Perry 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, approximately south-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 ...

. Perry is in

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 ...

, 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 historic county of England. Perry is on the shore of a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

Grafham Water Grafham Water is an biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) north of Perry, Huntingdonshire. It was designated an SSSI in 1986. It is a reservoir with a circumference of about , is deep at maximum, and is the eighth largest rese ...

, a few miles from the market town of

St Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...

. Before becoming a parish in its own right the village was divided into West Perry (in the parish of

Great Staughton Great Staughton is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Great Staughton lies approximately south-west of Huntingdon. Great Staughton is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan dis ...

) and East Perry (in the parish of Grafham).

History

West Perry was listed in 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 ...

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 Toseland in Huntingdonshire; the name of the settlement was written as ''Pirie'' in the Domesday Book. In 1086 there was just one manor at West Perry; the annual rent paid to the lord of the manor in 1066 had been £2 and the rent was the same in 1086. There were six households at West Perry. with an estimated population of 21 to 30 people.

Government

As a civil parish, Perry has a parish council, which consists of five councillors and a parish clerk. Perry 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 ...

, Perry 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

of Cambridgeshire. Perry is a part of the district ward of ''Brampton'' and is represented on the district council by two councillors. For Perry 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. Perry is part of the electoral division of ''Brampton and Kimbolton'' and is represented on the county council by one councillor. At Westminster Perry is in the parliamentary constituency of

, and has been 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. ...

Jonathan Djanogly Jonathan Simon Djanogly (born 3 June 1965) is an English politician, solicitor and Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon since 2001. Djanogly has been Trade and Industry Spokesman shadowing the Department for Business, En ...

(

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 ...

) since 2001.

Demography

Population

The new parish of Perry was formed in the 1980s. All population census figures from report ''Historic Census figures Cambridgeshire to 2011'' by ''Cambridgeshire Insight''. In 2011, the parish covered an area of and the population density of Perry in 2011 was 790 persons per square mile (304.9 per square kilometre).

Culture and community

In the village there is a Baptist church, a village shop/Post Office, a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

called The Wheatsheaf, a watersport activity centre, a dog training centre, a climbing wall, a shop called Jonti which is a chandlery windsurfing retailer and tuition/hire centre, a restaurant (Harbour View Café Bar), and conference suite.

Landmarks

Gaynes Hall is a Grade II* listed country house on the south side of the village. The parish also includes

HMP Littlehey HM Prison Littlehey is a Category C male prison in the village of Perry near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, England. Littlehey Prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. The Prison only holds those that have been convicted of a sexual ...

, a category C prison built on the site of former

borstal A Borstal was a type of youth detention centre in the United Kingdom, several member states of the Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland. In India, such a detention centre is known as a Borstal school. Borstals were run by HM Prison Service ...

next to Gaynes Hall.

References

External links

Perry Parish Council
village website
containing information about village matters and events {{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Huntingdonshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire