Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/329

Rh HUNTINGDONSHIRE. 321 HUNTINGDONSHIRE. the town is said at one time to have had 15 churches. The living of All Saints is a rect. united with that of St. John the Baptist, in the archdeac. of Hunting- don and dioc. of Ely, val. 200. The living of St. Mary ia also a rect. with that of St. Benedict, val. 162. The church of All Saints, rebuilt in 1620, was much disfigured, but has lately been restored. The church of 8t. Mary ia an ancient structure, with a perpendicular tower, and good entrance-porch on the W. side. The vicarage of St. Mary's was erected in 1851. The Inde- pendents, Wesleyans, and Primitive Methodists, have chapels, and the Society of Friends a meeting-house. Here are a free grammar school, on the site of the old hospital of St. John, at which Oliver Cromwell received part of his education, and a green-coat school, both richly endowed ; also a county school, National school, sell-supporting British school, girls' school of industry, and an infant school. The protector, Oliver jCromwell, was born here on the 25th of April, 1599. The family of Hastings take from this place the title of of the manor, that of Viscount Hinchinbroke. Satur- day is market day, chiefly for the sale of corn and pro- visions. Fairs are held on the Saturday before Michael- mas Day, the third Saturday in November, Tuesday before Easter, and the second Tuesday in May. They usually take place on Mill common, adjoining the town. HUNTINGDONSHIRE, or HUNTS, an inland co. of England, situated in the E. lowlands, between 52 8' and 52 36' N. lat., and 3' E. and 30' W. long. In shape it somewhat resembles a lozenge, being 30 miles in length from N. to S., and about 23 miles in its shorter diagonal from E. to W. In size it is one of the smallest of the English counties, only Middlesex and Rutland being less,.and one only, Rutland, having fewer inha- bitants. According to the census of 1861 it comprised an area of 229,544 acres, with 13,704 inhabited houses, and a population of 64,250, having increased only 67 in the decennial period since 1851. At the commencement of this century its population was 37,568. It is bordered on the N. and N.V. by Northamptonshire, on the S.W. by Bedfordshire, and on all other sides by Cambridge. In ancient times it formed part of the district bordering on the Wash inhabited by the two Belgic tribes, Jceni and Catyeuclilani, and when subjugated by the Romans was included in the province of Flavin Ctesarimsii. The Roman roads Ermine Street and Via JJevana traversed the county, the former nearly in the line of the present N. road through Royston, the latter in a direct line from Leicester to Cambridge. At the intersection of these roads was the station Durolopons, occupying nearly the same site as the present Godmanchester, and on the Ermine Street another station called Durobriva;, now the village of Water Newton, on the Nene ; there was also Eomans the country bordering on the Wash was occu- by the East Angles, and subsequently annexed to ia. It then received the name of Huntandunescyre, and was constituted an earldom or county, which in the time of Edward the Confessor was held by Siward, whose son Waltheof married Judith, niece of William the Conqueror. Although lo nearly related to the sovereign, his sympathy for the sufferings of his Saxon countrymen under the tyranny of the feudal rule roused him to arms, and he was beheaded by the Conqueror's order. The estates, however, continued in his family, I'd upon the marriage of his daughter Maud with 1'rince David to the royal family of Scotland, who continued to hold them as a fief of the English crown, with the title of earls of Huntingdon, uutil forfeited during the contest of the Bruce and Baliol families for n of Scotland. In these early times the county 'if Huntingdon appears to have been densely wooded, II., and the remainder in that of Edward I. It is now remarkably destitute of timber, there being no i lie hedgerows, and only a small proportion of n(l coppice. In the fen lands the willow flou- rishes amazingly, and is valuable for withes. In the uplands corn is grown, and the fens after drainage yield abundant crops both of cereals and of grass. A large extent of land is laid down as meadow for the fattening of cattle to be sent to the great towns. The once cele- brated Whittlesea mere has recently been entirely drained, as have also Ramsey and Ugg meres. With the drainage of the fens and the clearing of the forests a great amelioration has been effected in the climate, which was formerly damp and foggy, but is now healthy in all parts except the low lying districts, which are intersected by numerous cuts, drains, and sluices, many of which are navigable for boats, thus facilitating the transport of agricultural produce to Lynn, the chief ship- ping port for the Fen district. The principal rivers are the Ouso and Nene. The former enters the county on the S., and passing St. Neot's, Huntingdon, and St. Ives, falls into the Wash at Lynn. It is navigable for large boats throughout the whole length of its course in this county, and as high up as Bedford, and receives the tribute of several streams, which join it near St. Neot's and Huntingdon. The Neno or Nen is also navigable for largo boats. It winds along the N. border of the shire, till a little below Peterborough, where it enters Cambridgeshire, and falls into the Wash near Wisbeach. The two systems of the Ouse and Nene are connected by various navigable cuts, as the Forty-foot drain, or Ver- muyden's drain, constructed in the reign of Elizabeth, and the new canal between Wisbeach and Outwoll, completed in 1792. Nothwithstanding the numerous streams and meres, the inhabitants in many parts of the county are badly off for spring water, and draw their supply from ponds. The general surface of the county is level, particularly in the N. and N.E., where it forms part of the great fen district of the lower Ouse, Nene, and Welland. The only hills are in the S. and W., the former being a continuation of the Bedfordshire range, which enters the county near Potton, and runs in a northerly direction to near Huntingdon. The latter are an extension of the Cambridgeshire hills, running in a north-westerly direction to Wansford in the valley of the Nene. The soil is of various qualities, according to tho formation to which it belongs. In the N. it is chiefly stono brash or forest marble, and comparatively barren ; in the S. and S.K, where the country is hilly, it is mainly ironsand and greensand ; in the middle of tho county the Oxford clay, forming an intermediate layer between tho middle and lower assemblage of oolitic rocks, is the prevailing stratum; and in the N.E. tho fen lands, which have recently been drained and brought into cultivation, are chiefly vegetable alluvial soil, pro- ducing abundant crops, and forming some of the richest meadows in England. In the uplands the system of farming is still in a backward state, but in the lowlands scientific husbandry is well understood. The farms are mostly of considerable size, but are held by yearly tenure. Tho principal crops are, wheat, oats, beans, barley, hemp, hay, and clover, besides rape and mustard, which last are extensively cultivated, and turnips on some of the drier soils. Water-fowl were numerous on all the meres and rivers, and eels abound. Although Stilton and other places in this county are celebrated for their excellent butter and cheese, dairy fanning is not much followed. The cattle, formerly of mixed and generally inferior breeds, have been much improved by the intro- duction of shorthorns of the Yorkshire and Durham breeds. Tho sheep are mostly of tho Leicester and Lincolnshire breeds, and the hogs of Berkshire or Lei- cester, with various crosses. Pigeon-houses are extremely numerous. The people are almost wholly engaged in agriculture, and there are no manufactures. The only handicrafts carried on are iron founding, brick and tile making, paper and parchment mills, brewing, malting, currying, tanning, printing, comb and lace making, lime burning, rush plaiting, and maddennaking. Peat is found in many parts, and is dug out as fuel. The county is intersected from S. to N. by tho Great Northern railway, which passes by St. Neot's and Huntingdon, und is inter- sected by a branch of the Great Eastern called tho Cambridge, St. Ivcs, and Huntingdon ; it is also skirted
 * irl; and the Montagues, earls of Sandwich, who are lords
 * large camp at Chesterton. After the departure of the
 * tljle portion waa disafforested in the reign