Huntingdon

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This article is about the town in England. For other uses, see Huntingdon (disambiguation).
Huntingdon
 Huntingdon shown within Cambridgeshire
Population 23,937 2011 Census
OS grid reference TL245725
District Huntingdonshire
Shire county Cambridgeshire
Region East
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town HUNTINGDON
Postcode district PE29
Dialling code 01480
Police Cambridgeshire
Fire Cambridgeshire
Ambulance East of England
EU Parliament East of England
UK Parliament Huntingdon
List of places
UK
England
Cambridgeshire

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Huntingdon is a market town, 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 of Oliver Cromwell, who was born in 1599.

History

Huntingdon was founded by the Anglo-Saxons and Danes. Mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, it seems that it was a staging post for Danish raids outside of east Anglia until 917, when the Danes relocated to Tempsford, before being crushed by Edward the Elder. It prospered successively as a bridging point of the River Great Ouse, as a market town, and in the 18th and 19th centuries as a coaching centre, most notably The George Hotel. The town has a well-preserved medieval bridge that used to serve as the main route of Ermine Street over the river. The bridge only ceased to be the sole crossing point to Godmanchester in 1975, with the advent of what is now the A14 bypass.

Sebastopol Cannon Huntingdon

Its valuable trading position was secured by the now vanished Huntingdon Castle. The site is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and is home to a beacon used to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Spanish Armada.

In 1746, the botanists Wood & Ingram of nearby Brampton developed a cultivar species of elm tree, Ulmus × hollandica 'Vegeta', which was named the "Huntingdon Elm" after the town.

The town has been represented in parliament by two prominent MPs: Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century, and former Conservative Prime Minister John Major from 1979 to 2001. It is currently represented by Conservative MP Jonathan Djanogly.

Original historical documents relating to Huntingdon, including the borough charter of 1205, are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at the County Record Office Huntingdon.[1]

File:UK Huntingdon.jpg
Huntingdon welcome sign

Between the railway station and the old hospital building, stands a replica cannon. In the 1990s the replica was installed to replace an original Crimean War one, that stood there until the Second World War, being scrapped for the war effort. When the replica was installed it was placed in the opposite direction to the original.

The George

The George Hotel, on the corner of High Street and George Street was once a posting house. It was named after St. George in 1574 and was bought some 25 years later by Henry Cromwell, grandfather of Oliver Cromwell. Charles I made The George his headquarters in 1645. Later Dick Turpin is reputed to have been a visitor when it was a coaching inn on the Great North Road. The mid-19th century saw two wings of the inn burnt down but two were saved including the one with the balcony overlooking the yard. Since 1959 the courtyard and its balcony have been the setting for performances of the plays of William Shakespeare, produced by the Shakespeare at The George Trust.[2]

Area

The town lies on the north bank of the River Great Ouse, opposite Godmanchester and close to the market town of St Ives in the east and the village of Brampton in the west. Huntingdon now incorporates the village of Hartford to the east, and the developing areas of Oxmoor, Stukeley Meadows and Hinchingbrooke to the north and west.

Between Godmanchester, Huntingdon and Brampton lies England's largest meadow, Portholme Meadow.[3] Around 257 acres (1 km²) in size and containing many rare species of grass, flowers and dragonfly, it is the only known habitat of the Marsh Dandelion in Britain. It acts as a natural reservoir for holding water in times of flood enabling the river to run off slowly, thereby helping to prevent flooding of nearby towns. It has also served as a horse race course and once was a centre for aviation.

The former Literary and Scientific Institute is now Commemoration Hall.

The Old Bridge across the Great Ouse, to Godmanchester.

There are 3 RAF stations within Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). of the town: RAF Brampton, once home to Headquarters RAF Support Command and now part of the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO); RAF Wyton, once a major flying station but now also part of the DLO; and RAF Alconbury currently occupied by the United States Air Force.

Once renowned for many more churches within the town, there are now four Church of England churches in Huntingdon, which together with the churches in the adjacent villages Great and Little Stukeley are members of the Huntingdon Team Ministry[4] in the Diocese of Ely. The four churches are All Saints' (next to the Market Square), St Mary's (opposite Pathfinder House), St Barnabas (on the Oxmoor estate) and All Saints', Hartford.

Part of the medieval infirmary hall of St Johns on the marketplace became Huntingdon Grammar School and was attended by Cromwell and diarist Samuel Pepys. The building is now the Cromwell Museum, run by Cambridgeshire County Council.

Local Primary schools include Hartford Junior School, Huntingdon Primary School, Thongsley Fields Primary School, St John's Primary School, Stukeley Meadows Primary School and Cromwell Park Primary School. Special needs schools include Spring Common School. Secondary schools include St Peters and Hinchingbrooke School. Further Education colleges include Huntingdonshire Regional College Hinchingbrooke school sixth form college and St Peter's Sixth Form.

File:Cmglee Huntingdon town hall war memorial.jpg
Old Town Hall and Thinking Soldier War Memorial at Huntingdon Market Square.

Business

Huntingdon is home to many local businesses, including a local Horseracing Course, Huntingdon Racecourse. Hinchinbrooke Business Park has many offices and warehouses located on it, including the computer refurbishment company GNG Computers.

Climate

The nearest weather station for which long term weather data is available is RAF Wyton, Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). north east of the town centre, although more recently Monks Wood, Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). to the north west, also provides data.

As with the rest of the British Isles, Huntingdon experiences a strongly temperate maritime based climate, free from temperature extremes, with rainfall fairly evenly spread throughout the year.

The absolute maximum recorded at Wyton was 35.4 °C (95.7 °F)[5] during August 1990, although the temperature at Monks Wood rose to 35.1 °C (95.2 °F)[6] during July 2006. Typically the warmest day will average 29.7 °C (85.5 °F),[7] and 16.0 days[8] a year will rise to 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above.

Typically 43.2 nights[9] of the year will report an air frost. The absolute minimum at Wyton (from 1960) was −16.1 °C (3.0 °F)[10] recorded during January 1982. On average, the coldest night of the year will fall to −7.7 °C (18.1 °F)[11]

With rainfall at under 550 mm[12] per year, the Huntingdon area is amongst the driest in the UK – 103.4 days on average will record at least 1 mm of rain.[13] All averages mentioned refer to the period 1971–2000.

Transport

Rail

Huntingdon railway station has direct services to London Kings Cross station Great Northern.

Bus

There are direct bus services to Peterborough, St Neots, Ramsey, St Ives and Cambridge, as well as within the town and to Hinchingbrooke Hospital. Most buses are provided by a local company, Go Whippet,[14] or by Stagecoach.[15]

Air

Luton and Stansted airports are within Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value)..

File:Huntingdon town centre.JPG
Huntingdon town centre, looking North along the High Street towards All Saints' Church.

Culture

File:Cmglee Huntingdon Cromwell Museum.jpg
Interior of the Cromwell Museum.

Legends

Once a convent, Hinchingbrooke House is said to be haunted. The bridge over the Alconbury Brook named Nun's bridge[16] is said to be also haunted by one of the nuns who once lived at the old convent that is now Hinchingbrooke House. It's said she is often accompanied by another ghost which resembles the appearance of a nurse. The myth goes that the nun had a lover, a monk who caused them to be murdered. In 1965 a married couple reported seeing the ghosts on the bridge, and again when they returned home the same night.[citation needed]

Sport

The town's highest ranked football club, Huntingdon Town, play in the United Counties League, whilst Huntingdon United RGE play in the Cambridgeshire League.

Notable residents

Names are in order of birth. Data come from the subject's Wikipedia site except where referenced.

International relations

Twin towns

See also

References

  1. ↑ [1] cambridgeshire.gov.uk
  2. ↑ Shakespeare at The George
  3. ↑ http://www.huntingdon-town.info/portholme.htm huntingdon-town.info
  4. ↑ http://www.huntingdonanglicanchurches.org.uk huntingdonanglicanchurches.org.uk
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Go Whippet bus services Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  15. ↑ Stagecoach group Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  16. ↑ http://www.francisfrith.com/huntingdon/photos/nuns-bridge-1901_46623/ francisfrith.com
  17. ↑ Chels info Retrieved 8 January 2016.

External links

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