64-448: Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs. ) is a 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 Hertfordshire to the south, Northamptonshire to the west and Bedfordshire to the south-west. The largest settlement is the city of Peterborough , and the city of Cambridge
128-576: A non-metropolitan county , with five districts , and the unitary authority area of Peterborough . The local authorities collaborate through Cambridgeshire and Peterbrough Combined Authority . The county did not historically include Huntingdonshire or the Soke of Peterborough , which was part of Northamptonshire. The north and east of the county are dominated by the Fens , an extremely flat, drained marsh maintained by drainage ditches and dykes. Holme Fen
192-534: A closed book gules, garnished or. Badge: Within an annulet issuant therefrom four fleurs-de-lys in cross an open crown or. The gold field and red tressure flory counter flory were taken from the royal arms of Scotland . This was in reference to the fact that the Earldom of Cambridge was held by David I of Scotland in the twelfth century. The blue wave represented the River Cam on which were three crowns from
256-562: A county borough and create a new administrative county by merging the remainder of the county with the Isle of Ely, Huntingdonshire and the Soke of Peterborough. There was considerable opposition to the draft proposals, and the LGCE instead opted in its final report in 1961 to create two counties: Huntingdon and Peterborough , and Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely, with Cambridge continuing to form part of
320-513: A further 35,360 planned new dwellings between 2016 and 2023. Cambridgeshire has a maritime temperate climate which is broadly similar to the rest of the United Kingdom, though it is drier than the UK average due to its low altitude and easterly location, the prevailing southwesterly winds having already deposited moisture on higher ground further west. Average winter temperatures are cooler than
384-553: A lieutenant with the wider county from which they had been created. London had instead a commission of lieutenancy , headed by the Lord Mayor . The long-standing practice of appointing lieutenants jointly to the wider county and any counties corporate it contained was formalised by the Militia Act 1882. Apart from the inclusion of the counties corporate, the counties for the purposes of lieutenancy generally corresponded to
448-412: A new non-metropolitan county is created the 1997 Act is amended to redefine the existing areas of the lieutenancies in terms of the new areas. No such amendment was made in 1997 when Rutland was made a unitary authority or in 1998 when Herefordshire and Worcestershire were re-established; those three therefore have been given their own lieutenants again since the passing of the 1997 Act. The actual areas of
512-524: Is based in Huntingdon. The RAF has several stations in the Huntingdon and St Ives area. RAF Alconbury , three miles north of Huntingdon, is being reorganised after a period of obsolescence following the departure of the USAF, to be the focus of RAF/USAFE intelligence operations, with activities at Upwood and Molesworth being transferred there. Most of Cambridgeshire is agricultural. Close to Cambridge
576-639: Is close to the village of Castle Camps where a point on the disused RAF airfield reaches a height of 128 metres (420 ft) above sea level (grid reference TL 63282 41881). Other prominent hills are Little Trees Hill and Wandlebury Hill (both at 74 m (243 ft)) in the Gog Magog Hills , Rivey Hill above Linton , Rowley's Hill and the Madingley Hills. Wicken Fen is a 254.5-hectare (629-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Wicken . A large part of it
640-564: Is comparable to parts of Kent and East Anglia. Various forms of football have been popular in Cambridgeshire since medieval times at least. In 1579 one match played at Chesterton between townspeople and University of Cambridge students ended in a violent brawl that led the Vice-Chancellor to issue a decree forbidding them to play "footeball" outside of college grounds. During the nineteenth century, several formulations of
704-546: Is located in Madingley . It is the only WWII burial ground in England for American servicemen who died during that event. Most English counties have nicknames for their people, such as a " Tyke " from Yorkshire and a " Yellowbelly " from Lincolnshire . The historical nicknames for people from Cambridgeshire are "Cambridgeshire Camel" or "Cambridgeshire Crane", the latter referring to the wildfowl that were once abundant in
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#1732765948789768-462: Is owned and managed by the National Trust . The Cambridge Green Belt around the city of Cambridge extends to places such as Waterbeach , Lode , Duxford , Little & Great Abington and other communities a few miles away in nearby districts, to afford a protection from the conurbation. It was first drawn up in the 1950s. Cambridgeshire County Council is controlled by an alliance of
832-572: Is the UK's lowest physical point, at 2.75 m (9 ft) below sea level. The flatness of the landscape makes the few areas of higher ground, such as that Ely is built on, very conspicuous. The landscape in the south and west is gently undulating. Cambridgeshire's principal rivers are the Nene , which flows through the north of the county and is canalised east of Peterborough; the Great Ouse , which flows from west to east past Huntingdon and Ely; and
896-402: Is the county town. The county has an area of 3,389 km (1,309 sq mi) and a population of 852,523. Peterborough and Cambridge, located in the north-west and south respectively, are by far the largest settlements. The remainder of the county is rural, and contains the city of Ely , and towns such as Wisbech and St Neots . For local government purposes, Cambridgeshire comprises
960-606: Is the so-called Silicon Fen area of high-technology (electronics, computing and biotechnology) companies. ARM Limited is based in Cherry Hinton . The inland Port of Wisbech on the River Nene is the county's only remaining port. Cambridgeshire has a comprehensive education system with over 240 state schools, not including sixth form colleges . The independent sector includes King's Ely and Wisbech Grammar School , founded in 970 and 1379 respectively, they are two of
1024-691: The Cam , a tributary of the Great Ouse which flows through Cambridge. Cambridgeshire is noted as the site of Flag Fen in Fengate , one of the earliest-known Neolithic permanent settlements in the United Kingdom , compared in importance to Balbridie in Aberdeen, Scotland. Must Farm quarry, at Whittlesey , has been described as "Britain's Pompeii due to its relatively good condition, including
1088-636: The Courts Act 1971 which abolished the quarter sessions and assizes . Sheriffs continued to be appointed for each county despite the loss of the judicial functions. Certain towns and cities were counties corporate appointing their own sheriffs. The counties corporate were all included in a wider county for lieutenancy purposes, except the City of London which had its own lieutenants. The geographical counties were relatively stable between 1889 and 1965. There were occasional boundary changes, notably following
1152-770: The Footlights . The county is covered by BBC East and ITV Anglia . Local radio includes BBC Radio Cambridgeshire , Greatest Hits Radio East , Heart East , Smooth East Midlands (only covering Peterborough ), and Star Radio . The community radio stations are Black Cat Radio in St Neots; Cam FM and Cambridge 105 in Cambridge; Huntingdon Community Radio ; and Peterborough Community Radio and Salaam Radio in Peterborough. Ceremonial counties of England Ceremonial counties , formally known as counties for
1216-595: The Liberal Democrats , the Labour Party and independent groups , while Peterborough City Council is currently controlled by a Conservative Party minority administration. The county contains seven Parliamentary constituencies : This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Cambridgeshire at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of English Pounds Sterling. AWG plc
1280-577: The Lieutenancies Act 1997 . When Herefordshire, Rutland and Worcestershire were re-established as local government counties in 1997 and 1998 no amendment was made to the 1997 Act regarding them, allowing them to also serve as their own lieutenancy areas. The lieutenancy counties have not changed in area since 1998, although the definitions of which local government counties are included in each lieutenancy have been amended to reflect new unitary authorities being created since 1997. In legislation
1344-691: The Local Government Act 1894 which said that parishes and districts were no longer allowed to straddle county boundaries. After that most boundary changes were primarily to accommodate urban areas which were growing across county boundaries, such as when Caversham was transferred from Oxfordshire to Berkshire as a result of being absorbed into the County Borough of Reading in 1911. The lieutenancies and judicial / shrieval counties were defined as groups of administrative counties and county boroughs, and so were automatically adjusted if
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#17327659487891408-471: The River Nene and River Great Ouse lie within the county. In 2021 the latter was used as the course for The Boat Race . The River Cam serves as the course for the university Lent Bumps and May Bumps and the non-college rowing organised by Cambridgeshire Rowing Association . There is only one racecourse in Cambridgeshire, located at Huntingdon . Cambridge is home to the Kettle's Yard gallery and
1472-445: The militia , overseen by a sheriff . From Tudor times onwards a lord-lieutenant was appointed to oversee the militia, taking some of the sheriff's functions. Certain towns and cities were counties corporate , which gave them the right to appoint their own sheriffs and hold their own courts. Whilst in theory the counties corporate could have had separate lieutenants appointed for them, in practice all of them except London shared
1536-950: The 'best-preserved Bronze Age dwellings ever found in the UK'". A great quantity of archaeological finds from the Stone Age , the Bronze Age , and the Iron Age were made in East Cambridgeshire . Most items were found in Isleham . The area was settled by the Anglo-Saxons starting in the fifth century. Genetic testing on seven skeletons found in Anglo-Saxon era graves in Hinxton and Oakington found that five were either migrants or descended from migrants from
1600-662: The City of London, which has two sheriffs ). The Lieutenancies Act 1997 defines counties for the purposes of lieutenancies in terms of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties (created by the Local Government Act 1972 , as amended) as well as Greater London and the Isles of Scilly (which lie outside the 1972 Act's system). Although the term is not used in the act, these counties are sometimes known as "ceremonial counties". The counties are defined in Schedule 1, paragraphs 2–5 as amended (in 2009, 2019 and 2023). Generally, each time
1664-591: The English average, due to Cambridgeshire's inland location and relative nearness to continental Europe, which results in the moderating maritime influence being less strong. Snowfall is slightly more common than in western areas, due to the relative winter coolness and easterly winds bringing occasional snow from the North Sea. In summer temperatures are average or slightly above, due to less cloud cover. It reaches 25 °C (77 °F) on around ten days each year, and
1728-806: The Fen Tigers), the county-based army unit, fought in the Boer War in South Africa, the First World War and Second World War. Due to the county's flat terrain and proximity to the continent, during the Second World War the military built many airfields here for RAF Bomber Command , RAF Fighter Command , and the allies USAAF . In recognition of this collaboration, the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial
1792-602: The Fens. The term "Fen Tigers" is sometimes used to describe the people who live and work in the Fens. Original historical documents relating to Cambridgeshire are held by Cambridgeshire Archives . Cambridgeshire County Council Libraries maintains several Local Studies collections of printed and published materials, significantly at the Cambridgeshire Collection held in the Cambridge Central Library . Cambridgeshire's county flag
1856-407: The Isle was to be abolished as a county, when Rutland was being retained, and went on to state that some parts of the area had more interests in common with Peterborough than with Cambridge. The MP for Cambridge , Sir Hamilton Kerr , also objected to the creation of the new county, advocating the original draft proposals and the elevation of his constituency to become a county borough. Nevertheless,
1920-579: The North of the county in 2012 at Wisbech & Fenland Museum . The county was visited by travelling companies of comedians in the Georgian period. These came from different companies. The Lincoln Circuit included, at various times, Wisbech and Whittlesey. The Wisbech Georgian theatre still survives as an operating theatre now known as The Angles Theatre . In Cambridge the ADC Theatre is the venue for
1984-595: The Peterborough Combined Police Force. On further local government reform in 1974, this became the present Cambridgeshire Constabulary with the same boundaries. The county ranked 33 out of 46 by population. The county was divided into twelve districts: two municipal boroughs , four urban districts and six rural districts . The districts, which were transferred from the previous administrative counties, were: † Formerly in Cambridgeshire ‡ Formerly in Isle of Ely The county council
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2048-482: The administration of Cambridgeshire, where the city of Cambridge had 50% of the population and over two-thirds of the rateable value of the county. Cambridge was large enough to qualify for county borough status and be removed from the administrative county, but it was felt that this would render the remainder of Cambridgeshire, which would consist of three rural districts, too small to effectively deliver local services. The LGCE made draft proposals to constitute Cambridge
2112-569: The amalgamation of all four counties into a single entity. The commission's recommendations were not carried out, however. The reform of local government was returned to in 1958, with the appointment of a Local Government Commission for England . The four counties were included in the East Midlands General Review Area, and the LGCE made its draft proposals in April 1960. The commission identified particular problems in
2176-469: The areas to which high sheriffs are appointed. High sheriffs are the monarch's judicial representative in an area. The ceremonial counties are defined in the Lieutenancies Act 1997 , and the shrieval counties in the Sheriffs Act 1887 . Both are defined as groups of local government counties. The historic counties of England were originally used as areas for administering justice and organising
2240-525: The arms of the Diocese of Ely . The supporters were great bustards , a bird extinct in England, whose last habitat was said to have been in the county. The birds were differenced from those supporting the previous Cambridgeshire arms by the placing of a red book beneath their feet. The book came from the arms of the University of Cambridge . The Latin motto adopted also referred to the university, and
2304-563: The artist-run Aid and Abet project space. Nine miles west of Cambridge next to the village of Bourn is Wysing Arts Centre . Wisbech has been home to the Wisbech Gallery, South Brink since 2023. Cambridge Open Studios is the region's large arts organisation with over 500 members. Every year, more than 370 artists open their doors to visitors during four weekends in July. The annual Fenland Poet Laureate awards were instigated for poets in
2368-456: The boundaries of those administrative areas changed. There were two exceptions to this rule (one only briefly). The county borough of Great Yarmouth straddled Norfolk and Suffolk for judicial and lieutenancy purposes until 1891 when it was placed entirely in Norfolk for those purposes. The county borough of Stockport straddled Cheshire and Lancashire for judicial and lieutenancy purposes - it
2432-433: The ceremonial counties have not changed since 1998. These are the 48 counties for the purposes of the lieutenancies in England, as currently defined: After the creation of county councils in 1889, there were counties for judicial and shrieval purposes, counties for lieutenancy purposes, and administrative counties and county boroughs for the purposes of local government. The 1888 Act used the term 'entire county' to refer to
2496-671: The club, Charles Goodman Tebbutt , wrote down the first official rules in 1882. Tebbutt was instrumental in spreading the sport to many countries. Great Britain Bandy Association is based in Cambridgeshire. Fen skating is a traditional form of skating in the Fenland . The National Ice Skating Association was set up in Cambridge in 1879, they took the top Fen skaters to the world speedskating championships where James Smart (skater) became world champion. On 6–7 June 2015,
2560-523: The continent, one was a native Briton, and one had both continental and native ancestry, suggesting intermarriage. Cambridgeshire was recorded in the Domesday Book as "Grantbridgeshire" (or rather Grentebrigescire ) (related to the river Granta ). Covering a large part of East Anglia , Cambridgeshire today is the result of several local government unifications. In 1888 when county councils were introduced, separate councils were set up, following
2624-429: The county are extremely low-lying and Holme Fen is notable for being the UK's lowest physical point at 2.75 m (9 ft) below sea level. The highest point of the modern administrative county is in the village of Great Chishill at 146 m (480 ft) above sea level. However, this parish was historically a part of Essex , having been moved to Cambridgeshire in boundary changes in 1895. The historic county top
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2688-482: The county councils. In counties where the quarter sessions had been held separately for different parts of the county, such as the Parts of Lincolnshire , each part was given its own county council. The area administered by a county council was called an administrative county . As such, some of the judicial or lieutenancy counties comprised several administrative counties and county boroughs. The Ordnance Survey adopted
2752-577: The creation of the Lord Lieutenant of Greater London and of the Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdon and Peterborough . Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely was, from 1965 to 1974, an administrative and geographical county in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. In 1974 it became part of an enlarged Cambridgeshire . The Local Government Act 1888 created four small neighbouring administrative counties in
2816-484: The east of England: Cambridgeshire, Isle of Ely , Huntingdonshire , and the Soke of Peterborough . Following the Second World War , a Local Government Boundary Commission was formed to review county-level administration in England and Wales. The commission was of the opinion that counties needed to have a population of between 200,000 and 1 million to provide effective services. Accordingly, they recommended
2880-432: The group of administrative counties and county boroughs created within each judicial county. The Ordnance Survey used the term 'geographical county' to refer to this wider definition of the county. Yorkshire had three lieutenancies, one for each riding, but was a single judicial county with one sheriff, and was counted as one geographical county by Ordnance Survey. The counties lost their judicial functions in 1972 under
2944-412: The inaugural Tour of Cambridgeshire cycle race took place on closed roads across the county. The event was an official UCI qualification event, and consisted of a Time Trial on the 6th, and a Gran Fondo event on the 7th. The Gran Fondo event was open to the public, and over 6000 riders took part in the 128 km (80 mi) race. The River Cam is the main river flowing through Cambridge, parts of
3008-435: The judicial counties. The exception was Yorkshire, which was one judicial county, having a single Sheriff of Yorkshire , but from 1660 onwards each of Yorkshire's three ridings had its own lieutenant. In 1889 elected county councils were established under the Local Government Act 1888 , taking over the administrative functions of the quarter sessions . Certain towns and cities were made county boroughs , independent from
3072-529: The latter county. The Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Order was made on 14 February 1964, and placed before the House of Commons on 9 March 1964. The amalgamation was opposed by Sir Harry Legge-Bourke , member of parliament (MP) for the Isle of Ely , noting that his constituents "in general were in favour of continuing with an independent county council with which they were entirely satisfied." Legge-Bourke asked why
3136-482: The laws of football, known as the Cambridge rules , were created by students at the university. One of these codes, dating from 1863, had a significant influence on the creation of the original laws of the Football Association . Cambridgeshire is also the birthplace of bandy , now an IOC accepted sport. According to documents from 1813, Bury Fen Bandy Club was undefeated for 100 years. A member of
3200-482: The lieutenancy areas are described as 'counties for the purposes of the lieutenancies'; the informal term 'ceremonial county' has come into usage for such areas, appearing in parliamentary debates as early as 1996. The shrieval counties are defined by the Sheriffs Act 1887 as amended, in a similar way to the lieutenancies defined by the Lieutenancies Act 1997. Each has a high sheriff appointed (except
3264-403: The lieutenants were appointed to the new versions of the counties. The counties of Avon , Cleveland and Humberside , each of which had only been created in 1974, were all abolished in 1996. They were divided into unitary authorities ; legally these are also non-metropolitan counties. As part of these reforms, it was decided to define counties for the purposes of lieutenancy differently from
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#17327659487893328-533: The local government counties in some cases, effectively reverting to the pre-1974 arrangements for lieutenancies. Whereas the lieutenancies had been defined slightly differently from the shrieval counties prior to 1974, it was decided in 1996 that the high sheriffs and lieutenants should be appointed to the same areas. Regulations amending the Sheriffs Act 1887 and specifying the areas for the appointment of lieutenants were accordingly brought in with effect from 1 April 1996. The regulations were then consolidated into
3392-428: The main functions of the counties were the administrative functions of local government. Despite the loss of their functions, sheriffs continued to be appointed to the former judicial counties up until 1974. In 1974, administrative counties and county boroughs were abolished, and a new system of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties was introduced instead. Sheriffs were renamed 'high sheriffs' and both they and
3456-440: The oldest schools in the country. Some of the secondary schools act as Village Colleges , institutions unique to Cambridgeshire. For example, Comberton Village College . Cambridgeshire is home to a number of institutes of higher education : In addition, Cambridge Regional College and Huntingdonshire Regional College both offer a limited range of higher education courses in conjunction with partner universities. These are
3520-408: The order was approved by 144 votes to 84. The new county was formed on 1 April 1965 from the areas of the administrative counties of Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely (with minor boundary changes) less Thorney Rural District . As well as becoming an administrative county, Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely also became a county for other statutory purposes. Accordingly, the Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire
3584-421: The purposes of the lieutenancies , are areas of England to which lord-lieutenants are appointed. They are one of the two main legal definitions of the counties of England in modern usage, the other being the counties for the purposes of local government legislation. A lord-lieutenant is the monarch 's representative in an area. Shrieval counties have the same boundaries and serve a similar purpose, being
3648-527: 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 . See the List of Cambridgeshire settlements by population page for more detail. The town of Newmarket is surrounded on three sides by Cambridgeshire, being connected by a narrow strip of land to the rest of Suffolk . Cambridgeshire has seen 32,869 dwellings created from 2002 to 2013 and there are
3712-580: The term 'geographical county' to describe the widest definition of the county. In most cases this was the lieutenancy county; the exceptions were Yorkshire, where the judicial county was larger on account of it being split into its three ridings for lieutenancy purposes, and the County of London where the administrative county was larger on account of the City of London and the rest of the county being separate for both judicial and lieutenancy purposes. The counties lost their judicial functions in 1972, after which
3776-461: The traditional division of Cambridgeshire, for In 1965, these two administrative counties were merged to form Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely . Under the Local Government Act 1972 this merged with the county to the west, Huntingdon and Peterborough , which had been formed in 1965, by the merger of Huntingdonshire with the Soke of Peterborough (the latter previously a part of Northamptonshire with its own county council). The resulting county
3840-561: Was called simply Cambridgeshire. Since 1998, the City of Peterborough has been separately administered as a unitary authority area. It is associated with Cambridgeshire for ceremonial purposes such as Lieutenancy and joint functions such as policing and the fire service. In 2002, the conservation charity Plantlife unofficially designated Cambridgeshire's county flower as the Pasqueflower . The Cambridgeshire Regiment (nicknamed
3904-472: Was granted armorial bearings by the College of Arms on 1 September 1965. The coat of arms was a combination of those of the two merged county councils. The blazon of the arms was as follows: Or a double tressure flory counter flory gules, overall on a bend wavy azure three crowns or; the shield ensigned by a mural crown or. Supporters: on either side a great bustard proper, the exterior leg resting on
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#17327659487893968-481: Was made official on 1 February 2015, after the design was selected as an entry from a design competition that ran during 2014. The design features three golden crowns, two on the top, one on the bottom that are separated by two wavy lines in the middle. The crowns are meant to represent East Anglia, and the two lines represent the River Cam and are in the Cambridge University's colours. Large areas of
4032-575: Was placed entirely in Lancashire for judicial purposes in 1956 but continued to straddle the two counties for lieutenancy purposes until 1974. More significant changes to the geographical counties were made in 1965 with the creation of Greater London and of Huntingdon and Peterborough , which resulted in the abolition of the offices of Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex , Lord Lieutenant of the County of London , and Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire and
4096-663: Was retitled Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely . A High Sheriff was also appointed to the new county, and a single commission of peace and court of quarter sessions established. On the creation of the county, an order under the Police Act 1964 came into force creating the Mid-Anglia Constabulary by merging the Cambridge City Police, Cambridgeshire County Constabulary, Isle of Ely Constabulary, Huntingdonshire Constabulary, and
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