Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire
County
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "CORDE UNO SAPIENTES SIMUS" ("With one heart let us be men and women of understanding")
Cambridgeshire shown within England
Coordinates: 52°20′N 0°0′W / 52.333°N -0.000°E / 52.333; -0.000Coordinates: 52°20′N 0°0′W / 52.333°N -0.000°E / 52.333; -0.000
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	East
Established	1 April 1974
Established by	Local Government Act 1972
Preceded by	Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Huntingdon and Peterborough
Origin	Ancient
Ceremonial county
Lord Lieutenant	Hugh Duberly
High Sheriff	Aubrey James Francis Buxton
Area	3,389 km2 (1,309 sq mi)
– Ranked	15th of 48
Population (2011 est.)	806,700
– Ranked	28th of 48
Density	238/km2 (620/sq mi)
Ethnicity	94.6% White 2.6% S.Asian
Non-metropolitan county
County council	Cambridgeshire County Council
Executive	Conservative
Admin HQ	Cambridge
Area	3,046 km2 (1,176 sq mi)
– Ranked	15th of 27
Population	622,200
– Ranked	18th of 27
Density	204/km2 (530/sq mi)
ISO 3166-2	GB-CAM
ONS code	12
GSS code	E10000003
NUTS	UKH12
Website	www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Unitary authorities
Councils	Peterborough City Council
Districts of Cambridgeshire   Unitary   County council area
Districts	City of Cambridge South Cambridgeshire Huntingdonshire Fenland East Cambridgeshire City of Peterborough
Members of Parliament	List of MPs
Police	Cambridgeshire Constabulary
Time zone	GMT (UTC)
– Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)

Cambridgeshire (/ˈkeɪmbrɪdʒʃər/ or /ˈkeɪmbrɪdʒʃɪər/; abbreviated Cambs.) is an East Anglian county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west. The city of Cambridge is the county town. Modern Cambridgeshire was formed in 1974 as an amalgamation of the counties of Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely and Huntingdon and Peterborough, which had been created in 1965 from the historic counties of Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, the Isle of Ely and the Soke of Peterborough. It contains most of the region known as Silicon Fen.

History

Cambridgeshire is noted as the site of Flag Fen in Fengate, one of the earliest-known Neolithic permanent settlements in the United Kingdom, compared in importance to Balbridie in Aberdeen, Scotland. 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.

Cambridgeshire was recorded in the Domesday Book as "Grantbridgeshire" (or rather Grentebrigescire) (related to 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.^[1] Under the Local Government Act 1972 this merged with the county to the west, Huntingdon and Peterborough. (The latter had been organised 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.^[2]

Since 1998, the City of Peterborough has been a separately administered area, as a unitary authority. It is associated with Cambridgeshire for ceremonial purposes such as Lieutenancy, and functions such as policing and the fire service.^[3]

In 2002, the conservation charity Plantlife unofficially designated Cambridgeshire's county flower as the Pasqueflower.

The Cambridgeshire Regiment (or Fen Tigers), the county-based army unit, fought in the Boer War of South Africa, the First World War and Second World War.

Due to the county's flat terrain and proximity to the continent, during the Second World War the military built many airfields here for RAF Bomber Command, RAF Fighter Command, and the allied USAAF. In recognition of this collaboration, the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial is located in Madingley. It is the only WWII burial ground in England for American servicemen who died during that event.

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 that were once abundant in the fens. The term "Fenners" was often applied to those who come from the flat country to the north of Cambridge. Since the late 20th century, this term is considered to be derogatory and has been discouraged in use.

Original historical documents relating to Cambridgeshire are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies.

Geography

See also Geology of Cambridgeshire

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:

Constituency	Member of Parliament
Cambridge		Julian Huppert
Huntingdon		Jonathan Djanogly
North East Cambridgeshire		Stephen Barclay
North West Cambridgeshire		Shailesh Vara
Peterborough		Stewart Jackson
South Cambridgeshire		Andrew Lansley
South East Cambridgeshire		James Paice

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[4]	Agriculture[5]	Industry[6]	Services[7]
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 several stations in the Huntingdon and St Ives area. RAF Waterbeach, 6 miles north of Cambridge, is a former RAF airfield, now used as an army barracks. RAF Alconbury, 3 miles north of Huntingdon, is being reorganised after a period of obsolescence following the departure of the USAF, to be the focus of RAF/USAFE intelligence operations, with activities at Upwood and Molesworth being transferred there. 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

Cambridgeshire is home to a number of institutes of higher education:

• The University of Cambridge - second-oldest university in the English-speaking world, and regarded as one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world
• Anglia Ruskin University - has a campus located in Cambridge and a base at Fulbourn
• The Open University - has a regional centre located in Cambridge
• The University Centre Peterborough - operated by Anglia Ruskin University and Peterborough Regional College, located in Peterborough
• The College of West Anglia has a campus at Milton, on the northern outskirts of Cambridge

In addition, Cambridge Regional College and Huntingdonshire Regional College 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
• Cambridge
• Chatteris
• Cottenham
• Ely
• Godmanchester
• Huntingdon
• Littleport
• March
• Peterborough (no longer part of the administrative county)
• Sawston
• Sawtry
• Soham
• St Ives
• St Neots
• Wisbech
• Whittlesey
• Yaxley

The town of Newmarket is surrounded on three sides by Cambridgeshire, being connected by a narrow strip of land to the rest of Suffolk.

Cambridgeshire has seen 32,869 dwellings created from 2002-2013 ^[8] and there are a further 35,360 planned new dwellings between now and 2023.^[9]

Climate

Cambridgeshire has a maritime temperate climate which is broadly similar to the rest of the United Kingdom, though it is drier than the UK average due to its low altitude and easterly location, the prevailing southwesterly winds having already deposited moisture on higher ground further west. Average winter temperatures are cooler than the English average, due to Cambridgeshire's inland location and relative nearness to continental Europe, which results in the moderating maritime influence being less strong. Snowfall is slightly more common than in western areas, due to the relative winter coolness and easterly winds bringing occasional snow from the North Sea. In summer temperatures are average or slightly above, due to less cloud cover. It reaches 25°C on around 10 days each year, and is comparable to parts of Kent and East Anglia.

Climate data for Cambridge 1971–2000 average
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	7.0 (44.6)	7.4 (45.3)	10.2 (50.4)	12.6 (54.7)	16.5 (61.7)	19.4 (66.9)	22.2 (72)	22.3 (72.1)	18.9 (66)	14.6 (58.3)	9.9 (49.8)	7.8 (46)	14.1 (57.4)
Average low °C (°F)	1.3 (34.3)	1.1 (34)	2.9 (37.2)	4.0 (39.2)	6.7 (44.1)	9.8 (49.6)	12.0 (53.6)	11.9 (53.4)	10.1 (50.2)	7.1 (44.8)	3.7 (38.7)	2.3 (36.1)	6.1 (43)
Average rainfall mm (inches)	45.0 (1.772)	32.7 (1.287)	41.5 (1.634)	43.1 (1.697)	44.5 (1.752)	53.8 (2.118)	38.2 (1.504)	48.8 (1.921)	51.0 (2.008)	53.8 (2.118)	51.1 (2.012)	50.0 (1.969)	553.5 (21.791)
Source: Met Office

Culture

Sports

Association Football (the biggest sport in the world) was invented in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire on what is now known as Parker's Piece in the middle of town. This is the earliest version of Association Football that has ever existed and the rules still exist today. Folklore dictates that there are 11 men on each team because when the game was invented, there were eleven trees on either side of Parker's Piece. In commemoration of the creation of Football; a statue is to be raised in the middle of the park where the game was invented. Despite this however, the "home" of football is said to be Wembley, London for two reasons. 1) It is in the capital city of England and 2) It is where England's national team play.

Cambridgeshire is the birthplace of bandy, now an IOC accepted sport.^[10] 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.^[11] Bandy Federation of England is based in Cambridgeshire.

Contemporary Art

Cambridge is home to the Kettle's Yard gallery and the artist run Aid and Abet project Space. Nine miles west of Cambridge next to the village of Bourn is Wysing Arts Centre.^[12]

Places of interest

Key
	Abbey/Priory/Cathedral
	Accessible open space
	Amusement/Theme Park
	Castle
	Country Park
	English Heritage
	Forestry Commission
	Heritage railway
	Historic House
	Museum (free/not free)
	National Trust
	Theatre
	Zoo

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.

The area of today's Cambridgeshire lieutenancy may lay claim to famous men and women from two shires and a soke:

Cambridgeshire	Huntingdonshire	Soke of Peterborough
Hereward the Wake, who resisted the Normans	Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell, Prime Minister John Major, and businessman Henry Royce
Social reformers
Octavia Hill and Thomas Clarkson, and economist John Maynard Keynes.
Scientists include:
Stephen Hawking, and Nobel laureate Harold Kroto, and		Brian J. Ford
Literary figures who hail from these shires include:
Jeffrey Archer, Douglas Adams, and Olaudah Equiano,	Samuel Pepys, Lucy M. Boston, and	John Clare
In entertainment,
cartoonist Ronald Searle, comedian Rory McGrath,
Richard Attenborough, Jeremy Irvine and	Warwick Davis are all associated with film,	television presenter Sarah Cawood, and radio sports presenter Adrian Durham
while musicians include
Andrew Eldritch, lead singer of The Sisters of Mercy, David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Bob Klose and Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett of Pink Floyd; Don Airey, keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple, and Matt Bellamy		Paul Nicholas, Andy Bell, lead singer for Erasure; trombonist Don Lusher; Keith Palmer, of dance music band The Prodigy; singer Aston Merrygold of JLS; and the members of Britain's Got Talent Popera band The Arrangement
In athletics are,
Sir Jack Hobbs, Marty Scurll,	Joe Bugner	and Louis Smith
Richard Garriott, the video game entrepreneur leads a 'Silicon Fen' contingent from Cambridgeshire

See also

• List of Lord Lieutenants of Cambridgeshire
• List of High sheriffs of Cambridgeshire
• Custos Rotulorum of Cambridgeshire - Keepers of the Rolls for Cambridgeshire
• Cambridgeshire (UK Parliament constituency) - Historical list of MPs for Cambridgeshire constituency
• Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies
• Cambridgeshire local elections

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cambridgeshire.

• Cambridgeshire County Council
• Cambridgeshire Community Archive Network.
• Images of Cambridgeshire at the English Heritage Archive
• Cambridgeshire at DMOZ

Neighbouring counties

	Rutland	Lincolnshire	Norfolk
	Northamptonshire		Suffolk
	Cambridgeshire
	Bedfordshire	Hertfordshire	Essex

Ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire Unitary authorities City of Peterborough Boroughs or districts City of Cambridge District of East Cambridgeshire District of Fenland District of Huntingdonshire District of South Cambridgeshire Major settlements Cambridge Chatteris Ely Godmanchester Huntingdon March Peterborough Ramsey St Ives St Neots Soham Whittlesey Wisbech See also: List of civil parishes in Cambridgeshire Rivers Great Ouse (Old Bedford New Bedford Cam Kym Lark Little Ouse) Nene Stour Welland Topics Parliamentary constituencies Places SSSIs Country houses Grade I listed buildings History Lord Lieutenants Custodes Rotulorum High Sheriffs Schools Museums Diocese of Ely Diocese of Peterborough Isle of Ely Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Soke of Peterborough Huntingdon and Peterborough

1974–1996 ←   Ceremonial counties of England   → current Bedfordshire Berkshire City of Bristol Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Cheshire Cornwall Cumbria Derbyshire Devon Dorset Durham East Riding of Yorkshire East Sussex Essex Gloucestershire Greater London Greater Manchester Hampshire Herefordshire Hertfordshire Isle of Wight Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire City of London Merseyside Norfolk Northamptonshire Northumberland North Yorkshire Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Rutland Shropshire Somerset South Yorkshire Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Tyne and Wear Warwickshire West Midlands West Sussex West Yorkshire Wiltshire Worcestershire