Catworth is a village and
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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in Cambridgeshire, England.
Catworth lies approximately west of
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...
. The civil parish covers an area of . Catworth village has two parts, Catworth, at the top of the hill, and Little Catworth, at the bottom. Catworth is situated within
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...
which is a
non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non-m ...
of
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...
as well as being a
historic county of England.
History
In 1085,
William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
ordered that a survey should be carried out across his kingdom to discover who owned which parts and what it was worth. The survey took place in 1086 and the results were recorded in what, since the 12th century, has become known as the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
. Starting with the king himself, for each
landholder within a county there is a list of their estates or
manors; and, for each manor, there is a summary of the resources of the manor, the amount of annual rent that was collected by the lord of the manor both in 1066 and in 1086, together with the taxable value.
Catworth was listed in the Domesday Book in the
Hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
of Navisford in Northamptonshire; the name of the settlement was written as ''Cateworde'' in the Domesday Book.
In 1086, there were five manors at Catworth; the annual rent paid to the lords of the manors in 1066 had been £7.5 and the rent had fallen to £6.75 in 1086.
The Domesday Book does not explicitly detail the population of a place but it records that there were 34 households at Catworth.
[ There is no consensus about the average size of a household at that time; estimates range from 3.5 to 5.0 people per household. Using these figures then an estimate of the population of Catworth in 1086 is that it was within the range of 119 and 170 people.
The Domesday Book uses a number of units of measure for areas of land that are now unfamiliar terms, such as hides and ]ploughland
The carucate or carrucate ( lat-med, carrūcāta or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms ...
s. In different parts of the country, these were terms for the area of land that a team of eight oxen could plough in a single season and are equivalent to ; this was the amount of land that was considered to be sufficient to support a single family. By 1086, the hide had become a unit of tax assessment rather than an actual land area; a hide was the amount of land that could be assessed as £1 for tax purposes. The survey records that there were 10.62 ploughlands at Catworth in 1086 and that there was the capacity for a further 5.38 ploughlands.[ In addition to the arable land, there were of meadows, of woodland and a ]water mill
A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production o ...
at Catworth.[
The tax assessment in the Domesday Book was known as geld or danegeld and was a type of land-tax based on the hide or ploughland. It was originally a way of collecting a tribute to pay off the Danes when they attacked England, and was only levied when necessary. Following the Norman Conquest, the geld was used to raise money for the King and to pay for continental wars; by 1130, the geld was being collected annually. Having determined the value of a manor's land and other assets, a tax of so many shillings and pence per pound of value would be levied on the land holder. While this was typically two shillings in the pound (10%) the amount did vary; for example, in 1084 it was as high as six shillings in the pound (30%). For the manors at Catworth the total tax assessed was 11.5 geld.][
Little Catworth was also listed in the Domesday Book in the ]Hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
of Leightonstone in Huntingdonshire; the name of the settlement was written as ''alia Cateworde'' and ''parva Cateworde'' in the Domesday Book.[ There were two manors at Little Catworth and the annual rent paid to the lords of the manors was £1.5 in 1086.] There were eight households at Little Catworth.[ The estimate of the population of Little Catworth in 1086 is that it was within the range of 28 and 40 people. The survey records that there were three ploughlands at Little Catworth in 1086 and that there was the capacity for a further two ploughlands.][ In addition to the arable land, there were of meadows at Little Catworth.][ For the manors at Little Catworth the total tax assessed was 5 geld.][
In 1086, there was no church recorded at Catworth or Little Catworth.
Between 1645 and 1646, a number of women in Catworth were accused of being witches in a witch-hunt conducted by the so-called Witchfinder General, ]Matthew Hopkins
Matthew Hopkins ( 1620 – 12 August 1647) was an English witch-hunter whose career flourished during the English Civil War. He claimed to hold the office of Witchfinder General, although that title was never bestowed by Parliament, a ...
.
The enclosure of open fields took place in 1801. In 1885, the village of Great Catworth and the hamlet of Little Catworth were merged into a single civil parish called Catworth.
Governance
As a civil parish, Catworth has a parish council. The parish council is elected by the residents of the parish who have registered on the electoral roll
An electoral roll (variously called an electoral register, voters roll, poll book or other description) is a compilation that lists persons who are entitled to vote for particular elections in a particular jurisdiction. The list is usually broke ...
; the parish council is the lowest tier of government in England. A parish council is responsible for providing and maintaining a variety of local services including allotments and a cemetery; grass cutting and tree planting within public open spaces such as a village green or playing fields. The parish council reviews all planning applications that might affect the parish and makes recommendations to Huntingdonshire District Council, which is the local planning authority
A local planning authority (LPA) is the local government body that is empowered by law to exercise urban planning functions for a particular area. They exist in the United Kingdom and India.
United Kingdom
Mineral planning authorities
The role ...
for the parish. The parish council also represents the views of the parish on issues such as local transport, policing and the environment. The parish council raises its own tax to pay for these services, known as the parish precept, which is collected as part of the Council Tax
Council Tax is a local taxation system used in England, Scotland and Wales. It is a tax on domestic property, which was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, replacing the short-lived Community Charge
The Community C ...
. The parish council at Catworth has seven members.
Catworth was in the historic and 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 either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...
of Huntingdonshire until 1965. From 1965, the village was part of the new administrative county of Huntingdon and Peterborough
Huntingdon and Peterborough was a short-lived administrative and geographical county in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. It existed from 1965 to 1974, when it became part of Cambridgeshire.
Formation
The Local Government Act 1888 created fo ...
. Then in 1974, following 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 ...
, Catworth became a part of the county of Cambridgeshire.
The second tier of local government is Huntingdonshire District Council
Huntingdonshire District Council is the local authority for the district of Huntingdonshire in Cambridgeshire, England. Based in Huntingdon, it forms the lower part of the two tier system of local government in the district, below Cambridgeshire ...
which is a non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non-m ...
of Cambridgeshire and has its headquarters in Huntingdon. Huntingdonshire District Council has 52 councillors representing 29 district wards. Huntingdonshire District Council collects the council tax
Council Tax is a local taxation system used in England, Scotland and Wales. It is a tax on domestic property, which was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, replacing the short-lived Community Charge
The Community C ...
, and provides services such as building regulations, local planning, environmental health, leisure and tourism. Catworth is a part of the district ward of ''Ellington'' and is represented on the district council by one councillor.[ District councillors serve for four-year terms following elections to Huntingdonshire District Council.
For Catworth the highest tier of local government is ]Cambridgeshire County Council
Cambridgeshire County Council is the county council of Cambridgeshire, England. The council consists of 61 councillors, representing 59 electoral divisions. The council is based at New Shire Hall at Alconbury Weald, near Huntingdon. It is a mem ...
which has administration buildings in Cambridge. The county council provides county-wide services such as major road infrastructure, fire and rescue, education, social services, libraries and heritage services. Cambridgeshire County Council consists of 69 councillors representing 60 electoral divisions. Catworth is part of the electoral division of ''Sawtry and Ellington''[ and is represented on the county council by one councillor.][
At Westminster Catworth is in the parliamentary constituency of North West Cambridgeshire,][ and elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the ]first past the post
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
system of election. Catworth is represented in the House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
by Shailesh Vara
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (born 4 September 1960) is a Ugandan-British politician, who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from July to September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) ...
(Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
). Shailesh Vara has represented the constituency since 2005. The previous member of parliament was Brian Mawhinney (Conservative) who represented the constituency between 1997 and 2005.
Geography
The village and parish lie on a bedrock of Oxford clay from the Jurassic period
The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...
. The land in the north of the parish is characterised as Oadby Member Diamicton Diamicton (also diamict) (from Greek ''δια'' (dia-): through and ''µεικτός'' (meiktós): mixed) is a terrigenous sediment (a sediment resulting from dry-land erosion) that is unsorted to poorly sorted and contains particles ranging in size ...
, from the Quaternary period, with rocks formed during Ice Age conditions by glaciers scouring the land.[
Catworth is situated on the B660 between Kimbolton and Thrapston. The village lies between and above sea level. Catworth is surrounded by farms.
]
Demography
The population of the village was recorded at 366 living in 137 households in the 2001 census. The population had decreased slightly to 347 in 146 households in the 2011 census. In the census of 2011, 98.2% of people described themselves as white, 1.2% as having mixed or multiple ethnic groups, and 0.6% as being Asian or British Asian In that same census, 66.9% described themselves as Christian, 23.3% described themselves as having no religion, 9.2% did not specify a religion, and 0.6% described themselves as having another religion.
Historical population
The population of Catworth between 1801 and 1901 ranged from 386 to 637.
Census: Catworth 1801–1931, 1961
Census: Catworth 1951, 1971, 1991
Census: Catworth 2001, 2011[
]
Culture and community
There was public house with B&B in Catworth called The Racehorse which closed in 2017. The Wagon and Horses public house was open by the mid 19th century and closed in the 20th century. The Catworth Post Office closed in 2008, but a mobile Post Office van visits Catworth on four days a week. There are a number of businesses in the village including a service station.
The Catworth Football Club, which was founded in 1937, play on the village playing field where there is also a tennis court. The Catworth Bowls Club plays at the Village Hall. There are a number of other active community groups including Art, Amateur Dramatics, Cinema and Family History societies in Catworth.
Transport
Catworth is about to the south of Junction 16 of the A14 road A14 may refer to:
* Aero A.14, a Czech reconnaissance aircraft built after World War I
* Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) Classification System 14 ( ATC code A14) ''Anabolic agents for systemic use'', a subgroup of the ATC Classification Syst ...
that runs from the Port of Felixstowe
The Port of Felixstowe, in Felixstowe, Suffolk, is the United Kingdom's busiest container port, dealing with 48% of Britain's containerised trade. In 2017, it was ranked as 43rd busiest container port in the world and 8th in Europe, with a han ...
to the M1 and M6 motorways at Catthorpe Interchange
The Catthorpe Interchange is a major intersection at the southern end of the M6, the western end of the A14 and junction 19 of the M1 near the village of Catthorpe in Leicestershire, England. It was developed in 1994 when the link to the A ...
, Leicestershire.
Religious sites
The Anglican church at Catworth is dedicated to St Leonard and is a Grade I listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. The church is in the deanery of Huntingdon in the diocese of Ely. There was no mention of a church in Catworth in the Domesday Book, but by the middle of the 13th Century a stone church had been built on the present site. The church was extended in the 14th century and in the 15th century. The church was restored in 1876. On 1 July 1914 the spire was struck by lightning.[ The church tower has four bells and has had a clock since 1709. In the 19th Century, there was a Methodist Chapel and a Baptist Chapel in Catworth.
]
Notable people
Wolstan Dixie
Sir Wolstan Dixie (1524/1525 – 1594) was an English merchant and administrator, and Lord Mayor of London in 1585.
Life
He was the son of Thomas Dixie and Anne Jephson, who lived at Catworth in Huntingdonshire. Wolstan was the fourth son ...
, Lord Mayor of London
The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...
in 1585, was born to Thomas Dixie and Anne Jepson who lived in Catworth. Sir Felix Booth, distiller of gin and promoter of arctic exploration, had a house at Brook End, about a quarter of a mile from Catworth.
References
External links
{{authority control
Villages in Cambridgeshire
Huntingdonshire
Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire