Cambridgeshire is a county in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, bordering
LincolnshireLincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
to the north,
NorfolkNorfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
to the northeast,
SuffolkSuffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
to the east,
EssexEssex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
and
HertfordshireHertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
to the south, and
BedfordshireBedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
and
NorthamptonshireNorthamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
to the west. Modern Cambridgeshire was formed from the historic counties of Cambridgeshire and
HuntingdonshireHuntingdonshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Traditionally it is a county in its own right...
, together with the
Isle of ElyThe Isle of Ely is a historic region around the city of Ely now in Cambridgeshire, England but previously a county in its own right.-Etymology:...
and the
Soke of PeterboroughThe Soke of Peterborough is an historic area of England that is traditionally associated with the City and Diocese of Peterborough, but considered part of Northamptonshire...
; it contains most of the region known as
Silicon FenSilicon Fen is the name given to the region around Cambridge, England, which is home to a large cluster of high-tech businesses focusing on software, electronics, and biotechnology...
. The
county townA county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...
is
CambridgeThe city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
.
Cambridgeshire is twinned with
Kreis ViersenViersen is a Kreis in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Cleves, Wesel, district-free Krefeld, Neuss, district-free Mönchengladbach, Heinsberg and the Dutch province of Limburg.-History:...
in
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
History
Cambridgeshire is noted as the site of some of the earliest known
NeolithicThe Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
permanent settlements in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, along with sites at Fengate and
BalbridieBalbridie is the site of a Neolithic timberhouse in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, situated in the south Deeside near the B9077 road. This archaeological site is one of the earliest known permanent neolithic settlements in Scotland, dating to 3400 to 4000 BC...
.
Cambridgeshire was recorded in the
Domesday BookDomesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
as "Grantbridgeshire" (or rather
Grentebrigescire) (cf the river Granta).
Covering a large part of
East AngliaEast Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
, Cambridgeshire today is the result of several local government unifications. In 1888 when
county councilA county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.-United Kingdom:...
s were introduced, separate councils were set up, following the traditional division of Cambridgeshire, for
- the area in the south around Cambridge, and
- the liberty of the Isle of Ely
The Isle of Ely is a historic region around the city of Ely now in Cambridgeshire, England but previously a county in its own right.-Etymology:...
.
In 1965, these two administrative counties were merged to form Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely.
Under the
Local Government Act 1972The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
this merged with the county to the west,
Huntingdon and PeterboroughHuntingdon and Peterborough was a short-lived administrative county in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. It existed from 1965 to 1974, when it became part of Cambridgeshire.-Formation:...
(which had itself been created in 1965 by the merger of
HuntingdonshireHuntingdonshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Traditionally it is a county in its own right...
with the
Soke of PeterboroughThe Soke of Peterborough is an historic area of England that is traditionally associated with the City and Diocese of Peterborough, but considered part of Northamptonshire...
– previously a part of
NorthamptonshireNorthamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
which had its own county council). The resulting county was called simply Cambridgeshire.
Since 1998, the City of Peterborough has been a separately administered area, as a
unitary authorityUnitary authorities of England are areas where a single local authority is responsible for a variety of services for a district that elsewhere are administered separately by two councils...
, but is associated with Cambridgeshire for ceremonial purposes such as Lieutenancy, and functions such as policing and the fire service.
In 2002, the conservation charity
PlantlifePlantlife is a wild plant conservation charity. As of 2007, its membership was 10,500 and it owned 23 nature reserves around the UK.-History:It was founded in 1989 with its first President being Professor David Bellamy. By 1999 it had 22 nature reserves....
unofficially designated Cambridgeshire's county flower as the
PasqueflowerPulsatilla vulgaris belongs to the buttercup family , native to western, central and southern Europe....
.
A great quantity of
archaeologicalArchaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
finds from the
Stone AgeThe Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
, the
Bronze AgeThe Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and the
Iron AgeThe Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
were made in
East CambridgeshireEast Cambridgeshire is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in Ely....
. Most items were found in
IslehamIsleham is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Cambridgeshire. It is part of the Fens.-Geography:Isleham is located in the Fens of south-east Cambridgeshire. The western parish boundary is formed by the Crooked Ditch, the eastern boundary largely by the Lea Brook and the north...
.
The
Cambridgeshire RegimentThe Cambridgeshire Regiment was a territorial infantry regiment of the British Army from 1908 to 1961.-Pre 1908:The regiment had its origins in the rifle volunteer corps formed in Cambridgeshire in 1860. By 1880 the volunteer units in the county had amalgamated as the battalion-size 1st...
(or
Fen TigersThe Cambridgeshire Regiment was a territorial infantry regiment of the British Army from 1908 to 1961.-Pre 1908:The regiment had its origins in the rifle volunteer corps formed in Cambridgeshire in 1860. By 1880 the volunteer units in the county had amalgamated as the battalion-size 1st...
) county based army unit fought in South Africa, WWI and WWII.
Due to its flat terrain and proximity to the continent, many bases were built for
RAF Bomber CommandRAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
,
RAF Fighter CommandRAF Fighter Command was one of three functional commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War, gaining recognition in the Battle of Britain. The Command continued until 17 November 1943, when...
, and the USAAF in WW2. In recognition of this, the only American WW2 burial ground in England is located in Madingley
Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial
.
Most English counties have nicknames for their people, such as a Tyke from
YorkshireYorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
and a
YellowbellyA yellowbelly is a person from Lincolnshire, England. The origin of this nickname is disputed, and many explanations have been offered. These include:...
from
LincolnshireLincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
; the traditional
nicknameA nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
s for people from Cambridgeshire are 'Cambridgeshire Camel' or 'Cambridgeshire Crane', referring to the wildfowl which were once abundant in the fens. The term 'Fenners' has been applied to those who come from the flat country to the north of Cambridge; however in recent times this term is considered to be abusive and its use is now less widespread.
Original historical documents relating to Cambridgeshire are held by
Cambridgeshire Archives and Local StudiesCambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies Service is a UK local government institution which collects and preserves archives, other historical documents and printed material relating to the modern county of Cambridgeshire, which includes the former counties of Huntingdonshire and the Isle of Ely...
.
Geography
Large areas of the county are extremely low-lying and Holme Fen is notable for being the UK's lowest physical point at 2.75 m (9 ft) below sea level. The highest point is in the village of
Great ChishillGreat Chishill is a village forming part of the civil parish of Great and Little Chishill in the south of the county of Cambridgeshire. The church is in the Perpendicular style and is dedicated to Swithun....
at 146 m (480 ft) above sea level. Other
prominentIn topography, prominence, also known as autonomous height, relative height, shoulder drop , or prime factor , categorizes the height of the mountain's or hill's summit by the elevation between it and the lowest contour line encircling it and no higher summit...
hills are
Little Trees HillLittle Trees Hill is the highest point of the Gog Magog Downs, a ridge of low chalk hills extending for several miles to the south-east of Cambridge in England. Unusually for a Cambridgeshire hill, its summit is reachable by a public footpath. A footpath runs from the Magog Down car park on...
and
Wandlebury HillWandlebury Hill is a hill in the Gog Magog Downs, a ridge of low chalk hills extending for several miles to the southeast of Cambridge, England. The underlying rock is present in a number of places on the hill...
in the
Gog Magog DownsThe Gog Magog Downs are a range of low chalk hills, extending for several miles to the southeast of Cambridge in England. The highest points are marked on Ordnance Survey 1:25000 maps as "Telegraph Clump"Telegraph Clump, at , Little Trees HillLittle Trees Hill, and Wandlebury Hill,Wandlebury...
,
Rivey HillRivey Hill is a hill overlooking Linton in Cambridgeshire. It is the highest point for several miles around and stands at the impressive height of 112 m/367 ft. The hill has steep sides going down into Linton and a prominence of 21 m...
above
LintonLinton is a village in rural Cambridgeshire, England, on the border with Essex. It has been expanded much since the 1960s and is now one of many dormitory villages around Cambridge. The railway station was on the Stour Valley Railway between Cambridge and Colchester, now closed. The Rivey Hill...
,
Rowley's HillRowley's Hill is a hill in Cambridgeshire, near the villages of Harston and Newton. Although of only moderate height , it has a relatively large prominence due to it being surrounded on all sides by a 'moat' of much lower land...
and the Madingley Hills.
Politics
Cambridgeshire contains seven Parliamentary constituencies:
CambridgeCambridge is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system....
,
HuntingdonHuntingdon is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
, North East Cambridgeshire, North West Cambridgeshire,
PeterboroughPeterborough is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, formally styled The Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past...
,
South CambridgeshireSouth Cambridgeshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
, and South East Cambridgeshire.
Economy
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Cambridgeshire at current basic prices
published (pp. 240–253) by
Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of English Pounds Sterling.
| Year |
Regional Gross Value Added |
Agriculture |
Industry |
Services |
| 1995 |
5,896 |
228 |
1,646 |
4,022 |
| 2000 |
7,996 |
166 |
2,029 |
5,801 |
| 2003 |
10,154 |
207 |
2,195 |
7,752 |
AWG plcAWG plc was a British holding company which is parent to Anglian Water. It was previously listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a member of the FTSE 250 Index but it is now owned by the Osprey consortium...
is based in Huntingdon. The
RAFThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
has several bases in the Huntingdon and
St IvesSt Ives is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England, around north-west of the city of Cambridge and north of London. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Huntingdonshire.-History:...
area.
WaterbeachWaterbeach is a large fen-edge village located 6 miles north of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire in England, and belongs to the administrative district of South Cambridgeshire. The parish covers an area of 23.26 km².- Village :...
, 6 miles north of Cambridge, is a former RAF base, now used as an army barracks. RAF
AlconburyAlconbury is a village in the English county of Cambridgeshire.-Geography:It is in the district of Huntingdonshire and gives its name to RAF Alconbury. It is near to the point where a major north/south road, the A1, crosses the only major east/west road: the A14...
, 3 miles north of Huntingdon, is being reorganized after a period of obsolescence following the departure of the USAF, to be the focus of RAF/USAFE intelligence operations, with activities at
UpwoodUpwood, in Huntingdonshire , England, is a village near Bury south-west of Ramsey.In September 1917, the Royal Air Force started work on RAF Upwood, a massive air force base near the village used by both the RAF and the United States Air Force.Two nature reserves, Lady's Wood and Upwood Meadows,...
and Molesworth being transferred there. Most of Cambridgeshire is agricultural. Close to Cambridge is the so-called
Silicon FenSilicon Fen is the name given to the region around Cambridge, England, which is home to a large cluster of high-tech businesses focusing on software, electronics, and biotechnology...
area of high-technology (electronics, computing and biotechnology) companies. ARM Limited is based in
Cherry HintonCherry Hinton is a suburban area of the city of Cambridge, in Cambridgeshire, England. It is around southeast of Cambridge city centre.-History:...
.
Primary and secondary
Cambridgeshire has a completely comprehensive education system with 12 independent schools and over 240 state schools, not including
sixth form collegeA sixth form college is an educational institution in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Belize, Hong Kong or Malta where students aged 16 to 18 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A-levels, or school-level qualifications such as GCSEs. In Singapore and India, this is...
s.
Some of the secondary schools act as
Village CollegeThe village college is an institution specific to Cambridgeshire, England . It caters for the education of 11 to 16 year olds during the day,...
s, institutions unique to Cambridgeshire. For example
Bottisham Village CollegeBottisham Village College is a comprehensive secondary school located in Cambridgeshire, England. The school opened in 1937 as the second village college in part of the Local Director of Education Henry Morris' vision for providing a good quality education for local people in the countryside around...
.
Tertiary
Cambridgeshire is home to a number of institutes of
higher educationHigher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
:
- The University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
- second-oldest university in the English-speaking world, and regarded as one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world
- Anglia Ruskin University
Anglia Ruskin University is one of the largest universities in Eastern England, United Kingdom, with a total student population of around 30,000.-History:...
- has a campusA campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
located in Cambridge and a base at FulbournFulbourn is a village in Cambridgeshire, England. The term for a resident of the village is "Fulbourner".- Geography :Fulbourn lies about five miles south-east of the centre of Cambridge, separated from the outer city boundary by farmland and the grounds of Fulbourn Hospital. The village itself is...
- The Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
- has a regional centre located in Cambridge
- The University Centre Peterborough
University Centre Peterborough is a small higher education institution located in Peterborough in the United Kingdom. It is formally part of Peterborough Regional College with degrees awarded by Anglia Ruskin University...
- operated by Anglia Ruskin University and Peterborough Regional CollegePeterborough Regional College, established in 1946 as Peterborough Technical College, is a major college of further and higher education in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire...
, located in Peterborough
- The College of West Anglia
The College of West Anglia is a college of further education in Norfolk, England. Founded in 1894 as the King's Lynn Technical School in the port town of King's Lynn, Norfolk...
has a campus at Milton, on the northern outskirts of Cambridge
In addition,
Cambridge Regional CollegeCambridge Regional College is a college of further education located in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.-College profile:The college, which has some of the best facilities in the country after a £23 million development programme, is a centre of vocational excellence offering courses in a wide...
and
Huntingdonshire Regional CollegeHuntingdonshire Regional College is a further education college located in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The college is based in the towns of Huntingdon and St Neots....
both offer a limited range of higher education courses in conjunction with partner universities.
Settlements
These are the settlements in Cambridgeshire with a town charter, city status or a population over 5,000; for a complete list of settlements see
list of places in Cambridgeshire.
- Burwell
Burwell is a large fen-edge village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England, about 10 miles north east of Cambridge. It is situated on the south-eastern edge of The Fens, a large area of relatively flat former marshland which lies close to sea level and covers the majority of Cambridgeshire...
- Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
- Chatteris
Chatteris is a civil parish and one of four market towns in the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, England, situated in The Fens between Huntingdon, March and Ely...
- Ely
Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about by road from London. It is built on a Lower Greensand island, which at a maximum elevation of is the highest land in the Fens...
- Godmanchester
Godmanchester is a small town and civil parish within the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, in England. It lies on the south bank of the River Great Ouse, south of the larger town of Huntingdon, and on the A14 road....
- Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was chartered by King John in 1205. It is the traditional county town of Huntingdonshire, and is currently the seat of the Huntingdonshire district council. It is known as the birthplace in 1599 of Oliver Cromwell.-History:Huntingdon...
- Littleport
Littleport is the largest village in East Cambridgeshire, England, approximately north of Ely and south-east of Welney. It lies on the Bedford Level South section of the River Great Ouse, close to Burnt Fen and Mare Fen...
- March
March is a Fenland market town and civil parish in the Isle of Ely area of Cambridgeshire, England. March was the county town of the Isle of Ely, a separate administrative county between 1889 and 1965, and is now the administrative centre of Fenland District Council.The town was an important...
- Peterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
(no longer part of the administrative county)
- Sawston
Sawston is a large village in Cambridgeshire in England, situated on the River Cam seven miles south of Cambridge. It has a population of 7,150...
- Sawtry
Sawtry is a village in the district of Huntingdonshire in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. The village is home to over people.-Location:...
- Soham
Soham is a small town in the English county of Cambridgeshire. It lies just off the A142 between Ely and Newmarket . Its population is 9,102 , and it is within the district of East Cambridgeshire.-Archaeology:...
- St Ives
St Ives is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England, around north-west of the city of Cambridge and north of London. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Huntingdonshire.-History:...
- St Neots
St Neots is a town and civil parish with a population of 26,356 people. It lies on the River Great Ouse in Huntingdonshire District, approximately north of central London, and is the largest town in Cambridgeshire . The town is named after the Cornish monk St...
- Wisbech
Wisbech is a market town, inland port and civil parish with a population of 20,200 in the Fens of Cambridgeshire. The tidal River Nene runs through the centre of the town and is spanned by two bridges...
- Whittlesey
Whittlesey, historically known as Whittlesea as the name of the railway station is still spelt, or Witesie, is an ancient Fenland market town around six miles east of Peterborough in the county of Cambridgeshire in England...
- Yaxley
Yaxley is a village in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. Historically in Huntingdonshire, it is due south of the city of Peterborough, and is skirted to its west by the A15 road...
The town of Newmarket is surrounded on three sides by Cambridgeshire, being connected by a narrow strip of land to the rest of
SuffolkSuffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
.
Climate
Cambridgeshire has a Maritime Temperate climate, similar to the rest of the United Kingdom. It has substantially less rainfall than the average as it is often sheltered by the core of Westerly and South Westerly winds. Temperatures are often cooler than the English average in winter, due to its position in the East of England and its sheltered area from the prevailing winds. Snowfall is slightly less rare than in Western areas, due to Easterly winds bringing occasional snow from the North Sea. In Summer, temperatures are average or slightly above, due to its dryness. It reaches 25C on around 10 days each year, and is comparable to parts of Kent and East Anglia.
Sports
Cambridgeshire is the birthplace of
bandyBandy is a team winter sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal.The rules of the game have many similarities to those of association football: the game is played on a rectangle of ice the same size as a football field. Each team has 11 players,...
, now an IOC accepted sport. According to documents from 1813 Bury Fen Bandy Club was undefeated for 100 years. A member of the club, Charles Tebbutt, wrote down the first official rules in 1882. Tebbutt was instrumental in spreading the sport to many countries. Bandy Federation of England is based in Cambridgeshire.
http://www.internationalbandy.com/viewNavMenu.do?menuID=124
Places of interest
- Anglesey Abbey
Anglesey Abbey is a country house, formerly a priory, in the village of Lode, 5 ½ miles northeast of Cambridge, England. The house and its grounds are owned by the National Trust and are open to the public as part of the Anglesey Abbey, Garden & Lode Mill property, although some parts remain...
- Brampton Wood
Brampton Wood is located off the A14 in Cambridgeshire, four miles from Huntingdon. The woodland is an SSSI covering and is one of the largest remaining blocks of ancient woodland in the county, and is in the care of the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and...
- Buckden Towers
Buckden Towers, formerly known as Buckden Palace, is a 12th-century fortified manor house, located on High Street, Buckden, Cambridgeshire, England....
- Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial
- Cambridge University Museum of Zoology
The Cambridge University Museum of Zoology is a museum of the University of Cambridge, located on the New Museums Site, just north of Dowing Street in central Cambridge, England....
- Castor Hanglands NNR
Castor Hanglands is managed as a National Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest by Natural England, a non-departmental public body vested in 2006...
- Denny Abbey
Denny Abbey is a former abbey near Waterbeach, six miles north of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England which was inhabited by a succession of three different religious orders during its history serving as a monastery....
- Devil's Dyke
The Devil's Dyke is an earthwork in the English county of Cambridgeshire. It consists of a long bank and ditch that runs in a south-east direction from the small village of Reach to nearby Woodditton...
- Down Field Windmill
- Duxford Chapel
Duxford Chapel is a chapel that was once part of the Hospital of St. John at Duxford, in Cambridgeshire, England.Built in the 14th century, only the chapel survives today....
- Duxford Airfield
Duxford is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, some ten miles south of Cambridge.-History:The village formed on the banks of the River Cam, a little below its emergence from the hills of north Essex...
- Elton Hall
Elton Hall is a baronial hall in Elton, Cambridgeshire. It has been the ancestral home of the Proby family since 1660.The hall lies in an estate through which the River Nene runs...
- Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral is the principal church of the Diocese of Ely, in Cambridgeshire, England, and is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and a suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon...
- Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge, England. It receives around 300,000 visitors annually. Admission is free....
- Flag Fen
Flag Fen near Peterborough, England is a Bronze Age site, probably religious. It comprises over 60,000 timbers arranged in five very long rows connecting Whittlesey Island with Peterborough across the wet fenland. Part way across the structure, a small island was formed which is where it is...
- Fowlmere RSPB reserve
- Gamsey Wood
Gamsey Wood in England is managed as a nature reserve by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough. It lies north-east of the village of Wood Walton in the county of Cambridgeshire.- External links :*...
Nature Reserve
- Gog Magog Downs
The Gog Magog Downs are a range of low chalk hills, extending for several miles to the southeast of Cambridge in England. The highest points are marked on Ordnance Survey 1:25000 maps as "Telegraph Clump"Telegraph Clump, at , Little Trees HillLittle Trees Hill, and Wandlebury Hill,Wandlebury...
- Grafham Water Nature Reserve
- Great Gransden Post Mill
- Hereward Way
Hereward Way is a long-distance footpath in England.The path takes its name from Hereward the Wake, the 11th century leader who fought against William the Conqueror, who had his base on the Isle of Ely that is located near to the middle of the path....
- Hinchingbrooke House
Hinchingbrooke House in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, was built around an 11th century nunnery. After the Reformation it passed into the hands of the Cromwell family, and subsequently, became the home of the Earls of Sandwich, including John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, reputedly the "inventor" of...
- Houghton Mill
Houghton Mill is a water mill located on the Great Ouse in Houghton, Cambridgeshire, England. It is a National Trust property.-History:Various mills have occupied this spot since the first building was erected in the year 969. In the Middle Ages, the mill was owned by the nearby Benedictine Abbey,...
- Icknield Way
The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern England. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.-Background:...
- Imperial War Museum Duxford
Imperial War Museum Duxford is a branch of the Imperial War Museum near the village of Duxford in Cambridgeshire, England. Britain's largest aviation museum, Duxford houses the museum's large exhibits, including nearly 200 aircraft, military vehicles, artillery and minor naval vessels in seven...
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- Kimbolton Castle
Kimbolton Castle in Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire, is best known as the final home of King Henry VIII's first queen, Catherine of Aragon. Originally a medieval castle but converted into a stately palace, it was the family seat of the Dukes of Manchester from 1615 until 1950...
- Kings College, Cambridge
- Lattersey Nature Reserve
Lattersey is managed as a nature reserve by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough. It lies east of the town of Whittlesey in the county of Cambridgeshire.- References :- External links :*...
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Lode Watermill
Nene ParkNene Park is a football stadium situated by Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England, along the bank of the River Nene, and holds 6,441, with 4,641 seated and 1,800 standing. The car park can hold 800 vehicles. From 1992 until 2011 it was the home ground of Rushden & Diamonds football club...
Nene Valley RailwayThe Nene Valley Railway is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is currently seven and a half miles in length...
Nene WayThe Nene Way is a waymarked long-distance footpath in England running through the English counties of Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire. It follows the course of the River Nene.-The route:...
New Bedford RiverThe New Bedford River, also known as the Hundred Foot Drain because of the distance between the tops of the two embankments on either side of the river, is a man-made cut-off or by-pass channel of the River Great Ouse in the Fens of Cambridgeshire, England. It provides an almost straight channel...
Octavia Hill Birthplace Museum
Old Bedford RiverThe Old Bedford River is an artificial, partial diversion of the waters of the River Great Ouse in the Fens of Cambridgeshire, England. It was named after the fourth Earl of Bedford who contracted with the local Commission of Sewers to drain the Great Level of the Fens beginning in 1630.The idea of...
Ouse Valley WayThe Ouse Valley Way is a 150-mile footpath in England, following the River Great Ouse from its source near Brackley in Northamptonshire to its mouth in The Wash near King's Lynn...
Ouse WashesThe Ouse Washes are an area in the Fens of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, England. They cover the area between two diversion channels of the River Great Ouse: the Old Bedford River and the New Bedford River .-History:...
Parker's Piece, Cambridge, birthplace of modern football
Paxton Pits Nature ReservePaxton Pits is an area of active and disused gravel pits at Little Paxton near St Neots in Cambridgeshire, England. The disused pits have been made into a nature reserve, especially for waterfowl but also for other birds, animals and plants.-External links:*...
Peckover House & GardenPeckover House & Garden is a National Trust property located in North Brink, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England.Peckover House was built in 1722 and bought by Jonathan Peckover at the end of the 18th century. Alexander Peckover was created Baron Peckover of Wisbech in 1907...
Peterborough CathedralPeterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Andrew, whose statues look down from the...
Prickwillow Drainage Engine Museum
Ramsey AbbeyRamsey Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey located in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, England, southeast of Peterborough and north of Huntingdon, UK.-History:...
River CamThe River Cam is a tributary of the River Great Ouse in the east of England. The two rivers join to the south of Ely at Pope's Corner. The Great Ouse connects the Cam to England's canal system and to the North Sea at King's Lynn...
River Great OuseThe Great Ouse is a river in the east of England. At long, it is the fourth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The river has been important for navigation, and for draining the low-lying region through which it flows. Its course has been modified several times, with the first recorded being in...
Round Church, Cambridge
RSPB Nene Washes
RSPB Ouse Washes
Stretham Old EngineStretham Old Engine is a steam-powered engine just south of Stretham in Cambridgeshire, England, that was used to pump water from flood-affected areas of The Fens back into the River Great Ouse. It is one of only three surviving drainage engines in East Anglia.During the seventeenth century, large...
Three Shires Bridleway
University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Wandlebury Country ParkWandlebury Hill is a hill in the Gog Magog Downs, a ridge of low chalk hills extending for several miles to the southeast of Cambridge, England. The underlying rock is present in a number of places on the hill...
Wicken FenWicken Fen is a wetland nature reserve situated near the village of Wicken, Cambridgeshire, England.It is one of Britain's oldest nature reserves, and was the first reserve acquired by the National Trust, in 1899. The reserve includes fenland, farmland, marsh, and reedbeds...
Wimpole HallWimpole Hall is a country house located within the Parish of Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, England, about 8½ miles southwest of Cambridge. The house, begun in 1640, and its 3,000 acres of parkland and farmland are owned by the National Trust and are regularly open to the public.Wimpole is...
Wisbech and March Bramley Line
WWT Welney |
Famous people from Cambridgeshire
As well as those born in the county there are many notable people from, or associated with, Cambridgeshire who moved there, particularly due to the presence of Cambridge University.
Cambridgeshire lays claim to Lord Protector
Oliver CromwellOliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
, Prime Minister
John MajorSir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
, businessmen
Henry RoyceSir Frederick Henry Royce, 1st Baronet, OBE was a pioneering car manufacturer, who with Charles Stewart Rolls founded the Rolls-Royce company.-Early life:...
and
Peter BoizotPizzaExpress is a restaurant group with over 400 restaurants across the United Kingdom and 40 overseas in China, Europe, Hong Kong, Japan and the Middle East. It was founded in 1965 by Peter Boizot.In Ireland, PizzaExpress trades under the name Milano....
, social reformers
Octavia HillOctavia Hill was an English social reformer, whose main concern was the welfare of the inhabitants of cities, especially London, in the second half of the nineteenth century. Born into a family with a strong commitment to alleviating poverty, she herself grew up in straitened circumstances owing...
and
Thomas ClarksonThomas Clarkson , was an English abolitionist, and a leading campaigner against the slave trade in the British Empire. He helped found The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade and helped achieve passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which ended British trade in slaves...
, and
economistAn economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
John Maynard Keynes. Scientists include
Brian J. FordBrian J. Ford is an independent research biologist, author, and lecturer, who publishes on scientific issues for the general public...
and
Stephen HawkingStephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
, and Nobel laureate
Harold KrotoSir Harold Walter Kroto, FRS , born Harold Walter Krotoschiner, is a British chemist and one of the three recipients to share the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Robert Curl and Richard Smalley....
. Literary figures who hail from Cambridgeshire include
John ClareJohn Clare was an English poet, born the son of a farm labourer who came to be known for his celebratory representations of the English countryside and his lamentation of its disruption. His poetry underwent a major re-evaluation in the late 20th century and he is often now considered to be among...
,
Samuel PepysSamuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
,
Lucy M. BostonLucy M. Boston was an English children's writer. She is best known for the six books in the Green Knowe series .-Biography:Boston was born in Southport in Lancashire in 1892 and died in 1990...
, Jeffrey Archer, and
Douglas AdamsDouglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
,
Olaudah EquianoOlaudah Equiano also known as Gustavus Vassa, was a prominent African involved in the British movement towards the abolition of the slave trade. His autobiography depicted the horrors of slavery and helped influence British lawmakers to abolish the slave trade through the Slave Trade Act of 1807...
.
In entertainment, cartoonist
Ronald SearleRonald William Fordham Searle, CBE, RDI, is a British artist and cartoonist, best known as the creator of St Trinian's School. He is also the co-author of the Molesworth series....
, comedian
Rory McGrathPatrick Rory McGrath is an English comedian and writer. He is best known for roles in Who Dares Wins, Chelmsford 123, Three Men in a Boat and its successors. He was also a regular panellist on They Think It's All Over....
, television presenter
Sarah CawoodSarah Cawood is an English television presenter.-Career:Cawood grew up in the Cambridgeshire village of Maxey and was educated at Stamford High School, Lincolnshire near Peterborough, United Kingdom. She also attended the Royal Ballet School and Arts Educational Schools London.Between 1995 and...
, and radio sports presenter
Adrian DurhamAdrian Durham is a football journalist and broadcaster.-Career:Durham currently hosts TalkSPORT's "Drivetime" on weekdays between 4pm–7pm alongside ex-cricketer Darren Gough....
are all from Cambridgeshire.
Paul NicholasPaul Nicholas is an English actor and singer who has had considerable success on stage, screen and in the pop charts.-Biography:Nicholas was born as Paul Oscar Beuselinck in Peterborough, England...
,
Richard AttenboroughRichard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...
and
Warwick DavisWarwick Ashley Davis is an English actor. He is most notable for playing the title characters in Willow and the Leprechaun film series, as well as for his roles in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and the Harry Potter movies. Davis currently stars in the sitcom Life's Too Short, written...
are all associated with film, while musicians include
Andrew EldritchAndrew Eldritch is the English frontman, singer, songwriter and only remaining original member of The Sisters of Mercy, a band that emerged from the British post-punk scene, transformed into a gothic rock band and, in later years, flirted with pop and hard rock.Eldritch also programs the tracks...
, lead singer of
The Sisters of MercyThe Sisters of Mercy are an English rock band that formed in 1980. After achieving early underground fame in UK, the band had their commercial breakthrough in mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasing new recorded output in protest against their record company...
;
Andy BellAndrew Ivan "Andy" Bell is the lead singer of the English synthpop duo Erasure. He also has a solo career, with the albums Non-Stop and Electric Blue.-Early life:Andy Bell originates from the Dogsthorpe area in Peterborough...
, lead singer for
ErasureErasure are an English synthpop duo, consisting of songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke and singer Andy Bell. Erasure entered the music scene in 1985 with their debut single "Who Needs Love Like That"...
;
David GilmourDavid Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
,
Roger WatersGeorge Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
and Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett of
Pink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
;
Don AireyDonald Airey has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, succeeding Jon Lord...
, keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple; trombonist
Don LusherDon Lusher OBE was a jazz and big band trombonist best known for his association with the Ted Heath Big Band...
;
Keith PalmerKeith Andrew Palmer , known by his stage name Maxim Reality or simply Maxim, is an English singer-songwriter and MC, famous for his work with electronica band The Prodigy....
, of dance music band
The ProdigyThe Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s...
;
Nigel SixsmithNigel Sixsmith is a British musician.He lived most of his early childhood in Ryhall before moving with his family to Barnack where his love for music was spotted by his primary school teacher, Mr. Sharp, who encouraged Nigel to learn and play the piano...
, founding member of
The Art Of SoundThe Art of Sound was formed in Peterborough, England in 1973, to promote the use of synthesizers in both modern and classical music. The originating members of The Art of Sound were: Nigel Sixsmith, Thomas Wright, Michael Bale and Shirley Feischer....
and well known
KeytarA keytar is a relatively lightweight keyboard that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is supported by a strap. Keytars allow players a greater range of movement compared to conventional keyboards, which are placed on stands...
player; singer
Aston MerrygoldAston Iain Merrygold is a singer with boy band JLS who were the runner ups to Alexandra Burke on the fifth series of The X Factor in the United Kingdom in 2008.-Early life:...
of
JLS- Music :* JLS, an English boyband** JLS , debut album by JLS* JLS a Spanish Rock band based in Zaragoza , Spain formed in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic by lead Leo Susana.- Organizations :...
; the members of Britain's Got Talent Popera band The Arrangement; Matt Bellamy and Operatic Bass-Baritone, Darren Jeffery. Athletes
Joe BugnerJózsef Kreul "Joe" Bugner is a Hungarian-born British-Australian former top heavyweight boxer. He holds triple nationality, being a citizen of Hungary and a naturalized citizen of both Australia and the United Kingdom where he learned to box and spent his peak years.Born in Szőreg, a southeastern...
, Sir Jack Hobbs,
Louis SmithLouis Antoine Smith is an English artistic gymnast from Eye near Peterborough. He is a member of the Huntingdon Gymnastics club, training alongside teammate Daniel Keatings under coach, Paul Hall....
and
Marty ScurllMarty Scurll is an English professional wrestler from Ely, Cambridgeshire. He regularly wrestles for the Frontier Wrestling Alliance, International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom, All Star Wrestling, Premier Promotions, Live Wrestling Entertainment and many more. Alongside Zack Sabre, Jr...
are also from the county.
Richard GarriottRichard Allen Garriott is a British-American video game developer and entrepreneur.He is also known as his alter egos Lord British in Ultima and General British in Tabula Rasa...
, televangelist
Peter FoxhallPeter Christopher Foxhall is an Australian clergyman, evangelist and author, who was born in St Neots, Huntingdonshire , England.- Childhood :...
, and
Hereward the WakeHereward the Wake , known in his own times as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile, was an 11th-century leader of local resistance to the Norman conquest of England....
are from Cambridgeshire.
See also
- Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies
Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies Service is a UK local government institution which collects and preserves archives, other historical documents and printed material relating to the modern county of Cambridgeshire, which includes the former counties of Huntingdonshire and the Isle of Ely...
- Cambridgeshire local elections
Cambridgeshire County Council is elected every four years by the first past the post system of election. The council currently consists of 69 councillors, representing 60 electoral divisions. The Conservative Party has a majority on the council, having gained control in the 1997 local elections...
- High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire
This is a list of people who have served as High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire.-Before 1154:*Tempore Regis Eduardi: Aluric Godricson, Orgar, Blacuin*1066: Elfric* 1128: Fulk*1070–c.1090: Picot of Cambridge *Michaelmas 1129: Richard Basset with Aubrey de Vere...
- Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire
This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire. The title Lord Lieutenant is given to the British monarch's personal representative in the counties of the United Kingdom. The Lord Lieutenant is supported by a Vice Lord Lieutenant and Deputy Lieutenants which he or...
External links