Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs) is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west. The county town is Cambridge.

Cambridgeshire today is the product of several local government unifications. In 1888 when county councils where introduced, two were set up, following the traditional division of Cambridgeshire into 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. In 1974, this then merged with the county to the west, Huntingdon and Peterborough (which had been created in 1965 by the merger of Huntingdonshire with the Soke of Peterborough – a part of Northamptonshire which had its own county council). The resulting county was called simply 'Cambridgeshire'.

Since 1998 the City of Peterborough is now administratively separate again, as a unitary authority, but is associated with Cambridgeshire for various purposes, such as police, fire, and the Lieutenancy.

Famous people from Cambridgeshire include Oliver Cromwell, John Major (Former MP of Huntingdonshire and Prime Minister) and Henry Royce, all from Huntingdonshire.

Cambridgeshire is twinned with Kreis Viersen in Germany.

Although large parts of the county are extremely low-lying, the highest point is in the village of Great Chishill at 146m/480ft. 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.

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
• Ely
• Huntingdon
• Littleport
• Peterborough (not part of the administrative county)
• Sawston
• Soham
• St Ives
• St Neots
• Wisbech

Places of interest

• Abbeys: Anglesey Abbey, Denny Abbey, Ramsey Abbey
• Brampton Wood SSSI
• Buckden towers
• Castor Hanglands Nature Reserve
• Devils Dyke Ancient Monument
• Down Field Windmill, Soham
• Duxford Airfield and Duxford Chapel
• Elton Hall
• Fowlmere Nature Reserve
• Gog Magog Hills
• Grafham Water Nature Reserve
• Great Gransden Post Mill
• Hinchinbrooke House
• Houghton Mill
• Kimbolton Castle
• Lattersey Nature Reserve
• Lode Watermill
• Long distance footpaths: Hereward Way, Icknield Way, Nene Way, Ouse Valley Way, Three Shires Bridleway
• Nene Valley Railway, a heritage railway
• Paxton Pits Nature Reserve
• Peckover House, Wisbech
• Prickwillow Drainage Engine Museum
• River Great Ouse, River Cam
• RSPB Nene Washes
• RSPB Ouse Washes, a reserve of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
• The Ouse Washes consisting of the Old Bedford River and the New Bedford River (also known as the Hundred Foot Drain)
• Wandlebury Country Park and the Gog Magog Downs
• Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve
• Wimpole Hall
• Wisbech and March Bramleyline, a heritage railway
• WWT Welney – a Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve on the Ouse Washes

External link

• Cambridgeshire County Council