror in the fen-district, the Isle of Ely was intimately concerned with the great political struggles of the country. It was defended against See also:Stephen by Bishop Nigellus of Ely, who fortified Ely and Aldreth, and the latter in 1144 was held for the empress Maud by See also:Geoffrey de See also:Mandeville. During the struggles between See also: See also:Saffron was extensively cultivated in the 18th century, and See also:paper was manufactured near Sturbridge. Sturbridge See also:fair was at this period reckoned the largest in See also:Europe, the chief articles of merchandise being wool, hops and See also:leather; and the Newmarket races and See also:horse-See also:trade were already famous. Large See also:waste areas were brought under cultivation in the 17th century through the drainage of the fen-district, which was brought to completion about 1652 through the labours of See also:Cornelius Vermuyden, a Dutchman. The coprolite industry was very profitable for a See also:short period from 185o to 188o, and its decline was accompanied by a general industrial and agricultural depression. Cambridgeshire returned three members to See also:parliament in 1290, and in 1295 the county returned two members, the borough of Cambridge two members, and the city of Ely two members, this being the See also:sole return for Ely. The university was summoned to return members in 1300 and again in 1603, but no returns are recorded before 1614, after which it continued to return two members. Under the Reform See also:Act of 1832 the county returned three members.
. Antiquities.—In ecclesiastical See also:architecture Cambridgeshire would be See also:rich only in the See also:possession of the magnificent See also:cathedral at Ely and the round See also: Another Norman building of See also:special See also:interest is Sturbridge See also:chapel near
Cambridge, which belonged to a lepers' See also:hospital. To this See also:foundation King John granted a fair, which became, and continued until the 18th century, one of the most important in England. It is still held in See also:September. At Swaff See also:ham See also:Prior there are remains of two churches in one See also:churchyard, the See also:tower of one being See also:good Transitional Norman, while that of the other is Perpendicular, the upper part octagonal. Among many See also:Early English examples the church of See also:Cherry See also:Hinton near Cambridge may be mentioned. The churches of Trumpington and Bottisham are fine specimens of the Decorated See also:style; in the first is a famous See also:brass to See also:Sir See also:Roger de Trumpington (1289). As Perpendicular examples the tower and See also:spire of St See also:Mary's, Whittlesey, and the rich wooden roof of Outwell church, may be selected. Monastic remains are scanty. Excluding the town of Cambridge there are no domestic buildings, either ancient or modern, of special See also:note, with the exception of Sawston See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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