Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, England, which was historically a county in its own right. It borders

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

to the north, Fenland to the north-east, East Cambridgeshire to the east, South Cambridgeshire to the south-east, Central Bedfordshire and

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

to the south-west, and

North Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, and was created in 2021. The council is based in Corby, the district's la ...

to the west. Huntingdonshire, along with Peterborough, Fenland and East Cambridgeshire, serves as the area of land between The Midlands and East Anglia and is often considered to carry a mixed identity for this reason. It is also sometimes considered an informal county. The district had a population of 180,800 at the 2021 census, and has an area of . After St Neots (33,410), the largest towns are Huntingdon (25,428), St Ives (16,815), and Yaxley (9,174 in 2011). The district council is based in

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...

. Huntingdonshire's boundaries were established in the Anglo-Saxon era. It was divided into four hundreds. The county did not have an independent sheriff, instead being combined with neighbouring Cambridgeshire. Huntingdonshire became an

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until 1973 in Northern Ireland, 2002 in the Republic of Ireland. They are now abolished, although most Northern ...

when they were established in 1889. In 1965 it was merged with the

Soke of Peterborough The Soke of Peterborough is a historic area of England associated with the City and Anglican Diocese of Peterborough, Diocese of Peterborough. It was part of Northamptonshire, but was administered by Soke of Peterborough County Council, its own ...

to form Huntingdon and Peterborough, which was in turn merged with

Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely was, from 1965 to 1974, an administrative county, administrative and Geographical counties of England, geographical county in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. In 1974 it became part of an enlarged Cambridgeshire. ...

in 1974 to form Cambridgeshire, of which Huntingdonshire is now a district.

History

The area corresponding to modern Huntingdonshire was first delimited in

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

times. Its boundaries have remained largely unchanged since the 10th century, although it lost its administrative function in 1974. On his accession in 1154

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

declared all Huntingdonshire a

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

. H. R. Loyn, ''Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest'' 2nd ed. 1991, pp. 378–382.

Status

In 1889, under the

Local Government Act 1888 The Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales. It came into effect ...

Huntingdonshire became an

, with the newly-formed Huntingdonshire County Council taking over administrative functions from the

Quarter Sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts that were traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388; they were extended to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535. Scotland establ ...

. The area in the north of the county forming part of the

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

became instead part of the

, an administrative county in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

. In 1965, under a recommendation of the Local Government Commission for England, Huntingdonshire was merged with the Soke of Peterborough to form Huntingdon and Peterborough. The Lieutenancy county was also merged. At the same time, St Neots was expanded westwards over the river into Eaton Ford and Eaton Socon in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

. In 1974, under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, Huntingdon and Peterborough merged with

to form the new non-metropolitan county of

. A Huntingdon district was created based closely on the former administrative county borders, with the exclusion of the Old Fletton urban district, which became part of the Peterborough district, as did the part of Norman Cross Rural District in Peterborough New Town. The district was renamed Huntingdonshire on 1 October 1984 by a resolution of the district council. Original historical documents relating to Huntingdonshire are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at the County Record Office in

Proposed revival of administrative county

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (1992) considered in the 1990s the case for making a Huntingdonshire

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

as part of a general structural review of English local government that led to unitary authorities in two other English counties that had been abolished:

Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...

and

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

. The draft recommendations envisaged three possible scenarios for structural change in Cambridgeshire: the preferred option and the third option had a unitary Huntingdonshire, whilst the second option would have seen Huntingdonshire combine with

and Fenland to form a "Peterborough and Huntingdonshire" unitary authority. The Final recommendations of the commission for Cambridgeshire recommended no change in the status quo in Cambridgeshire.Local Government Boundary Commission for England. ''Final Recommendations for the Future Local Government of Cambridgeshire.'' October 1994. The districts of Peterborough and Huntingdonshire were referred back to the commission for reconsideration in 1995. The commission recommended the creation of a Peterborough unitary authority, but proposed that Huntingdonshire remain part of the shire county of Cambridgeshire, noting that "there was no exceptional county allegiance to Huntingdonshire, as had been perceived in Rutland and Herefordshire."Local Government Boundary Commission for England. ''Final Recommendations on the Future Local Government of: Basildon & Thurrock, Blackburn & Blackpool, Broxtowe, Gedling & Rushcliffe, Dartford & Gravesham, Gillingham & Rochester upon Medway, Exeter, Gloucester, Halton & Warrington, Huntingdonshire & Peterborough, Northampton, Norwich, Spelthorne and the Wrekin.'' December 1995. David McKie writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in October 1994 noted that "Writers-in demanded an independent Huntingdon; but MORI's more broadly based poll showed that most Huntingdonians – that is, most of rime Minister

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

's electors – were content to stay part of Cambridgeshire."

Awareness promotion

After the failure to revive the unitary authority, a Huntingdonshire Society was set up to promote awareness of Huntingdonshire as a historic county and campaign for its reinstatement as an administrative and ceremonial entity. In 2002 it established an annual "Huntingdonshire Day" on 25 April, the birthday of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

. After a campaign by the Huntingdonshire Society, the county flag of Huntingdonshire, a gold and beribboned hunting horn on a green field, was registered by the Flag Institute in June 2009.

Governance

Huntingdonshire District Council's headquarters are located in Pathfinder House in Huntingdon. The council consists of 52 councillors. Until 2018, district council elections were held in three out of every four years, with a third of the 52 council seats coming up each time. Elections since have been held for all seats every four years. The Conservative party had a majority on the council from 1976 until 2022, after which a joint administration took control of the council.

Sports

Huntingdonshire is the birthplace of

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two team sport, teams wearing Ice skates#Bandy skates, ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The playin ...

, now an IOC accepted sport. According to documents from 1813, Bury Fen Bandy Club was undefeated for 100 years. A club member, Charles Tebbutt, wrote the first official rules in 1882 and helped to spread the sport to other countries. Huntingdonshire County Cricket Club is taken to be one of the 20 minor counties of English and Welsh cricket, but it has never played in the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

. It has its own Cricket Board and played in the English domestic one-day competition from 1999 to 2003.The county played seven List A matches during this period, with the final List A match it played coming against

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

Media

In terms of television, Huntingdonshire is served by BBC East and ITV Anglia broadcasting from the Sandy Heath TV transmitter. Radio stations for the area are BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Heart East, Greatest Hits Radio East, Star Radio and HCR FM, a community based station that broadcast from its studios in

. ''The Hunts Post'' is the local weekly newspaper.

Towns and villages

Towns

Godmanchester Godmanchester ( ) is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. It is separated from Huntingdon, to the north, by the valley of the River Great Ouse. Being on the Roman roads ...

* Kimbolton * Ramsey * St Ives * St Neots

Hamlets and villages

* Abbots Ripton, Abbotsley, Alconbury, Alconbury Weston, Alwalton * Barham, Bury, Bluntisham,

Brampton Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...

, Brington, Broughton, Buckden, Buckworth, Bythorn * Catworth, Chesterton,

Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. The town is northeast of Nelson, Lancashire, Nelson, northeast of Burnley and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The ...

, Connington, Coppingford, Covington * Denton and Caldecote, Diddington * Earith, Easton, Eaton Ford, Eaton Socon, Ellington,

Elton Elton may refer to: Places England * Elton, Cambridgeshire (formerly Huntingdonshire), a village ** Elton Hall, a baronial hall * Elton, Cheshire, a village and civil parish * Elton, County Durham, a village and civil parish in the Borough of ...

, Eynesbury * Farcet, Fenstanton, Folksworth and Washingley * Glatton, Grafham, Great Gransden, Great, Little and Steeple Gidding, Great Paxton, Great Staughton * Haddon, Hail Weston, Hamerton,

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, Hemingford Abbots, Hemingford Grey, Hilton, Holme, Holywell, Houghton * Keyston, Kings Ripton * Leighton Bromswold, Little Paxton * Molesworth,

Morborne Morborne is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Morborne lies approximately south-west of Peterborough, near Yaxley, Cambridgeshire, Yaxley. Morborne is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a n ...

* Needingworth * Oldhurst, Old Weston, Orton Longueville, Orton Waterville *

Perry Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Austral ...

, Pidley * Ramsey St Mary's, Ramsey Forty Foot, Ramsey Mereside, Ramsey Heights * Sawtry, Spaldwick, Somersham, Southhoe and Midloe, Stibbington, Stilton, Stow Longa * Tetworth, Tilbrook, Toseland, The Offords, The Raveleys, The Stukeleys * Upton, Upwood * Wansford, Warboys, Waresley, Water Newton, Winwick, Wistow, Woodhurst, Woodwalton, Woolley, Wyton * Yaxley, Yelling

Parishes

The whole district is divided into

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

es. The parish councils for Godmanchester, Huntingdon, Ramsey, St Ives and St Neots take the style "town council". Some of the smaller parishes have a

parish meeting A parish meeting is a meeting all the electors in a civil parish in England are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish council, with ...

rather than a parish council.

Medieval parishes

Chapelries are listed in italics. Parishes are listed by

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

. ¹no record of a church having ever existed ²now in Bedfordshire ³now in Northamptonshire ⁴a chapelry to Broughton in Hurstingstone hundred

Notable people

In order of birth: *Henry of Saltrey, a Huntingdonshire

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monk, wrote '' Tractatus de Purgatorio Sancti Patricii'' (Treatise on the Purgatory of St Patrick) in about 1180–1184. *Sir William Papworth (1331–1414) of Grafham and Papworth St. Agnes was a member of five 14th-century parliaments. *

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, historical Spanish: , now: ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the Wives of Henry VIII, first wife of King Henry VIII from their marr ...

(1485–1536), previously Queen of England, died in confinement at Kimbolton Castle. * Henry Brandon, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and his brother Charles Brandon, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, nephews of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

, died of

sweating sickness Sweating sickness, also known as the sweats, English sweating sickness, English sweat or ''sudor anglicus'' in Latin, was a mysterious and contagious disease that struck England and later continental Europe in a series of epidemics beginning i ...

at Buckden Towers within an hour of each other on 14 July 1551. * Nicholas Ferrar (1592–1637), scholar, courtier and cleric, spent the last eleven years of his life at the Little Gidding community, inspiration of the fourth poem in T. S. Eliot's ''

Four Quartets ''Four Quartets'' is a set of four poems written by T. S. Eliot that were published over a six-year period. The first poem, ''Burnt Norton'', was published with a collection of his early works (1936's ''Collected Poems 1909–1935''). After a fe ...

''. * Philip Nye (1595–1672),

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

theologian, became the incumbent of Kimbolton and an adviser to Cromwell. *

(1599–1658),

Lord Protector Lord Protector (plural: ''Lords Protector'') is a title that has been used in British constitutional law for the head of state. It was also a particular title for the British heads of state in respect to the established church. It was sometime ...

of England, Scotland and Ireland 1653–1658, was educated at Huntingdon Grammar School. * Richard Astry (c. 1632–1714) was an English antiquary. *

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...

(1633–1703), Member of Parliament (MP) and diarist, attended Huntingdon Grammar School. *William Sparrow (1641–1729), cut the famous turf maze at Hilton in 1660. * Alice and Thomas Curwen were active in the county as Quaker preachers in 1677–1678.Michael Mullett: "Curwen, Thomas (c. 1610–1680)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford, UK: OUP, 2004
Retrieved 17 November 2015.
/ref> * Ann Jebb (1735–1812), political reformer and radical writer, was born at Kings Ripton. * William Henry Fellowes (1769–1837) of

Ramsey Abbey Ramsey Abbey was a Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine abbey in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Ramsey, Huntingdonshire (now part of Cambridgeshire), England. It was founded about AD 969 and Dissolution of the Monasteries, dissolved in 1539. The site ...

, was a longstanding MP for Huntingdon and then Huntingdonshire. * Olinthus Gregory (1774–1841), mathematician and editor, was born at Yaxley. * Robert Fox (1798–1843), antiquary and local historian, was born and died at Godmanchester. * Charles Bowen Cooke (1859–1920), locomotive engineer, was born at Orton Longueville. * Henry Royce (1863–1933), pioneering car manufacturer and founder of

Rolls-Royce Limited Rolls-Royce Limited was a British luxury car and later an aero-engine manufacturing business established in 1904 in Manchester by the partnership of Charles Rolls and Henry Royce. Building on Royce's good reputation established with his Crane ( ...

, was born in Alwalton. * Lucy M. Boston (1892–1990), children's writer, lived in Huntingdonshire from 1937 until her death, and set the '' Green Knowe'' series there. * Josef Jakobs (1898–1941), German spy captured in Ramsey Hollow, Huntingdonshire in 1941 * Michael Lawrence (born 1943), children's writer, is best known for the ''Jiggy McCue'' series. *

(born 1943), politician and Prime Minister (1990–1997), was MP for

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England, which was historically a county in its own right. It borders Peterborough to the north, Fenland to the north-east, East Cambridgeshire to the e ...

from 1979 to 2001, and still resides in the county at Great Stukeley. * John Butcher (1946–2006), Conservative MP and junior minister, was raised in Huntingdonshire and attended Huntingdon Grammar School. * Terry Reid (born 1949), rock musician, grew up in Holywell. * Chris Morris (born 1962), satirist known for the television series '' Brass Eye'' and '' The Day Today'' * Jason Ablewhite (born 1972) former leader of Huntingdonshire District Council, former Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner