Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/476

Rh CAJIIiKIIl 406 Suffolk, oud agreeable scenery along tho course of the The principal rivers of Cambridge- iiuvignlilc for shipping Ely; with its tributary M-igablc to Cambridge; and tin- N> n. II.' Jati. i in unoriginal course croMod northern, part of tin- comity in a north-eaeterly direction from Bcnwick, on the edge of Huntingdon- shire, to Outwell, tii Norfolk. It has now two other chauuels, north c.i tin "Id one: one called Morton's Learn, passing from Peterborough, nearly in a direct linr, t" i fromPeterborough.ali'ii:; tl.> N V, 'nty, and fulling with mi <> th" Vash. The latter channel is called the CaU water and the Shire Drain. Tho Ouse retains its ancient name, like tin Thame, Dour, and Dee, being a very common ejiitln t given to rivers by tho Celts. There is an Ouse in Cam- bridgeshire, Buckinghamshire, Sussex, and Yorkshire, on Oise in France, and Auger and JEaar in Italy, and an JEolis in Greece. The Ouse forms the southern and south- eastern boundary of the Isle of Ely. It enters the county a few miles below St. Ires, at Hermitage Sluice, in the pariah of Haddenham, whence it Hows first to tho and then N.N.E. past Ely into Norfolk. The New Bedford river is a navigable canal, cut right across tho Isle of Ely from tho Hermitage Sluice to 1>. aver .Sluice in Norfolk, where, with the Old Nen, it joins the Ouse. Tho Cam is formed by the union of several streams, one of which, the Rhee, rises near Ashwcll in the S.W. comer of the county, and another in Essex. They join near Gi-ontchestcr, and running northward through Cambridge, and thence north-east- ward to Upware, fall into the Ouse. - Tho Lark, a small river of Suffolk, navigable from Bury, skirts the county for a few miles and falls into the Ouse below Ely. " The Visbeach canal, cut in 1794, joins the Old Nen at Outwell, thus connecting the navigation of the Ncn and the Oust-. Tho climate of Cambridgeshire has become much more healthy than it was formerly by reason of the drainage of tho fens and tho increased ex- tent of cultivated ground. Agues and fevers, once so common, are comparatively rare. The soil is various ; but the greater part of the land is very fertile. In the fens a soft, rich, black mud is found with a very large proportion of vegetable matter. Vln n properly treated, it produces immense crops of wheat, barley, cats, pota- toes, and hay. Ely is particularly renowned for its asparagus and osiers. In tho upland districts of tin >. and 8.E. the soil consists of clay, chalk, loam, ic.. and yields good crops of wheat, beans, and turnip; the Bui-well wheat bears a high reputation as seed. I .. ncath tho chalk in this part of tho county is found the i.luc clay called " gait," in beds 200 feet thick. Tho hilly ground on which the city of Kly stands is of tlii^ formation. At Burwell and Isleham is found tho so- 1 "clunch," a substance similar to but harder than i hulk, and of which part of tho cathedral of Ely is built. In tho centre of the county, from Chattcri- nham, Waterboach, and Swavesey, is a Ian; of valuable dairy land, famous for its butter and cheese; but the produce of C'ottenham cheese has lately much diminished. Tho farms arc generally of small size, and In lil from year to year, or on very short leases. Horses, < -.-title, and sheep are reared in large numbers in tin II. nip and flax are grown extensively in the ii hotween Wisbeach and Vilney. Cambridgeshire, or iiridffuAirr, as it is named in the Domesdav - s virtually includes two shires or separate jurisdictions the shire proper and Ely. It is divided for civil purposes into 18 huuds., besides tho borough of Cambridge and . the names and limits of which are but Norman Survey, in which, vr, the Isle of Ely was reckoned as two; but mm ] K'hends the four hand*. "I : ..K North . which are mid. r the juris- diction of the ]'. ',-, who if custos rotulorum, and appoint.-, a c hi.-f jiistic, . win. i uj jiiil dcli cry. ninl'T tin- queen's commission. Tin- isle has also a bailiff, who acts u .!!, a dcputv - . two coroners. The hund. in Cambridgeshire pi Aimingfonl (o called i :ril t), Chesterton, 'ley (including Ncwmaiki't), Chilford, Fiendish, Long Stow, North Stow, l'a].v<mh. n), Triplow, V. - Whittlesford. The e... contains almut 1' is almost wholly in t) rhury. It has 10 mai the county town and seat of a univci-M- and seat of a dioc. ; Wiebea ing a great part of the district with i, ..i-, and Man h, an ami. nt town and important railway ( hattcris, in tho Isle of Kly ; also Linton, 'J i Vhittlesea, and Newmarket (the latter is partly folk), and Royston, moi. properly included ii fordshire. The markets of Wnittlesea and So' long been disused. Tin n vide d into law unions, viz., those of Cambric! rington, Chesterton, Ely, Linton, Newmarket, Witchford, Whittlesea, and Visbcach. There County Court districts: Cambridge, Kly, M market, Soham, and Wisbeach. The county is Norfolk circuit, and the county and isle in the tionof the London Bankruptcy Court. quarter sessions for the county ai. ttose for the Islo of Ely, at Ely and Wisbe* nalely. Cambridgeshire is joined with Hunting. in the shrievalty. Three representatives are rel parliament by the county, two by the uni by the borough of Cambridge. The couir place at Cambridge. The local government is vi lord-lieutenant, dcpiity-lnutenant, high sheriff, and oO magistrates. The university has separate jui on : its own members and also exercises a su_ over tho town of Cambridge, which has a separat of quarter sessions. Cambridgeshire is any important ma: aid has no In some districts baskets and reed mats arc tho chief occupations of the inhabitant- cattle rearing, brewing, and malting 1 '.ink- carried on to a considerable tutor ficient of stone for building; ami able number of ship, boat, and bai lera, tanners, curriers, and shoemai not only tor home consumption Init There are paper-mills, parchment -wort, tory, ball-cut y, and large printing ments, chiefly at Cambria a great number of erudite books 6oin annually at the University press. Cambridge is H, as arealso Ely and Jlar. h m tl. lines mostly belong to the Grea' Northern systems, including two trunk Lil and a great East and West line. railway, which enters the county from tin S., U'rford, runs northward to Cambridge and Ely, eastward into Suffolk and Norfolk. A I from Cambridge south- westwa i tho Great Northern railway at Hit. Inn. ( Ulu run from Cambridge through fs . l. -, in H unty m ar i passing to March ai ! V. eastward to Newmarket ami limy M. I is connected with reterliorolii;li l.y a dil hroughMarcli and Vh. N..rr.>lk,byuio East Anglian railway, of v ' 9 miles are in this county. Tin j.iin ', i..-id Iioni l.'.inlon, ilii. : n tin S.W. hide from l;..*t..n t.. 1 lln- < 'alillilid^e load, wlii. 1 .ud thi-oiiirli -N to Norwich. From Cambridg. il.. principal rodf tr those to St ' nt 17 mil. ntiiiiidoii. I'- milt^; to I'.ly, 1.1 n. i to |l.iniiai!i. d with t! at I'.i) i crossing the E. sido'< ud t