Huntingdon


Huntingdon is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England, chartered by King John in 1205. Having been the county town of historic Huntingdonshire, it is now the seat of the Huntingdonshire District Council. It is well known as the birthplace of Oliver Cromwell, who was born there in 1599 and its Member of Parliament for the town in the 17th century. The former Conservative Prime Minister John Major served as the MP for Huntingdon from 1979 until his retirement in 2001.

History

Huntingdon was founded by the Anglo-Saxons and Danes. It is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 921, where it appears as Huntandun. It appears as Huntedun in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name means "The huntsman's hill" or possibly "Hunta's hill".
It seems that Huntingdon was a staging post for Danish raids outside of East Anglia until 917, when the Danes moved to Tempsford in Bedfordshire, before they were 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.
Its valuable trading position was secured by Huntingdon Castle, of which only the earthworks of its motte survive. The site is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument and home to a beacon used to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Spanish Armada.
In 1746, the botanists Wood and Ingram of nearby Brampton developed an elm-tree cultivar, Ulmus × hollandica 'Vegeta', which they named the "Huntingdon Elm" after the town.
Original documents on Huntingdon's history, including the borough charter of 1205, are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at the County Record Office, Huntingdon.
Parts of Huntingdon, including the town centre, were struck by an F1/T3 tornado on 23 November 1981, during a record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day. Moderate damage resulted in Huntingdon town centre.
Between the railway station and the old hospital building stands a replica cannon installed in the 1990s to replace one from the Crimean War, scrapped for the war effort in the Second World War. However, it faces in the opposite direction from the original. St Mary's Street drill hall was built in the late 19th century.

George Hotel

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 bought some 25 years later by Henry Cromwell, grandfather of Oliver Cromwell. Charles I made the George Hotel his headquarters in 1645. Later the highwayman Dick Turpin is said to have been a visitor, when it was a coaching inn on the Great North Road. Two wings of the inn were burnt down in the mid-19th century, but two were saved, including one with a balcony overlooking the yard. Since 1959 the courtyard and balcony have been used for Shakespeare performances produced by the company run by the Shakespeare at the George Trust.

Government

Huntingdon has a town council with 19 councillors, as elsewhere elected every four years. Two of the councillors serve also as mayor and deputy mayor. Meetings are normally held once a month at the town hall.
Huntingdonshire District Council has three wards: Huntingdon North, Huntingdon East and Huntingdon West. The Huntingdon East ward is represented by three councillors and the other wards by two each. The main offices of Huntingdonshire District Council are in Huntingdon itself.
The highest tier of local government is Cambridgeshire County Council based in Cambridge, providing county-wide services such as major road infrastructure, fire and rescue, education, social services, libraries and heritage protection. Huntingdon is one of 60 electoral divisions and represented by two county councillors.
Huntingdon lies in the parliamentary constituency of Huntingdon. It has been represented by Jonathan Djanogly MP since 2001. The previous member was the former prime minister John Major, who held the seat in 1979–2001.

Geography

The town lies on the north bank of the River Great Ouse, opposite Godmanchester and close to the market town of St Ives to the east and the village of Brampton to 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 Portholme Meadow, England's largest. About 257 acres in area, it contains many rare species of grass, flowers and dragonfly. It is the only known British habitat of the marsh dandelion. It acts as a natural reservoir for water in times of flood, enabling the river to run off slowly, so helping to preclude flooding in nearby towns. It has also served as a horse racecourse and once was a centre for aviation.

Business

Huntingdon is home to many local businesses, including Huntingdon Racecourse. Hinchingbrooke Business Park has many offices and warehouses located in it.

Climate

The nearest weather station for which long-term weather data is available is RAF Wyton, north-east of the town centre, although more recently Monks Wood, to the north-west, has also provided data.
Like most of Britain, Huntingdon has a temperate maritime-based climate free from temperature extremes, with rainfall spread fairly evenly over the year. The absolute maximum recorded at Wyton was in August 1990; the temperature at Monks Wood rose in July 2006 to. Typically the warmest day of the year averages. and 16.0 days a year will rise to or above.
Typically 43.2 nights of the year report an air frost. The absolute minimum at Wyton was recorded in January 1982. On average, the coldest night of the year will fall to
With annual rainfall at under a year, the Huntingdon area is among the driest in the UK – 103.4 days on average record at least 1 mm of rain. All averages mentioned refer to the period 1971–2000.

Demography

Population

Between 1801 to 1901, the current area of Huntingdon town consisted of four parishes: Huntingdon All Saints, Huntingdon St Benedict, Huntingdon St John and Huntingdon St Mary. The populations of these were recorded in the ten-year UK census. The combined population in the period ranged between 2,368 in 1801 and 4,735 in 1891.
Parish
1911
1921
1931
1951
1961
1971
1981
1991
2001
2011
Huntingdon4,4644,6444,5705,28214,64815,45120,09923,732

All population census figures are taken from the report Historic Census figures Cambridgeshire to 2011 by Cambridgeshire Insight. For the census taken in 1961 and that in 1971, Huntingdon was combined with Godmanchester.
In 2011, the parish covered an area of. The population density in that year was.

Culture and community

The former Literary and Scientific Institute is now Commemoration Hall.
.
There are three RAF stations within of the town: RAF Brampton, once home to Headquarters RAF Support Command and now part of the Defence Logistics Organisation ; 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.
Part of the medieval infirmary hall of St Johns in the market place became Huntingdon Grammar School and was attended by Cromwell and by the diarist Samuel Pepys. The building is now the Cromwell Museum, run by Cambridgeshire County Council.

Legends

Once a convent, Hinchingbrooke House is said to be haunted. The bridge over the Alconbury Brook named Nun's Bridge is said also to be haunted, by one of the nuns who once lived at the old convent that is now Hinchingbrooke House. She is said often to be accompanied by another ghost that resembles 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.

Education

The 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 Academy Primary School. Special-needs schools include Spring Common School. Secondary schools include St Peter's Secondary School and Hinchingbrooke School. Further Education colleges include Huntingdonshire Regional College, Hinchingbrooke School sixth-form college and St Peter's Sixth Form.

Transport

Rail

has direct services to London Kings Cross station. It is served by Great Northern.

Bus

There are direct bus services to Peterborough, St Neots, Ramsey, St Ives and Cambridge, and also within the town and to Hinchingbrooke Hospital. Most buses are provided by Stagecoach East and Whippet.

Air

and Stansted airports are within.

Religious sites

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 in the Diocese of Ely. The four are All Saints', St Mary's, St Barnabas and All Saints', Hartford.
Huntingdon Methodist Church is situated on the High Street. Medway Christian Fellowship is based on Medway Road.

Sport

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

Notable residents

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

Arts and entertainment

Twin towns