Cambridgeshire Tourist Guide - Articles
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a town in the county of Cambridgeshire in East Anglia, England. The town was chartered in 1205, and celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2005. It was formerly the county town of Huntingdonshire, and is currently the seat of the Huntingdonshire district council.
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 Castle Hills on its site are now a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and are home to a beacon 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.
Area
The town lies on the River Great Ouse, not far from the market towns of St Neots and St Ives. The village of Hartford lies just to the east.
It has the largest meadow in England, Portholme Meadow. 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.
There is a local Horseracing Course, Huntingdon Racecourse.
RAF Molesworth is a Royal Air Force military base with a history dating back to 1917. It was earmarked for the deployment of Cruise Missiles in the 1980s. It is one of three bases in Cambridgeshire currently occupied by the United States Air Force; the others are RAF Alconbury and RAF Upwood.
Article Sourced from Wikipedia
Huntingdon
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 Castle Hills on its site are now a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and are home to a beacon 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.
Area
The town lies on the River Great Ouse, not far from the market towns of St Neots and St Ives. The village of Hartford lies just to the east.
It has the largest meadow in England, Portholme Meadow. 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.
There is a local Horseracing Course, Huntingdon Racecourse.
RAF Molesworth is a Royal Air Force military base with a history dating back to 1917. It was earmarked for the deployment of Cruise Missiles in the 1980s. It is one of three bases in Cambridgeshire currently occupied by the United States Air Force; the others are RAF Alconbury and RAF Upwood.
Article Sourced from Wikipedia
Huntingdon