Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/475

Rh CAMBRIDGESHIRE. CAMBRIDGESHIRE. In the latter is the collection of minerals presented to (he University by Dr. John Woodward in 1727, by whom also the Professorship of Geology was founded. The Pitt Press, in Trumpington-street, was erected in 1833. It is in the perpendicular style, with a fine tower,
 * iud was designed by Blorc. The Fitzwilliam Museum,

the finest modern building in Cambridge, was founded by Richard Viscount Fitzwilliam, who, in 1816, bequeathed 100,000, and his fine collection of books, pictures, ivr., lor that purpose. The building was completed in 1847, having been commenced in 1837. Mr. G. Basevi had .he direction of the work, and on his death it was arried on by Mr. Cockerell. The museum is a noble structure of the Corinthian order, 160 feet square, with i splendid portico, and contains a spacious and richly lecorated hall, 100 feet long and 70 wide, and iiv ipartments for the pictures, &e. The general managc- jinent is directed by a syndicate, composed of the <-< hancellor and eight other members of the senate. i is open free to members of the University daily, md to the public on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Satur- i .-tween the hours of 12 a.m. and 4 p.m.
 * iservatory, built in 1822 1824, is pleasantly

lituatcd on rising ground on the road to Madinglcy. (H is iii the Grecian style, and was erected from Ihe designs of J. Mead in 1825, at a cost of 20,000, Jhe great telescope, made by Cauchoix, of nearly {! 2 inches aperture, and 20 feet focal length, was pre- sented to the University by the Duke of Northum- berland in 1835, and is placed under a revolving dome ji7 feet in diameter. The other instruments possessed by the observatory are a transit instrument, 10 feet focal '.ongth, a mural circle of 8 feet diameter, an equatorial ,jf a feet focal length, a declination circle, an hour circle, jmd a transit clock. The observatory is open every lay but Saturday, from 12 to half-past 1, to members bf the University and their friends. There are also Philosophical and Antiquarian societies ; the former, wcupying a spacious brick building in All Saints' - passage, was established in 1819, and incorporated >y royal charter in 1832 ; the latter was established In 1840. The University Pitt Club, held at 74, liridge - street, and supplied with all the London aewspapers, is confined to members of the University, md is open daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Cam- bridge Free Library is situated in Jesus-lane, and was ipened in June, 1855, under Mr. Ewart's Public Libraries Act. The Lending Library was instituted in April, 1858, and received a munificent donation of books Irom his late Royal Highness the Prince Consort, who as elected Chancellor of the University of Cambridge in 1847. The library is open daily between the hours if 12 to 4 and 6 to 10 p.m. The Botanical Gardens were originally instituted by Dr. Richard Walker, vice- master of Trinity, but have been lately removed to a more commodious position on the S.E. side of the town. .They now cover an area of about 21 acres, between the Hill's-road and the Trumpington-road. The garden is very rich in rare trees and plants from Australia and the Pacific Islands, and has several commodious hot- houses. The management is under the direction of a syndicate, of which the Vice-Chancellor of the University is the head. The gardens are open free to the public overy day except Sunday, and the hothouses between 1 and 4 o'clock p.m. CAMBRIDGESHIRE, an inland co. of England, lying in the S.E. part of the island. It is situated between 52 2' and 52 45' N. lat., and between 30' K. and 0" 16' W. long. It is bounded on the N. by Lin- colnshire ; on the E. by the cos. of Norfolk and Suffolk ; 'n the S. by Essex and Hertfordshire ; and on the W. y the cos. of Bedford, Huntingdon, and Northainp- "ii. In form it approaches an oblong, and extends in V'ngth from N. to H. about 50 miles, and in breadth in lie southern part about 30 miles. It is about 200 miles n circuit, and comprises an area of 818 square miles, -r about 523,861 statute acres, including within its -nuts 37,677 houses, inhabited by a population of "5,950 according to the census of 1861, against VOL. i. is."), 10.3 in 1851, showing a decrease of no less than 9, 455 in the decennial period, while the inhabited houses have augmented by 451, marking a progressive amelioia- tion in the social condition of the people. In the earliest period of our history this district belonged to the Iberians, and afterwards formed part of the British kingdom of the Iceni, which comprised also Norfolk, Suffolk, and Huntingdonshire. Under the Roman dominion it was included in that division of the island which was named Flavin Cicsarientu, and the Romans had a settlement near the site of the modern town of Cambridge, named Camboricum. The whole county is txavened by ancient roads, many of which are of Unman origin. After the withdrawal of the Romans the county became part of the kingdom of the East Angles, and subsequently of the district called the Dane- liujli. It was ravaged by the Danes in 870, who burnt the town of Cambridge, and destroyed several religious houses. The Isle of Ely, which early formed a district by itself, fell into their power, and Cambridge was long one of their military stations. In 921 the Danish army surrendered at Cambridge to Edward the Elder. The Isle of Ely was afterwards united to the kingdom of Mercia. In 1010 the county was again laid waste, and Cambridge burnt by the Danes. After the Norman Conquest the Fens of Cambridgeshire became the stronghold of the Anglo-Saxons, and the scene of a long and stout resistance to the Conqueror. The report of wrongs to his family and estates brought back the brave and banished Hereward le Wake from Flanders, to join in and direct the hostilities against the Normans. For seven years he held his ground in the Isle of Ely, where he erected a castle, against all the forces and all the attempts of William to defeat and drive him thence, till betrayed by the monks of Ely, who feared to lose the broad lands belonging to them, lying beyond the limits of the isle itself. The hero of the defence was afterwards reconciled to the Conqueror, and had his possessions restored to him. This county did not escape fearful sufferings during the war between Stephen and the Empress Maud, the horrors of famine and pestilence accompanying those of war. During the barons' wars in the reign of John, the Isle of Ely was wasted both by the baronial and the royal forces. Similar ravages were made in the succeeding reign, and the isle, after being some time held by the barons, was retaken for the king about 126(5. In the civil war of the 17th century, Cam- bridgeshire heartily espoused the popular cause. The University of Cambridge, however, took the king's side, and testified its devotion by giving up its plate for the royal service. Cromwell was twice sent down with an army into this county : in 1643 to take possession of Cambridge, which was thenceforth htld for the parlia- ment ; and in 1645 to secure the Isle of Ely. Two years later, the village of Kennett, near Newmarket, was made the head-quarters of the army under Fairfax. In June, 1647, the king, then at Childerley, was visited by Cromwell and Fairfax, and was soon after removed to Newmarket. Cambridgeshire is for the most part a dead flat of fen land. The whole N. part of the county is included in the great district called the Bedford Level, and is crossed by an immense number of canals and ditches, which sometimes extend for many miles in a straight bine. Trees and hedgerows are rarely seen, but scattered over the surface are num- berless small windmills and some steam-engines, used for drawing off the water. Long lines of pollard wil- lows, and occasional osier beds, break the monotony of the landscape. Large tracts here and there remain uncultivated, and yield only sedges and reeds for mat- ting and thatching, and peat for fuel. [For a notice of the various attempts to drain the fens, see BEDFOBD LEVEL.] The S. and S.E. quarters of the county present a different scene. Here are a range of low chalk hills, part of the extensive formation to which the Chiltern hills belong. The highest ground is at the Gogmagog hills, near Cambridge, on the S.E., which, in some places, rise to the height of 300 feet, and command extensive prospects. There is some woodland on the border of 3 o