Cambridgeshire ( or ; also
known, archaically, as the County of Cambridge;
abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in England
, bordering
Lincolnshire
to the north, Norfolk to the
northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire
to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire
to the west. Modern Cambridgeshire was formed from the
historic counties of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire
, together with the Isle of Ely
and the Soke of
Peterborough; it contains most of the region known as Silicon Fen. The county town is Cambridge
.
Cambridgeshire is twinned with Kreis
Viersen
in Germany
.
History
Cambridgeshire is noted as the site of some
of the earliest known Neolithic permanent
settlements in the United
Kingdom
, along with sites at Fengate
and Balbridie
.
Cambridgeshire was recorded in the
Domesday Book as "Grantbridgeshire" (or rather
Grentebrigescire) (cf the river Granta).
Covering a large part
of East
Anglia
, Cambridgeshire today is the result of several
local government unifications. In
1888
when
county councils 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.
In
1965, these two administrative counties were
merged to form
Cambridgeshire and the Isle
of Ely.
Under the Local Government Act 1972 this
merged with the county to the west, Huntingdon and Peterborough
(which had itself been created in 1965 by the merger of Huntingdonshire with the Soke of
Peterborough - previously a part of Northamptonshire 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 authority, 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
Plantlife unofficially designated Cambridgeshire's
county flower as the
Pasqueflower.
A great
quantity of archaeological finds from
the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron
Age were made in East Cambridgeshire
. Most items were found in Isleham
.
The
Cambridgeshire Regiment
(or Fen Tigers) county based army unit fought in South Africa, WWI
and WWII.
Due to its flat terrain and proximity to the continent, many RAF
and USAAF bases were built for
Bomber
Command 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 Yorkshire
and a Yellowbelly from
Lincolnshire; the traditional nicknames
for people from Cambridgeshire are 'Cambridgeshire Camel' or
'Cambridgeshire Crane', referring to the wildfowl which were once
abundant in the fens.
Original historical documents relating to Cambridgeshire are held
by
Cambridgeshire
Archives and Local Studies.
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 Chishill
at 146 m (480 ft) above sea level.
Other
prominent hills are Little Trees
Hill
and Wandlebury Hill
in the Gog Magog Downs
, Rivey
Hill
above Linton
, Rowley's
Hill
and the Madingley
Hills.
Politics
Cambridgeshire contains seven Parliamentary constituencies:
Cambridge
, Huntingdon, North East Cambridgeshire
, North West Cambridgeshire
, Peterborough
, South Cambridgeshire
, 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 plc is based in Huntingdon.
The RAF has a few bases in the Huntingdon and
St
Ives
area. Most of Cambridgeshire is
agricultural. Close to Cambridge is the so-called
Silicon Fen area of high-technology
(electronics, computing and biotechnology) companies.
ARM Limited is based in Cherry Hinton
.
Education
Primary and secondary
Cambridgeshire has a completely comprehensive education system with
12 independent schools and over 240 state schools, not including
sixth form colleges.
Some of the secondary schools act as
Village Colleges, institutions unique to
Cambridgeshire.
For example Bottisham
Village College
.
Tertiary
The
University
of Cambridge
is the second-oldest
university in the English-speaking world and is regarded as one of
the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
One of
the campuses of Anglia
Ruskin University
is located in Cambridge as is one of the regional
centres of the Open
University
.
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.
Heraldic badge of the county
council
The town
of Newmarket
is surrounded on three sides by Cambridgeshire,
being connected by a narrow strip of land to the rest of Suffolk.
Climate
Places of interest
Famous people from Cambridgeshire
Map of the Cambridgeshire area
(1904)
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 Cromwell, Prime Minister
John Major, businessmen
Henry Royce and
Peter
Boizot, social reformers
Octavia
Hill and
Thomas Clarkson, and
economist John Maynard Keynes.
Scientists include
Brian J. Ford and
Stephen
Hawking, and
Nobel laureate
Harold Kroto. Literary figures who hail
from Cambridgeshire include
John Clare,
Samuel Pepys,
Lucy M. Boston,
Jeffrey Archer, and
Douglas Adams ,
Olaudah Equiano.
In entertainment, cartoonist
Ronald
Searle, comedian
Rory McGrath,
television presenter
Sarah Cawood, and
radio sports presenter
Adrian Durham
are all from Cambridgeshire.
Paul
Nicholas,
Richard
Attenborough and
Warwick Davis are
all associated with film, while musicians include
Andrew Eldritch, lead singer of
The Sisters of Mercy;
Andy Bell, lead singer for
Erasure;
David Gilmour,
Roger Waters and
Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett of
Pink Floyd;
Don Airey,
keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple; trombonist
Don Lusher;
Keith
Palmer, of dance music band
The
Prodigy;
Nigel Sixsmith, founding
member of
The Art Of Sound and well
known
Keytar player;
Matt Bellamy and Operatic Bass-Baritone,
Darren Jeffery. Athletes
Joe Bugner,
Sir Jack
Hobbs,
Louis Smith and
Marty Scurll are also from the
county.
Richard Garriott,
televangelist
Peter Foxhall, and
Hereward the Wake are from
Cambridgeshire.
See also
References
- Hierarchical list of the Nomenclature of
Territorial Units for Statistics and the statistical regions of
Europe The European Commission, Statistical Office
of the European Communities (retrieved 06 January 2008)
- The Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Order 1964 (SI 1964/366),
see Local
Government Commission for England , Report and Proposals
for the East Midlands General Review Area (Report No.3),
31 July 1961 and Report and Proposals for the
Lincolnshire and East Anglia General Review Area (Report
No.9), 7 May 1965
- The English Non-Metropolitan Districts (Definition)
Order 1972 (SI 1972/2039) Part 5: County of Cambridgeshire
- The Cambridgeshire (City of Peterborough) (Structural,
Boundary and Electoral Changes) Order 1996 (SI 1996/1878), see
Local Government
Commission for England , Final Recommendations for the
Future Local Government of Cambridgeshire, October 1994 and
Final Recommendations on the Future Local Government of
Basildon & Thurrock, Blackburn & Blackpool, Broxtowe,
Gedling & Rushcliffe, Dartford & Gravesham, Gillingham
& Rochester upon Medway, Exeter, Gloucester, Halton &
Warrington, Huntingdonshire & Peterborough, Northampton,
Norwich, Spelthorne and the Wrekin, December 1995
- Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
- includes hunting and forestry
- includes energy and construction
- includes financial intermediation services indirectly
measured
External links
(no longer part of the administrative
county)
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