Witcham

Infobox UK place
official_name= Witcham
country= England
region= East of England
os_grid_reference= TL463779
latitude= 52.38
longitude= 0.15
post_town= ELY
postcode_area= CB
postcode_district= CB6
dial_code= 01353
shire_county= Cambridgeshire
population= 434 (2001 Census)
hide_services= Yes
website= http://www.witcham.org.uk

Witcham is a small village near Ely in Cambridgeshire, England.

The village has a pub called the White Horse (winner of the Ely and District CAMRA Rural Pub of the Year Award 2006) and a fine village green. It is surrounded by fenland farms and has a village hall and a 13th-century church dedicated to St Martin. The village hosts the World Pea Shooting Championships in July every year.

Witcham is built around a cross-roads in the centre of the village with each of the four roads having housing on each side for 50-200m. The north-bound street is called "Martins Lane", the east-bound street is "High Street", south-bound is "The Slade", and west-bound is "Silver Street", which leads to the more recent housing developments of "Westway Place" and "The Orchards".

The name of the village derives from "Wycham", meaning "place of the wych elms", after the trees that used to grow there in significant numbers. A Roman helmet dating from AD 14 was found in the village gravel pit, and now resides in the British Museum.

External links

* [http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/B5D2D8A3-CF3C-4585-AE13-D269C0165C7B/0/Witcham.pdf 2001 Census]
* [http://www.commanet.org/reflect.aspx?action=searchRequest&view=thumb&lang=English&arcid=5029999900000034 Village Archive]