The north and east of the county are dominated bythe Fens, an extremely flat, drained marsh maintained by drainage ditches and dykes;Holme Fen is the UK's lowest physical point, at 2.75 m (9 ft) below sea level. The flatness of the landscape makes the few areas of higher ground, such as that Ely is built on, very conspicuous. The landscape in the south and west is gently undulating. Cambridgeshire's principal rivers are theNene, which flows through the north of the county and iscanalised east of Peterborough; theGreat Ouse, which flows from west to east past Huntingdon and Ely; and theCam, a tributary of the Great Ouse which flows through Cambridge.[4]
The area was settled by theAnglo-Saxons starting in the fifth century.Genetic testing on seven skeletons found in Anglo-Saxon era graves inHinxton andOakington found that five were either migrants or descended from migrants from the continent, one was a native Briton, and one had both continental and native ancestry, suggesting intermarriage.[6]
Map showing the historical administrative boundaries in the modern ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire. Historical administrative counties showed in the background, short-lived combined counties of 1965–1974 in red outlines, and modern county council areas, unitary authorities, and districts in black outlines.
Cambridgeshire was recorded in theDomesday Book as "Grantbridgeshire" (or ratherGrentebriġesċīre) (related to theriver Granta). Covering a large part ofEast Anglia, Cambridgeshire today is the result of several local government unifications. In 1888 whencounty councils were introduced, separate councils were set up, following the traditional division of Cambridgeshire, for
Since 1998, theCity of Peterborough has been separately administered as aunitary authority area. It is associated with Cambridgeshire for ceremonial purposes such asLieutenancy and joint functions such as policing and the fire service.[9]
TheCambridgeshire Regiment (nicknamed the Fen Tigers), the county-based army unit, fought in theBoer War in South Africa, the First World War and Second World War.[11]
Due to the county's flat terrain and proximity to the continent, during the Second World War the military built many airfields here forRAF Bomber Command,RAF Fighter Command, and the alliesUSAAF. In recognition of this collaboration, theCambridge American Cemetery and Memorial is located inMadingley. It is the only WWII burial ground in England for American servicemen who died during that event.[12]
Most English counties have nicknames for their people, such as a "Tyke" fromYorkshire and a "Yellowbelly" fromLincolnshire. The historicalnicknames for people from Cambridgeshire are "Cambridgeshire Camel"[13] or "Cambridgeshire Crane", the latter referring to the wildfowl that were once abundant in the Fens. The term "Fen Tigers" is sometimes used to describe the people who live and work in the Fens.[14]
Cambridgeshire's county flag was selected as an entry from a design competition that ran during 2014.[15] The design features three golden crowns, two on the top, one on the bottom that are separated by two wavy lines in the middle. The crowns are meant to represent East Anglia, and the two lines represent theRiver Cam and are in the Cambridge University's colours.[16]
Hand-drawn map of Northampshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire and Rutland by Christopher Saxton from 1576
Large areas of the county are extremely low-lying andHolme Fen is notable for being the UK's lowest physical point at 2.75 m (9 ft) below sea level. The highest point of the modern administrative county is in the village ofGreat Chishill at 146 m (480 ft) above sea level. However, this parish was historically a part ofEssex, having been moved to Cambridgeshire in boundary changes in 1895. The historic county top is close to the village ofCastle Camps where a point on the disused RAF airfield reaches a height of 128 metres (420 ft) above sea level (grid reference TL 63282 41881).
TheCambridge Green Belt around the city of Cambridge extends to places such asWaterbeach,Lode,Duxford,Little & Great Abington and other communities a few miles away in nearby districts, to afford a protection from the conurbation. It was first drawn up in the 1950s.
This section needs to beupdated. The reason given is: Figures are nearly 20 years out of date. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2024)
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Cambridgeshire at current basic prices.[19]
AWG plc is based in Huntingdon. TheRAF has several stations in the Huntingdon andSt Ives area. RAFAlconbury, three 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 atUpwood andMolesworth being transferred there. Most of Cambridgeshire is agricultural. Close to Cambridge is the so-calledSilicon Fen area of high-technology (electronics, computing and biotechnology) companies.ARM Limited is based inCherry Hinton. The inlandPort of Wisbech on theRiver Nene is the county's only remaining port.
Cambridgeshire has a comprehensive education system with over 240 state schools, not includingsixth form colleges. The independent sector includesKing's Ely andWisbech Grammar School, founded in 970 and 1379 respectively, they are two of the oldest schools in the country.[20]
Cambridgeshire is home to a number of institutes ofhigher education:
TheUniversity of Cambridge –second-oldest university in the English-speaking world, and regarded as one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world
These are the settlements in Cambridgeshire with a town charter, city status or a population over 5,000; for a complete list of settlements seelist of places in Cambridgeshire.
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 (77 °F) on around ten days each year, and is comparable to parts of Kent and East Anglia.
Variousforms of football have been popular in Cambridgeshire since medieval times at least. In 1579 one match played atChesterton between townspeople andUniversity of Cambridge students ended in a violent brawl that led the Vice-Chancellor to issue a decree forbidding them to play "footeball" outside of college grounds.[28] During the nineteenth century, several formulations of the laws of football, known as theCambridge rules, were created by students at the university. One of these codes, dating from 1863, had a significant influence on the creation of the originallaws of theFootball Association.[29]
Cambridgeshire is also the birthplace ofbandy,[30] now an IOC accepted sport.[31] According to documents from 1813,Bury Fen Bandy Club was undefeated for 100 years. A member of the club,Charles Goodman Tebbutt, wrote down the first official rules in 1882.[30] Tebbutt was instrumental in spreading the sport to many countries.[32]Great Britain Bandy Association is based in Cambridgeshire.[33]
On 6–7 June 2015, the inaugural Tour of Cambridgeshire cycle race took place on closed roads across the county. The event was an officialUCI qualification event, and consisted of a Time Trial on the 6th, and aGran Fondo event on the 7th. The Gran Fondo event was open to the public, and over 6000 riders took part in the 128 km (80 mi) race.[35]
Cambridge is home to theKettle's Yard gallery and the artist-run Aid and Abet project space. Nine miles west of Cambridge next to the village ofBourn isWysing Arts Centre.[36]Wisbech has been home to the Wisbech Gallery, South Brink since 2023.Cambridge Open Studios is the region's large arts organisation with over 500 members. Every year, more than 370 artists open their doors to visitors during four weekends in July.[37]
The county was visited by travelling companies of comedians in the Georgian period. These came from different companies. The Lincoln Circuit included, at various times, Wisbech and Whittlesey. The Wisbech Georgian theatre still survives as an operating theatre now known as TheAngles Theatre.In Cambridge theADC Theatre is the venue for theFootlights.
^Stephan Schiffels and Duncan Sayer,Investigating Anglo-Saxon migration history with ancient and modern DNA (2017)
^The Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Order 1964 (SI 1964/366), seeLocal Government Commission for England (1958 - 1967),Report and Proposals for the East Midlands General Review Area (Report No.3), 31 July 1961 andReport and Proposals for the Lincolnshire and East Anglia General Review Area (Report No.9), 7 May 1965.
.jpg)
.svg){kind=icon}
