Huntingdon

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 52.3364
longitude= -0.1717
official_name= Huntingdon
population= 19,830
shire_district= Huntingdonshire
shire_county = Cambridgeshire
region= East of England
constituency_westminster= Huntingdon
post_town= HUNTINGDON
postcode_district = PE29
postcode_area= PE
dial_code= 01480
os_grid_reference= TL245725

Huntingdon is a town in the county of Cambridgeshire in East Anglia, England. The town was chartered in 1205. It was formerly the county town of Huntingdonshire, and is currently the seat of the Huntingdonshire district council. It is known as the birthplace of Oliver Cromwell.

History

Very early man may have roamed the area, but does not appear to have settled for long nor in great numbers. Signs of early hunter-gatherers have been found nearby.

Huntingdon was founded by the Anglo-Saxons and Danes. It prospered successively as a bridging point of the River Great Ouse, as a market town, and in the 18th and 19th centuries as a coaching centre. The town has a well-preserved medieval bridge that used to serve as the main route of Ermine Street over the river. The bridge only ceased to be the sole crossing point to Godmanchester in 1975, with the advent of what is now the A14 bypass.

Its valuable trading position was secured by the now-vanished Huntingdon Castle. The site is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and is home to a beacon used to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Spanish Armada.

The Huntingdon constituency has been represented by two exceptionally famous members of parliament: Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century and John Major in the 20th. It is currently represented by Conservative MP Jonathan Djanogly.

Original historical documents relating to Huntingdon, including the original borough charter of 1205, are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at the County Record Office Huntingdon.

Between the railway station and the old hospital building stands a canon. In the 1990s this replica canon was installed to replace an original Crimean one that stood until the second world war, when it was scrapped for the war effort. When it was installed again in the 1990s it faced the opposite direction from the original.

Area

The town lies on the north bank of the River Great Ouse, opposite Godmanchester and adjacent to the market town of St Ives in the east and the village of Brampton in the west. Huntingdon now incorporates the village of Hartford to the east, and the developing areas of Oxmoor, Stukeley Meadows and Hinchingbrooke to the north and west.

Between Godmanchester, Huntingdon and Brampton lies England's largest meadow, Portholme Meadow [http://www.huntingdon-town.info/portholme.htm] . Around 257 acres (1 km²) in size and contains many rare species of grass, flowers and dragonfly. It is the only known habitat of the Marsh Dandelion in Britain. It also acts as a huge natural reservoir for holding excess water in times of flood enabling the river to be run off more slowly, thereby helping to prevent flooding of nearby towns. It has also served as a horse race course and centre for early aviation.

There is a local Horseracing Course, Huntingdon Racecourse.

There are 3 RAF bases within 4 miles of the town: RAF Brampton, once home to Headquarters RAF Support Command and now part of the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO); RAF Wyton, once a major flying station but now also part of the DLO; and RAF Alconbury currently occupied by the United States Air Force.

There are four Church of England churches in Huntingdon, which together with the churches in the adjacent villages Great and Little Stukeley are members of the [http://www.huntingdonanglicanchurches.org.uk Huntingdon Team Ministry] in the Diocese of Ely. The four churches are All Saints' (next to the Market Square), St Mary, St Barnabas (on the Oxmoor estate) and All Saints', Hartford.

Local Primary schools include Thongsley Fields Primary School, St John's Primary School, Stukeley Meadows Primary School and Hartford Junior School. Special needs schools include Spring Common School. Secondary schools include St Peters and Hinchingbrooke School.

Notoriety

* Regular animal rights protests take place outside the local Huntingdon Life Sciences laboratory. Huntingdon Life Sciences is one of the world's largest Contract Research Organisations. Founded in 1952 in the UK, the company is now an international business with resources on three continents. Originally the company concentrated upon nutrition, veterinary and biochemical research.

* A photograph of the old Cash Converters store (the one-time Post Office in Chequer's Court) in Huntingdon features on the front cover of the book [http://www.amazon.com/Crap-Towns-II-Nation-Decides/dp/0752225456/ref=pd_sim_b_1/105-7254019-6678805 "Crap Towns II"] .

Transport

Rail

Huntingdon and St Neots stations are connected with London Kings Cross station by a frequent service operated by First Capital Connect.

Huntingdon is connected to Peterborough station by First Capital Connect, and then on to the North and Scotland by National Express East Coast.

Air

Luton and Stansted airports are both within an hour's drive.

Leisure

The District of Huntingdonshire has 5 leisure centres, all of which boast impressive facilities. Huntingdon has two King George's Fields in memorial to King George V.

Legends

Once a convent, Hinchingbrooke House is said to be haunted. The bridge over the Alconbury Brook named Nun's bridge is said to be haunted also by one of the nuns which once lived at the old convent that is now Hinchingbrooke House. It's said she is often accompanied by another ghost which resembles the appearance of a nurse. The myth goes that the nun had a lover, a monk that caused them to be murdered. In 1965 a married couple reported seeing the ghosts on the bridge, and again when they returned home the same night.

ee also

* Earl of Huntingdon

References

* [http://www.huntsdc.gov.uk/Community+and+People/Facts+and+figures/Area+population+statistics.htm Population figures]

External link

* [http://www.huntingdon800.org.uk/ Huntingdonshire Local History Society]