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HUNTINGDONSHIRE (HUNTS)

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Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 953 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HUNTINGDONSHIRE (HUNTS) , an See also:east midland See also:county of See also:England, bounded N. and W. by See also:Northamptonshire, S.W. by See also:Bedfordshire and E. by See also:Cambridgeshire. Among See also:English counties it is the smallest with the exception of See also:Middlesex and See also:Rutland, having an See also:area of 366 sq. m. The See also:surface is See also:low, and for the most See also:part See also:bare of trees. The See also:south-eastern corner of the county, bounded by the See also:Ouse valley, is traversed by a low See also:ridge of hills entering from Cambridgeshire, and continued over the whole western See also:half of the county, as well as in a See also:strip about 6 m. broad See also:north of the Ouse, between See also:Huntingdon and St Ives. These hills never exceed 300 ft. in height, but See also:form a pleasantly undulating surface. The north-eastern part of the county, comprising 5o,00o acres, belongs to that See also:division of the See also:great Fen See also:district called the See also:Bedford Levels. The See also:principal See also:rivers are the Ouse and Nene. The Ouse from Bedfordshire skirts the See also:borders of the county near St Neots, and after flowing north to Huntingdon takes an easterly direction past St Ives into Cambridgeshire on its way to the See also:Wash. The Kym, from Northamptonshire, follows a south-easterly course and joins the Ouse at St Neots, while the Alconbury See also:brook, flowing in a parallel direction, falls into it at Huntingdon. The Nene forms for 15 M. the north-western border of the county, and quitting it near See also:Peterborough, enters the Wash below See also:Wisbech, in Cambridgeshire. The course of the Old See also:River Nene is eastward across the county midway between Huntingdon and Peterborough, and about 11 m. N. by E. of See also:Ramsey it is intersected by the See also:Forty See also:Foot, or Vermuyden's Drain, a navigable cut connecting it with the Old Bedford river in Cambridgeshire.

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Geology.—The See also:geological structure is very See also:simple. All the stratified rocks are of See also:Jurassic See also:age, with the exception of a small area of See also:Lower See also:Greensand which extends for a See also:short distance along the border, north of Potton. The Greensands form low, rounded hills. Phosphatic nodules are obtained from these beds. On the north-western border is a narrow strip of Inferior Oolite, reaching from Thrapston by See also:Oundle to Wansford near Peterborough. It is represented about Wansford by the See also:Northampton sands and by a feeble development of the See also:Lincolnshire See also:limestone. The Great Oolite See also:Series has at the See also:base the Upper Estuarine See also:clays; in the See also:middle, the Great Oolite limestone, which forms the escarpment of Alwalton See also:Lynch ; and at the See also:top, the Great Oolite See also:clay. The See also:Cornbrash is exposed along part of the Billing brook, and in a small infier near Yaxley. Over the See also:remainder of the county the lower rocks are covered by the See also:Oxford clay. It is about 600 ft. thick. This clay cannot be distinguished from the Kimmeridge clay except by the fossils; the two formations probably See also:graduate into one another, but thin limestones are found in places, and at St Ives a patch of the intermediate See also:Corallian See also:rock is See also:present. All the stratified rocks have a See also:general See also:dip towards the south-east.

Much glacial See also:

drift clay with stones covers the older rocks over a See also:good See also:deal of the county; it is a bluish clay, often containing masses of See also:chalk, some of them being of considerable See also:size, e.g. the one at Catworth. The See also:Fens on the eastern See also:side of the county are under-lain by Oxford clay, which here and there projects through the prevailing newer See also:deposit of silt and See also:loam. There are usually two beds of See also:peat or peaty See also:soil observable in the numerous drains; they are separated by a See also:bed of marine warp. See also:Black loamy See also:alluvium and valley gravels, the most See also:recent deposits, occur in the valleys of the Ouse and Nene. Calcareous tufa is formed by the springs near Alwalton. Oxford clay is dug on a considerable See also:scale for See also:brick-making at Fletton, also at St Ives, Ramsey and St Neots. See also:Agriculture.—Huntingdonshire is almost wholly an agricultural county; nearly nine-tenths of its See also:total area is under cultivation, and much improvement has been effected by drainage. On See also:account of the tenacity of the clay the drains often require to be placed very See also:close. Much of the soil is, however, undrained, and only partly used for pasturage. On the drained pasturage a large number of See also:cattle are fed. The district comprising the See also:gravel of the Ouse valley embraces an area of 50,000 acres. On the See also:banks of the Ouse it consists of See also:fine black loam deposited by the overflow of the river, and its meadows form very See also:rich pasture grounds.

The upland district is under arable culture. See also:

Wheat is much more extensively grown than any other See also:grain. See also:Barley is more widely cultivated than oats, but its quality on many soils is lean and inferior, and unsuitable for malting purposes. Beans and See also:pease are largely grown, while mangold and See also:cabbage and similar See also:green crops are chiefly used for the feeding of See also:sheep. During the last See also:quarter of the 19th See also:century there was a large decrease in the areas of grain crops and of See also:fallow, and an increase in that of permanent pasture. See also:Market-gardening and See also:fruit-farming, however, greatly increased in importance. Willows are largely grown in the fen district. Good drinking See also:water is deficient in many districts, but there are three natural springs, once famous for the healing virtues their See also:waters were thought to possess, namely, at See also:Hail See also:Weston near St Neots, at See also:Holywell near St Ives and at Somersham in the same district. See also:Bee-farming is largely practised. See also:Dairy-farming is not much followed, the See also:milk being chiefly used for rearing calves. The See also:village of Stilton, on the Great North Road, had formerly a large market for the well-known See also:cheese to which it has given its name. Large See also:numbers of cattle are fattened in the See also:field or the See also:fold-yard, and are sold when rising three years old.

They are mostly of the shorthorn breed, large numbers of Irish shorthorns being wintered in the fens. Leicesters and Lincolns are the most See also:

common breeds of sheep; they usually attain great weights at an See also:early age. Pigs include See also:Berkshire, See also:Suffolk and Neapolitan breeds, and a number of crosses. Their fattening and breeding are extensively practised. Other See also:Industries.—There is no extensive manufacture, but the See also:chief is that of See also:paper and See also:parchment. See also:Madder is obtained in considerable quantities, and in nearly every part of the county See also:lime burning is carried on. See also:Lace-making is practised by the See also:female peasantry; and the other industries are See also:printing, See also:iron-See also:founding, tanning and currying, brick and See also:tile making, malting and See also:brewing. Communications.—The middle of the county is traversed from south to north by the Great See also:Northern railway, which enters it at St Neots and passing by Huntingdon leaves it at See also:Peter-See also:borough. A See also:branch See also:line See also:running eastward to Ramsey is given off at Holme junction, midway between Huntingdon and Peterborough. From Huntingdon branch lines of the Midland and the Great Eastern run respectively See also:west and east to Thrapston (Northamptonshire) and to See also:Cambridge via St Ives. From St Ives Great Eastern lines also run N.E. to See also:Ely (Cambridgeshire) via Earith See also:Bridges on the county border, and N. to Wisbech (Cambridgeshire) with a branch line westward from Somersham to Ramsey. The north-western border is served by the Great Northern and the See also:London and North-Western See also:railways between Peterborough and Wansford, where they part.

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Population and See also:Administration.—The area of the See also:ancient county is 234,218 acres, with a population in 1891 of 57,761, and in 1901 of 57,771. The area of the administrative county is 233,984 acres. The county contains 4 hundreds. The municipal boroughs are See also:Godmanchester (pop. 2017), Huntingdon, the county See also:town (4261) and St Ives (2910). The other See also:urban districts are Old Fletton (4585), Ramsey (4823) and St Neots (388o). The county is in the south-eastern See also:circuit, and assizes are held at Huntingdon. It has one See also:court of quarter sessions, and is divided into five See also:petty sessional divisions. There are 105 See also:civil parishes. Huntingdonshire, which contains 87 ecclesiastical parishes or districts wholly or in part, is almost wholly in the See also:diocese of Ely, but a small part is in that of Peterborough. The See also:parliamentary divisions, each of which returns one member,are the Northern or Ramsey and the See also:Southern or Huntingdon. Part of the parliamentary borough of Peterborough also falls within the county.

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History.—The earliest English settlers in the district were the Gyrwas, an East Anglian tribe, who early in the 6th century worked their way up the Ouse and the See also:Cam as far as Huntingdon. After their See also:conquest of East Anglia in the latter half of the 9th century, Huntingdon became an important seat of the Danes, and the Danish origin of the See also:shire is See also:borne out by an entry in the Saxon See also:Chronicle (918–921) referring to Huntingdon as a military centre to which the surrounding district owed See also:allegiance, while the shire itself is mentioned in the Historia Eliensis in connexion with events which took See also:place before or shortly after the See also:death of See also:Edgar. About 915 See also:Edward the See also:Elder wrested the fen-See also:country from the Danes, repairing and fortifying Huntingdon, and a few years later the district was included in the earldom of East Anglia. Religious See also:foundations were established at Ramsey, Huntingdon and St Neots in the loth century, and that of Ramsey accumulated vast See also:wealth and See also:influence, owning twenty-six manors in this county alone at the See also:time of the Domesday Survey. In See also:roll Huntingdonshire was again overrun by the Danes and in 1or6 was attacked by Canute. A few years later the shire was included in the earldom of Thored (of the Middle Angles), but in 1051 it was detached from See also:Mercia and formed part of the East Anglian earldom of Harold. Shortly before the Conquest, however, it was bestowed on See also:Siward, as a See also:reward for his part in See also:Godwin's overthrow, and became an outlying portion of the earldom of See also:Northumberland, passing through See also:Waltheof and See also:Simon de St Liz to See also:David of See also:Scotland. After the separation of the earldom from the See also:crown of Scotland during the See also:Bruce and Balliol disputes, it was conferred in 1336 on See also:William See also:Clinton; in 1377 on See also:Guichard d'See also:Angle; in 1387 on See also:John See also:Roland; in 1471 on See also:Thomas See also:Grey, afterwards See also:marquess of See also:Dorset; and in 1529 on See also:George, See also:Baron See also:Hastings, whose descend-ants hold it at the present See also:day. The See also:Norman Conquest was followed by a general See also:confiscation of estates, and only four or five thanes retained lands which they or their fathers had held in the time of Edward the See also:Confessor. Large estates were held by the See also:church, and the See also:rest of the county for the most part formed outlying portions of the fiefs of William's Norman favourites, that of See also:Count Eustace of See also:Boulogne, the See also:sheriff, of whose tyrannous exactions See also:bitter complaints are recorded, being by far the most considerable. Kimbolton was fortified by See also:Geoffrey de See also:Mandeville and afterwards passed to the families of See also:Bohun and See also:Stafford. The hundreds of Huntingdon were probably of very early origin, and that of Norman See also:Cross is referred to in 963.

The Domesday Survey, besides the four existing divisions of Norman Cross, Toseland, Hurstingstone and Leightonstone, which from their See also:

assessment appear to have been See also:double hundreds, mentions an additional See also:hundred of Kimbolton, since absorbed in See also:Leighton-See also:stone, while Huntingdon is assessed separately at fifty hides The boundaries of the county have scarcely changed since the time of the Domesday Survey, except that parts of the Bedford-shire parishes of Evertor, Pertenhall and Keysoe and the Northamptonshire See also:parish of Hargrave were then assessed under this county. Huntingdonshire was formerly in the diocese of See also:Lincoln, but in 1837 was transferred to Ely. In 1291 it constituted an archdeaconry, comprising the deaneries of Huntingdon, St Ives, Yaxley and Leightonstone, and the divisions remained unchanged until the creation of the deanery of Kirnboltpn in 1879. At the time of the Domesday Survey Huntingdonshire had an See also:independent shrievalty, but from 1154 it was See also:united with Cambridgeshire under one sheriff, until in 1637 the two counties were separated for six years, after which they were reunited and have remained so to the present day. The shire-court was held at Huntingdon. In 1174 See also:Henry H. captured and destroyed Huntingdon See also:Castle. After See also:signing the Great See also:Charter John sent an See also:army to ravage this county under William, See also:earl of See also:Salisbury, and Falkes de See also:Breaute. During the See also:wars of the See also:Roses Huntingdon was sacked by the Lancastrians. The county resisted the illegal See also:taxation of See also:Charles I. and joined in a protest against the See also:arrest of the five members. In 1642 it was one of the seven associated counties in which the See also:king had no visible party. Hinchingbrook, however, was held for Charles by See also:Sir See also:Sydney See also:Montagu, and in 1645 Huntingdon was captured and plundered by the Royalist forces. The chief historic See also:family connected with this county were the Cromwells, who held considerable estates in the 16th century.

Huntingdonshire has always been mainly an agricultural county, and at the time of the Domesday Survey contained See also:

thirty-one See also:mills, besides valuable See also:fisheries in its See also:meres and rivers. The woollen See also:industry flourished in the county from Norman times, and previous to the draining of its fens in the 17th century, by which large areas were brought under cultivation, the industries of See also:turf-cutting, See also:reed-cutting for See also:thatch and the manufacture of See also:horse-collars from rushes were carried on in Ramsey and the surrounding district. In the 17th century See also:saltpetre was manufactured in the county. In the 18th century See also:women and See also:children were largely employed in See also:spinning See also:yarn, and See also:pillow-lace making and the See also:straw-See also:plait industry flourished in the St Neots district, where it survives; pillow lace was also manufactured at Godmanchester. In the early 19th century there were two large sacking manufactures at Standground, and brewing and malting were largely carried on. Huntingdonshire was represented by three members in See also:parliament in 1290. From 1295 the county and borough of Huntingdon returned two members each, until in 1868 the See also:representation of the borough was reduced to one member. By the See also:act of 1885 the borough was disfranchised. A ntiquities.—Huntingdonshire early became famous on account of its great See also:Benedictine See also:abbey at Ramsey and the Cistercian abbey founded in 1146 at Sawtry, 7 M. W. of Ramsey; besides which there were priories at Huntingdon and Stonely, both belonging to the Augustinian canons, and at St Ives and St Neots belonging to the See also:Benedictines, together with a Benedictine nunnery at Hinchingbrook, near Huntingdon. Of these buildings almost the only remains are at Ramsey and St Ives. The most interesting churches for Norman See also:architecture are See also:Hartford near Huntingdon, Old Fletton near Peterborough (containing on the exterior some carved See also:ornament said to have belonged to the See also:original Saxon See also:cathedral at Peterborough), Ramsey and Alwalton, a singular See also:combination of Norman and Early English.

Early English churches are Kimbelton, Alconbury, Warboys and Somersham, near Ramsey, and Hail Weston near St Neots, with a 15th-century wooden See also:

tower and See also:spire. Decorated are See also:Orton See also:Longueville and Yaxley, both near Peter-borough, the latter containing remains of frescoes on its walls; Perpendicular, St Neots, Connington near Ramsey and Godmanchester. At Buckden near Huntingdon are remains of a See also:palace (15th century) of the bishops of Lincoln. There were two ancient castles in the county, at Huntingdon and at Kimbolton, of which only the second remains as a See also:mansion. Hinchingbrook See also:House, Huntingdon, was the seat of the See also:Cromwell family. Connington Castle passed, like the See also:title of earl of Huntingdon, through the hands of Waltheof, Simon de St Liz and the Scottish royal family, and was finally inherited by Sir See also:Robert See also:Cotton the See also:antiquary, who was See also:born in the neighbourhood, and is buried in Connington church. See also:Elton See also:Hall, on the north-west border of the county, was rebuilt about 166o, and contains, besides a good collection of pictures, chiefly by English masters, a library which includes many old and rare See also:prayer-books, Bibles and missals. Norman Cross, 13 m, N. of Huntingdon, on the Great North Road, marks the site of the place of confinement of several thousand See also:French soldiers during the See also:Napoleonic wars at the beginning of the 19th century. The village of Little Gidding, 9 m. N.W. of Huntingdon, is memorable for its connexion with See also:Nicholas See also:Ferrar in the reign of Charles I., when the religious community of which Ferrar was the See also:head was organized. See also:Relics connected with this community are preserved in the See also:British Museum.

End of Article: HUNTINGDONSHIRE (HUNTS)

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