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Whittlesey (also Whittlesea) is a market town and civil parish in the Fenland district of
Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a 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 Northamptonshire to th ...
, England. Whittlesey is east of
Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until 1 ...
. The population of the parish was 16,058 at the 2011 Census.


History and architecture

Whittlesey appears in the ''Cartularium Saxonicum'' (973 CE) as 'Witlesig', in the 1086 '' Domesday Book'' as 'Witesie', and in the ''Inquisitio Eliensis''. The meaning is "Wit(t)el's island", deriving from either Witil, "the name of a moneyer", or a diminutive of Witta, a personal name; + "eg", meaning "'island', also used of a piece of firm land in a fen." Before the fens were drained, Whittlesey was an island of dry ground surrounded by them. Excavations of nearby
Flag Fen Flag Fen, east of Peterborough, Pryor 2005. p. 9. England, is a Bronze Age site which was constructed about 3500 years ago and consists of more than 60,000 timbers arranged in five very long rows, creating a wooden causeway (around 1 km lon ...
indicate thriving local settlements as far back as 1000 BCE. At Must Farm quarry, a Bronze Age settlement is described as "Britain's Pompeii" due to its relatively good condition. In 2016 it was being excavated by the University of Cambridge's Cambridge Archaeological Unit. At
Must Farm Part of a Bronze Age settlement was uncovered at Must Farm quarry, at Whittlesey, near Peterborough, in Cambridgeshire, England. The site has been described as "Britain's Pompeii" due to its relatively good condition, including the "best-preserv ...
at least five homes of 3,000 years in age have been found, along with Britain's most complete prehistoric wooden wheel, dating back to the late Bronze Age. Whittlesey was linked to
Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until 1 ...
in the west and March in the east by the Roman
Fen Causeway Fen Causeway or the Fen Road is the modern name for a Roman road of England that runs between Denver, Norfolk in the east and Peterborough in the west.Phillips, C.W. ''The Fenland in Roman Times''. Royal Geographical Society (1970). Its path c ...
, probably built in the 1st century CE. Roman artefacts have been recovered at nearby Eldernell, and a Roman skeleton was discovered in the nearby village of
Eastrea Eastrea is a village in Cambridgeshire, located on the A605 between Whittlesey and Coates. The site has been inhabited since Roman times. The population is included in the civil parish of Whittlesey. History There was once a church in the vil ...
during construction of its village hall in 2010. The town's two parishes of St Mary's and St Andrew's belonged to the abbeys in Thorney and Ely respectively until the Dissolution of the Monasteries about 1540. The two parishes were combined for administrative purposes by the Whittlesey Improvement Act of 1849. Despite the proximity of
Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until 1 ...
, Whittlesey is in the Diocese of Ely. Nearby
Whittlesey Mere Whittlesea Mere was an area of open water in the Fenland area of the county of Huntingdonshire (now Cambridgeshire), England. The mere occupied the land southeast of Yaxley Fen, south of Farcet Fen and north of Holme Fen. The town of Whit ...
was a substantial lake surrounded by marsh until it was drained in 1851. According to the traveller
Celia Fiennes Celia Fiennes (7 June 1662 – 10 April 1741) was an English traveller and writer. She explored England on horseback at a time when travel for its own sake was unusual, especially for women. Early life Born at Newton Tony, Wiltshire,"June 7t ...
, who saw it in 1697, the mere was "3-mile broad and six-mile long. In the midst is a little island where a great store of Wildfowle breed.... The ground is all wett and marshy but there are severall little Channells runs into it which by boats people go up to this place; when you enter the mouth of the Mer it looks formidable and its often very dangerous by reason of sudden winds that will rise like Hurricanes...." The town is still accessible by water, being connected to the River Nene by King's Dyke, which forms part of the Nene/Ouse Navigation. Moorings can be found at Ashline Lock, alongside the Manor Leisure Centre's cricket and football pitches. Whittlesey was significant for its brickyards, around which the former hamlet of King's Dyke was based for much of the 20th century, although only one now remains, following the closure of the Saxon brickworks in 2011. The local clay soil was also used to make cob boundary walls during a period in which there was a
brick tax The brick tax was a property tax introduced in Great Britain in 1784, during the reign of King George III, to help pay for the wars in the American Colonies. Bricks were initially taxed at 2 s 6 d per thousand. The brick tax was eventually aboli ...
. Some examples of these roofed walls still stand today and are claimed to be unique in Fenland. Clay walls predate the introduction of brick tax in other parts of the country, and some were thatched. Whittlesey had a large number of public houses.''Millennium Memories of Whittlesey'' – a series of books on Whittlesey history. Published on behalf of the Whittlesey Museum. In 1797, a local farmer noted in his diary, "They like drinking better than fighting in Whittlesea." Whittlesey was an important trade route in the late Bronze Age (about 1100–800 BCE). Evidence for this was found at the archaeological site of Must Farm, where log boats, roundhouses, bowls with food in them, and the most complete wooden wheel were housed. In 1832, Whittlesey, then spelt Whittlesea, was ravaged by the second cholera epidemic, along with nearby Peterborough. According to a diary entry of Mrs Thomas Shaftoe Robertson, manageress of the Lincoln Theatre Circuit, "What a gap in my journal! April to November! But better not record such a summer as I have passed. God deliver me from such another. What suffering, what anguish, and loss! Whittlesea! Shall I ever have the idea of entering that place again? The cholera there raged in all its fury. I was numbered amongst its victims, and, false or true, was certainly dreadfully ill. All Peterborough was in a languishing state. Mr Walker, the surgeon, behaved most kindly, and never charged me a shilling." A year later this entry was amended: "Let me correct this error. The year after he sent me in a bill of £5 14s 6d." The Lincoln Theatre Circuit also included at various times Whittlesey, Wisbech, Boston and other nearby towns.


Churches

St Mary's Church contains 15th-century work, but most of the building is later. It has one of the largest buttressed spires in Cambridgeshire. The spire is 171 feet (52 metres) high. The church also contains a chapel, which was restored in 1862 as a memorial to
Sir Harry Smith Lieutenant-General Sir Henry George Wakelyn Smith, 1st Baronet, GCB (28 June 1787 – 12 October 1860) was a notable English soldier and military commander in the British Army of the early 19th century. A veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, he is a ...
. St Andrew's Church blends the Perpendicular and Decorated styles of Gothic. Its records date from 1635.


The Market Place

The market is held in the Market Place every Friday. The right to hold a weekly market was first granted in 1715, although there have been several periods since in which the market did not function, for example from the late 1700s until about 1850. In the centre of the Market Place is the Buttercross, dating back to 1680. Originally a place for people to sell goods, the structure was considered useless in the 1800s and only saved from demolition when a local businessman donated some slate tiles for the roof. Latterly it served as a bus shelter, until the bus services were relocated from the Market Place to a purpose-built terminal in Grosvenor Road.


Governance

The civil parish of Whittlesey includes the town itself and the villages of Coates,
Eastrea Eastrea is a village in Cambridgeshire, located on the A605 between Whittlesey and Coates. The site has been inhabited since Roman times. The population is included in the civil parish of Whittlesey. History There was once a church in the vil ...
,
Pondersbridge Pondersbridge is a village in Whittlesey civil parish, part of the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, England. Pondersbridge is essentially a settlement which has built up around the river crossing, situated on an artificial drainage cutting c ...
and Turves. It has a
town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second ti ...
, the lowest level of local government. Whittlesea is in
Fenland District Fenland is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. It was historically part of the Isle of Ely and borders the city of Peterborough to the northwest, Huntingdonshire to the west, and East Cambridgeshire to the southeast. It a ...
in the county of
Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a 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 Northamptonshire to th ...
. It is in the parliamentary constituency of
North East Cambridgeshire North East Cambridgeshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Steve Barclay, a Conservative. Constituency profile This large and rural seat is in The Fens and has a significant farming and ...
.


Geography

Whittlesey is between
Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until 1 ...
, to the west, and March, to the east. It is bordered to the north by the River Nene and to the south by Whittlesey Dyke. Historically, it was connected with Peterborough and March by the Roman
Fen Causeway Fen Causeway or the Fen Road is the modern name for a Roman road of England that runs between Denver, Norfolk in the east and Peterborough in the west.Phillips, C.W. ''The Fenland in Roman Times''. Royal Geographical Society (1970). Its path c ...
of the first century CE, a route roughly followed by the modern A605. To the north of Whittlesey is a recorde
Ramsar
site, a protected wetland. There is also Morton's Leam, which is an SSSI of notable diversity. To the south-east is Lattersey Nature Reserve.


Transport

Whittlesea railway station, using the town's alternative spelling, is on the Ely to Peterborough Line; it is served by direct trains to
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge becam ...
,
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, Liverpool, Leicester,
Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acr ...
, Ely, Ipswich and
Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until 1 ...
. Route 33/31 a service from Stagecoach is a bus service running every 30 minutes on a week day and an hourly service on weekend, they operate services linking
Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until 1 ...
, March, Cambridgeshire,
Ramsey, Cambridgeshire Ramsey is a market town and civil parish in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town is about north of Huntingdon. Ramsey parish includes the settlements of Ramsey Forty Foot, Ramsey Heights, Ramsey Mereside, Ramsey ...
, Chatteris. Where you can then connect for other services based on that region. Whittlesey town centre hosts the annual Fenland BusFest event. It is one of the area's most popular vintage vehicle gatherings.


Culture and community

Whittlesey Summer Festival fills much of the centre each September. Attractions have included a classic car display, an Italian food stall, fairground rides, a steam engine, and in 2009, a flying display by a Hawker Hurricane of the
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) is a Royal Air Force flight which provides an aerial display group usually comprising an Avro Lancaster, a Supermarine Spitfire and a Hawker Hurricane. The aircraft are regularly seen at events com ...
. An art competition for students of Sir Harry Smith Community College runs during the festival, with a display at Whittlesey Christian Church. At the 2009 festival local people raised £10,000 for
bushfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...
victims in
Whittlesea, Victoria Whittlesea is a town in Victoria, Australia, north-east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Whittlesea local government area. Whittlesea recorded a population of 6,117 at the . History The Post Office ope ...
, Australia. In 2011–2015 there was rivalry between the supermarket chains
Tesco Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...
and
Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...
to build on neighbouring sites in Eastrea Road. Dubbed "Supermarket Gate" in the press, the dispute was resolved when Sainsbury's won approval in June 2015 for its scheme for a supermarket, business park and country park. Plans for over 400 houses on an adjacent site, construction of which began in late 2014, caused concern about extra traffic on the A605. Close to the King's Dyke brickworks stand three 80-metre wind turbines, the largest on-shore turbines in England. They power the McCains chips plant.
Whittlesey Museum The Whittlesey Museum is a local history museum in Market Street, Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, England. It is based on the ground floor of Whittlesey Town Hall, which is a Grade II listed building. History The building The building in its orig ...
in the Old Town Hall records the natural and cultural heritage of the town and surrounding area.


Whittlesea Straw Bear

The festival of the Straw Bear or "Strawbower" is a custom known only to a small area of Fenland on the borders of Huntingdonshire and Isle of Ely,
Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a 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 Northamptonshire to th ...
, including
Ramsey Mereside Ramsey Mereside, known colloquially as "The Village", is a small village approximately north of the town of Ramsey, Cambridgeshire . The Fenland Light Railway, a 7¼" gauge miniature railway A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad o ...
. Similar ritual animals appear elsewhere in Europe, including parts of Germany at
Shrovetide Shrovetide, also known as the Pre-Lenten Season or Forelent, is the Christian period of preparation before the beginning of the liturgical season of Lent. Shrovetide starts on Septuagesima Sunday, includes Sexagesima Sunday, Quinquagesima Su ...
.) On Plough Tuesday, the day after the first Monday after Twelfth Night, a man or a boy is covered from head to foot in straw and led from house to house, where he danced in exchange for gifts of money, food or beer. The festival was of a stature that farmers would often reserve their best straw for making the bear.Straw Bear Festival website
The custom died out about 1909, probably because the police saw it as begging, but it was revived by the Whittlesea Society in 1980. It has now expanded to cover a whole weekend, when the Bear appears not on Plough Tuesday but on the second weekend in January. On the Saturday of the festival, the Bear progresses round the streets with its attendant "keeper" and musicians, followed by traditional dance sides (mostly visitors), including morris men and women,
molly dance Molly dancing is a form of English Morris dance, traditionally done by out-of-work ploughboys in midwinter in the 19th century. History Molly dancing has been recorded in many parts of the English Midlands and East Anglia. It died out during the ...
rs, rappers and longsword dancers, clog dancers, who perform at points along the route. The Bear dances to a tune (reminiscent of the hymn " Jesus Bids us Shine") which featured on ''Rattlebone and Ploughjack'', a 1976 LP by
Ashley Hutchings Ashley Stephen Hutchings, MBE, sometimes known in early years by his nickname, "Tyger" Hutchings (born 26 January 1945) is an English bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founding member of t ...
, along with a description of the original custom that had partly inspired the Whittlesey revival. "Sessions" of traditional music take place in pubs during the day and evening, and a
barn dance A barn dance is any kind of dance involving traditional or folk music with traditional dancing, occasionally held in a barn, but, these days, much more likely to be in any suitable building. The term “barn dance” is usually associated w ...
or ceilidh and a
Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...
dance end the Saturday night. The bear "costume" is burned at a ceremony at Sunday lunchtime. Shrovetide bear costumes are also burned ceremonially after use in Germany.) The Whittlesea Straw Bear and Keeper appear in the album art of
The Young Knives Young Knives are an English indie rock band from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire. The name is based on a misunderstanding of "young knaves", which was found by the band when rummaging through a book. The band was originally named Simple Past ...
' album, ''
Voices of Animals and Men ''Voices of Animals and Men'' is the first full-length album by The Young Knives, released on 21 August 2006. The album's title is a reference to the Adam and the Ants song "Animals and Men", which is in turn a reference to the Futurists. The ...
''.


Education

The town has a secondary school, Sir Harry Smith Community College, which opened in 1953 on the site of Whittlesey Workhouse, and three primary schools (New Road Primary, Alderman Jacobs, Park Lane Primary) Park Lane, Sir Harry Smith Community College and New Road Primary are apart of the ASPIRE alliance. There is another primary school in neighbouring Coates.


Sport

The town has a non–league football club, Whittlesey Athletic F.C., which plays in the , at Feldale Field.Cambs Times
Whittlesey Athletic unveil new floodlights in Cambridgeshire cup tie , March and Chatteris News , Cambs Times
accessdate 4 February 2020.


Notable people

In birth order: * Sir Harry George Waklyn Smith (1788–1860), best known for a role in the
Battle of Aliwal The Battle of Aliwal was fought on 28 January 1846 between the British and Sikh forces in northern India (now Punjab). The British were led by Sir Harry Smith,Smith, Sir Harry. ‘'The Autobiography of Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Smith Baro ...
(India), was born in the town. He rose militarily from a rifleman to a major general and Baronet of Aliwal. He was governor of the
Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...
during unrest in 1847–1852. * John Clare (1793–1864), a poet, mentions "Whittlesea's reed-wooded mere" under January in his poem "The Shepherd's Calendar". *
L. P. Hartley Leslie Poles Hartley (30 December 1895 – 13 December 1972) was a British novelist and short story writer. Although his first fiction was published in 1924, his career was slow to take off. His best-known novels are the '' Eustace and Hilda'' ...
CBE (1895–1972), novelist, was born in Whittlesey. His best known novels are the ''Eustace and Hilda'' trilogy and ''The Go-Between''. * Edward Storey (1930–2018), a Whittlesey-born poet, published some ten volumes of verse, a biography of John Clare, an autobiography and some libretti. He worked with Poets in schools for Eastern Arts and broadcast on the BBC. * Gary Dighton (1968–2015), a British national time-trial cyclist who competed in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and broke the national 25-mile time-trial record with 48:07. He attended Sir Harry Smith Community College. *
David Proud David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
(born 1983), a writer and the first disabled actor to have a regular role in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
soap opera '' EastEnders'', was living in Whittlesey and attended Sir Harry Smith Community College.


See also

* Must Farm Bronze Age settlement *
List of places in Cambridgeshire This is a list of cities, towns and villages in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It includes places in the former county of Huntingdonshire, now a district of Cambridgeshire. A *Abbotsley * Abbots Ripton *Abington Pigotts *Alconbury * A ...
* Straw bear (German traditional character) * Sir Harry Smith Community College * Whittlesey Workhouse *
Flag Fen Flag Fen, east of Peterborough, Pryor 2005. p. 9. England, is a Bronze Age site which was constructed about 3500 years ago and consists of more than 60,000 timbers arranged in five very long rows, creating a wooden causeway (around 1 km lon ...
is between the town and Peterborough.


References


External links


Whittlesey community website

2001 Census

Straw bear festival

Site on the hamlet of Eastrea
{{authority control Market towns in Cambridgeshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire Towns in Cambridgeshire Ritual animal disguise Fenland District