Isleham

Infobox UK place
official_name= Isleham
country= England
region= East of England
os_grid_reference= TL644738
latitude= 52.33
longitude= 0.4
post_town= ELY
postcode_area= CB
postcode_district= CB7
dial_code= 01638
shire_county= Cambridgeshire
shire_district= Huntingdonshire
population= 2347 (2001 Census)
hide_services= Yes

Isleham is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Cambridgeshire.

Geography

Isleham is located in the Fens of south-east Cambridgeshire. The western parish boundary is formed by the Crooked Ditch, the eastern boundary largely by the Lea Brook and the north by the River Lark. The village lies on the B1104 from Prickwillow to Chippenham. Isleham is twinned with Nesles in France and Magdala in Germany.

Amenities

The village has five shops: a Co-op supermarket, a general store, a newsagents, a Post Office and butcher's, as well as a Chinese takeaway and an Indian takeaway. There are also three public houses - The Griffin, the Rising Sun and the Merry Monk - and three churches - the Baptist, [http://www.plfc.org.uk/ plfc (Pound Lane Free Church)] and St Andrew's Church of England parish church.

Archaeology

The region between Devil's Dyke and the line between Littleport and Shippea Hill shows a remarkable amount of archaeological findings of the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age [cite book|title= Fenland survey : an essay in landscape and persistence / David Hall and John Coles |first=David|last=Hall|origdate=1994|publisher=London; English Heritage|id=ISBN 1-85074-477-7 , p. 81-88] . Findings in Isleham include the famous Isleham Hoard of more than 6500 pieces of bronze, both manufactured articles and fragments of sheet bronze, all dating from the late Bronze Age. ["Where Troy Once Stood", I. Wilkens, 2005, p. 90 ]

History

Its name seems to come from Anglo-Saxon "Gísla hám" = "the home of the hostages". It seems that in Anglo-Saxon societies the position of a hostage from one political group held by another political group, was sometimes more or less voluntary, and the meaning of the word could slip into "representative".

The Priory of St Margaret of Antioch was founded in the village in 1090. It was always an alien priory run directly from France and, as such, was dissolved in 1414. It was later used as a barn and is now looked after by English Heritage.

St Andrew's parish church is the burial site for important ancestors of the Peyton family. Many visitors who have Peyton ancestors visit the church throughout the year, and obtain rubbings of the famous brasses decorating the Peyton monuments. The church continues to be restored with the help of donations from Peyton families in the UK and USA.

References

External links

* [http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/902AB591-33DF-4625-8A23-33A6A899E5D9/0/Isleham.pdf 2001 Census]
* [http://www.isleham-village.co.uk/ Isleham Village Website]
* [http://www.risingsunisleham.co.uk/ The Rising Sun Isleham Website]
* [http://www.islehamfc.co.uk/ Isleham FC Website]