Wisbech ( , second syllable as 'beach') is a market town and inland port with a population of about 20,000 in the Fenland area of Cambridgeshire. The tidal River Nene runs through the centre of the town and is spanned by two bridges. The name is believed to mean on the back of the (River) Ouse, with Ouse being a common Celtic word relating to 'water'.

Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 coming into force in 1974 Wisbech was a municipal borough. It is now a civil parish in the Fenland District.

History

During the Iron Age, the area where Wisbech would develop lay in the west of the Brythonic Iceni tribe's territory. Like the rest of Cambridgeshire, Wisbech was part of the kingdom of East Anglia after the Anglo-Saxon invasion.

Wisbech Castle was built in 1086 by William I to fortify the town, and in later Tudor times became a notorious prison. Among those held there were John Feckenham, last Abbot of Westminster and two of the key participants in the Gunpowder Plot, Robert Catesby and Francis Tresham. The castle was rebuilt in the mid-17th century and again in 1816 by Joseph Medworth, who also developed The Crescent, familiar as the setting in numerous costume dramas.

The major town dwelling is Peckover House with its fine walled garden, built for the Quaker banking family in 1722 and now owned by the National Trust.

In the 17th century, the local inhabitants became known as the "Fen Tigers" because of their resistance to the draining of the fens, but the project turned Wisbech into a wealthy port handling agricultural produce. At this time Wisbech was on the estuary of the River Ouse, but silting caused the coastline to move north, and the River Nene was diverted to serve the town. The Wisbech Canal joining the River Nene at Wisbech was subsequently filled in and became the dual carriageway leading into the town from the east (now crossing the bypass).

The 5 mile (8 kilometre) £6 million A47 Wisbech/West Walton Bypass opened in spring 1982.

Railways

Wisbech once had three railway branch lines: the 1847/1848 - 1968 GER March to Watlington (junction), Norfolk (on the Ely to King's Lynn main line) via Wisbech East (Victoria Road); the 1866 - 1959 M&GN Peterborough to Sutton Bridge via Wisbech North (on Harecroft Road); and the 1883/1884 - 1966 GER Wisbech and Upwell Tramway. Also, there were two harbour quay lines either side of the River Nene - M&GN Harbour West branch and GER Harbour East branch.

The Wisbech and March Bramleyline heritage railway are going to fully restore and re-open the remaining March to Wisbech line as a tourist line similar to the Mid-Norfolk Railway at Dereham.

As the Wisbech branch is Network Rail property and is still classed as a fully functioning goods line, although the last goods service was in Summer 2000, the Bramleyline Heritage Railway will lease the track from NR on an 99-year lease. Train services, once the line has been fully re-opened following HM Rail Inspectorate approval, will run between March Elm Road (a new station adjacent to Elm Road crossing, March) and Wisbech East (a new station on Weasenham Lane, Wisbech). At Coldham, a new station is hoped to be built on the site of the old station's Down (Wisbech bound) platform, and at Waldersea, a station is hoped to be built to allow visitor access to where the group hope to have a depot.

Culture

The Angles Theatre is a thriving professional theatre, run almost entirely by volunteers and backed by many leading names including Derek Jacobi, Jo Brand and Cameron Mackintosh. It is also the home of the "Nine Lives" theatre company, a company formed as part of Performing Arts programme run by the Isle College.

The amateur dramatic group The Wisbech Players has been performing for over 50 years. They currently perform twice a year in spring and autumn at the Angles Theatre.

Amateur dramatic group The Wisbech Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society (WAODS) have been providing musicals to the town since 1905 and a yearly pantomime since 1975. The society's home is at the local Thomas Clarkson Community College, where rehearsals and performances take place.

Every summer a "Rose Fair" is held in St Peter's Church. The church is decorated with floral displays sponsored by local organisations and businesses. A parade of floats forms up in Queens Road and circuits the town. Strawberry and cream teas are served and stalls raise funds for local charities. Coaches bring visitors from a wide area. Details are available from the local tourist office.

Wisbech is twinned with Arles in France.

Local youth organisations include the Army Cadet Force, Air Training Corps, Sea Cadets, Girls Venture Corps Air Cadets, Fire cadets and St John Ambulance cadets. There are numerous Scouting groups for boys and girls.

Sport

The local football team is Wisbech Town Football Club, nicknamed The Fenmen. Other sports clubs include Wisbech Rugby Union Football Club, Wisbech Tennis Club, Wisbech Cricket Club (who have an annual fixture with The M.C.C.), Wisbech Hockey Club, Wisbech Squash Club and a number of martial arts clubs.

The "Nine Mile River Swim" between Wisbech and Sutton Bridge in the River Nene was won four times in the 1930s by Ernie (Bunny) Bunning. When the swim was moved to the swimming pool as a 220 yard race David Bunning, his son, won the cup four times in the 1960s.

Notable buildings

• Peckover House (1722; owned by the National Trust)

• Clarkson Memorial (1881)

• St Peter and St Paul's Parish Church. There are some pictures and a description of the church at the Cambridgeshire Churches website .

• St Mary's Parish church, also on the Cambridgeshire Churches website .

• Octavia Hill Birthplace Museum where she was born before her family's move to London.

• Wisbech Museum; extensive collections of local records and other items. Notable artifacts include: Napoleon's Sèvres breakfast service, said to have been captured at the Battle of Waterloo; Thomas Clarkson's chest, containing examples of 18th century African textiles, seeds and leatherwork which he used to illustrate his case for direct trade with Africa; and the original manuscript of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. The manuscript can be viewed on the first Saturday of each month.

• Elgood's Brewery; The brewery was founded in 1795, and bought soon after by the Elgood family. It is a traditional brewery, but produces less than some modern micro-breweries, with output at around 90-100 barrels per week. The beers produced include: "Black Dog Mild", "Golden Newt", "Cambridge Bitter, "Greyhound Strong Bitter", "Old Smoothie Mild", "Old Smoothie Bitter", "Brookes Ale", "Reinbeer" and "Jingle Ale". Recently the brewery has won the Champion Beer of Britain award for its Cambridge Bitter. The brewery is also known for its gardens, which are open to the public.

Famous people associated with Wisbech

• William Godwin, (born in Wisbech, 3 March 1756 – 7 April, 1836) was an English political writer and novelist, considered one of the important precursors of both utilitarian and liberal anarchist thought. Godwin's daughter became Mary Shelley, the famed author of Frankenstein.
• William Digby, (born in Wisbech, 1 May 1849 – 29 September, 1904) was an English writer,journalist and liberal politician. He was the first secretary of the National Liberal Club.
• Thomas Clarkson, the anti-slavery campaigner, was from Wisbech and educated at Wisbech Grammar School. The Clarkson Memorial was built to commemorate his life. The Old Queens School was renamed in his memory Thomas Clarkson Community College was named after him.
• John Clarkson, younger brother of Thomas, another key figure in the British abolitionist movement. He organised the voluntary migration of former slaves, freed by the British as part of a deal to reward their loyalty to the Crown during the American War of Independence, to Sierra Leone, where he became governor.
• William Hazlitt, essayist and philosopher most noted for My First Acquaintance with Poets was a pastor in Wisbech in 1764, and married there in 1766.
• The sisters Miranda and Octavia Hill, both born at Wisbech. Miranda founded the influential Kyrle Society, a progenitor of the National Trust. Social reformer Octavia was co-founder of the National Trust.
• Sir Harry Kroto, 1996 Nobel Laureate in chemistry, for the discovery of fullerenes.
• Anton Rodgers (born Anthony Rodgers; 10 January 1933 – 1 December 2007) , actor, was born in Wisbech.
• Rev. W. Awdrey the creator of Thomas the Tank Engine was Vicar of Emneth, 1953-65. Toby the Tram Engine, one of the Rev. W. Awdrey's characters, is based on the small steam trams that used to transport farm produce on the Strawberry Line between Wisbech and Upwell.
• Jesse Pye. Professional football player, who scored two goals in 1949 FA Cup Final, and who represented England at international level, became player-manager for Wisbech Town F.C. from 1960–1966. He scored the goal that knocked Colchester United out of the first round of the FA Cup in the 1959/60 season.
• Tony Martin while living in an isolated Norfolk farmhouse just outside Wisbech, gained notoriety for shooting and killing one of two young men, both from a travellers' community, who were burgling his home one night. Although he was convicted of murder, he became something of a local celebrity as a symbol of rough justice.
• Mark Wheat, radio host on The Current from Minnesota Public Radio, born in Wisbech.
• Joe Perry - snooker player

• Cambridgeshire Regiment Members recruited locally seeing active service won military honours and battle honours include:-

South Africa 1900-1901The Great War (4 battalions): Ypres 1915 '17, Gravenstafel, St Julien, Frezenberg, Somme 1916 '18, Thiepval, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916, Pilckem, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, St Quentin, Rosières, Lys, Kemmel, Scherpenberg, Amiens, Albert 1918, Bapaume 1918, Hindenburg Line, Épéhy, St Quentin Canal, Pursuit to Mons, France and Flanders 1915-18

The Second World War: Johore, Batu Pahat, Singapore Island, Malaya 1942

In film and television

Wisbech is noted for its unspoilt Georgian architecture, particularly along North Brink and The Crescent. It has been used in BBC One's 1999 adaptation of Charles Dickens' David Copperfield and ITV1's Micawber, starring David Jason. A "Wisbech Rock Festival" appears in the film Still Crazy. The 2008 feature film Dean Spanley was largely filmed in Wisbech.

Wisbech in the news

There are two free newspapers distributed within the town, the Wisbech Standard (owned by Archant) and the Fenland Citizen.

On 27 June, 1970, the heaviest point rainfall was recorded in Wisbech, when 2 inches (50.8 mm) fell in just 12 minutes during the Rose Fair.[26602]

On 21 September, 1979, two Harrier jump jets on a training exercise collided over Wisbech. Both crashed - one into a field, and the other into a residential area. Two houses and a bungalow were demolished on Ramnoth Road, causing the death of Bob Bowers, his two-year-old son Jonathan Bowers, and Bill Trumpess - a former mayor of the town. BBC Archive

The Tesco store in Cromwell Road was one of three stores (the other two being in Kent) chosen to run an initial trial of the Clubcard loyalty card. The trial ran from October 1993 and due to the success of this trial, the Clubcard programme was rolled out nationwide in February 1995.

The "rabbits on the roundabout" caused considerable discussion. A number of rabbits took up residence on a town centre roundabout, causing damage to the flowers and shrubs. Despite calls to remove them, local opposition prevailed. The rabbits remained, much to the humour of outside observers. The roundabout has now been landscaped with maritime 'rabbit-friendly' features to link to the nearby riverside redevelopment. Unfortunately, since then, an outbreak of myxomatosis took hold of the 'Wisbech warren', and decimated its population. Rabbits are now conspicuous by their absence from the roundabout, which remains professionally landscaped.

According to a study looking into immigration patterns, Wisbech was once identified as the seventh "most English" town in Britain. Sky News However, on 16 February 2008 a report in the Daily Express titled "Death Of A Country Idyll" wrote about how the influx of Eastern European immigrants may have caused the increase of crime and other illegal activities. Then on 20 February 2008 The Fenland Citizen contained an article opposing the Daily Express article.

Education

Wisbech's two secondary schools (11-18) are the comprehensive Thomas Clarkson Community College (formerly the Queen's School, which itself was the amalgamation of the Queen's Girls' and Queen's Boys' schools), and the independent Wisbech Grammar School, which was founded in 1379, making it one of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom. There is also a further education centre, the College of West Anglia formerly the Isle of Ely College, in the town. Many find that after seeking higher education the area is unable to offer suitable employment and subsequently many are forced to move from the area.

Primary schools in Wisbech include; Clarkson Infants, St Peters Juniors, The Orchards, Peckover, Nene Infants, Ramnoth Junior School and Elm Road County Primary School. There is also a school for children with special learning needs, Meadowgate School.

Twin town

• Arles, France (1964)

See also

• List of places in Cambridgeshire

References

1. This church's page at the Cambridgeshire Churches website
2. This church's page at the Cambridgeshire Churches website
3. Scoring Points - Business Life Article, November 2003
4. Wisbech: blighted by crime? - Fenland Today

External links

• The Angles Theatre
• 2001 Census
• River Nene through Wisbech, from source to mouth.
• Fenland Citizen Web site of local newspaper
• Fenland District Council District councils web site
• The Wisbech Society & Preservation Trust
• Thomas Clarkson Community College
• Wisbech Amateur Operatic & Dramatic Society (WAODS)
• Wisbech Players
• Octavia Hill Birthplace House