Chatteris () is a market town 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the Fenland district of

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, 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 Hertfor ...

, England, situated in

the Fens The Fens or Fenlands in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a system o ...

between

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

and Ely. The town is in the North East Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency. The parish of Chatteris is large, covering 6,099 hectares, and for much of its history was a raised island in the low-lying

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

of the Fens. Mentioned 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, the town has evidence of settlement from the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

period.Enjoy England.com
URL accessed 18 May 2008 After several fires in the 18th and 19th centuries, the majority of the town's housing dates from the late Victorian period onwards, with the tower of the parish church the only medieval building remaining. Following the draining of the Fens, beginning in the 17th century and completed in the 19th century, the town's economy has been based on agriculture and related industry. Due to its proximity to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, Huntingdon and

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

, the town has emerged as a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

. The town had a population of 11,011 at the time of the

United Kingdom Census 2021 United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * United (2003 film), ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * United (2011 film) ...

Toponymy

The origin of the name ''Chatteris'' is uncertain. The name is first attested in a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

of 974 (in a fourteenth-century copy), as ''Cæateric'' and in the

of 1086 as ''Catriz'', ''Cietriz'', ''Cetriz'' and ''Cateriz''. The ''Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names'' derives the name from a putatively

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

personal name A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...

''Ceatta'' and a word * ("ridge"), thus meaning "Ceatta's ridge"., s.v. ''Chatteris''. Others have suggested, however, that the name derives from a

Common Brittonic Common Brittonic (; ; ), also known as British, Common Brythonic, or Proto-Brittonic, is a Celtic language historically spoken in Britain and Brittany from which evolved the later and modern Brittonic languages. It is a form of Insular Cel ...

word corresponding to modern Welsh ("wood") compounded with Common Brittonic *''rïcc'' ("groove"), though

Richard Coates Richard Coates (born 16 April 1949, in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, and educated at Wintringham School) is an English linguist. He was professor of Linguistics (alternatively professor of Onomastics) at the University of the West of England, Bristo ...

and Andrew Breeze characterise this interpretation as "frankly ..most uncertain"). Others again suggest that name probably derives from the Celtic ''Cedrid'' – ''Ced'' meaning a wood and ''Rid'', a ford, although it may also derive from "cader", meaning

hill fort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

, suggesting a similar site to the nearby Stonea Camp.

History

Prehistory and early history

Archaeological evidence has been found of

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

and

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

settlements in the area, and Chatteris possesses what has been interpreted as the only upstanding Neolithic boundaries in Fenland. Saxon evidence is less well preserved, although in 679, Hunna, the chaplain to

Æthelthryth Æthelthryth (or Æðelþryð or Æþelðryþe; 23 June 679) was an East Anglian princess, a Fenland and Northumbrian queen and Abbess of Ely. She is an Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the Englis ...

of Ely built a hermitage on Honey Hill. More apocryphally, Chatteris is reputed to have been the last refuge of

Boudica Boudica or Boudicca (, from Brittonic languages, Brythonic * 'victory, win' + * 'having' suffix, i.e. 'Victorious Woman', known in Latin chronicles as Boadicea or Boudicea, and in Welsh language, Welsh as , ) was a queen of the Iceni, ancient ...

as she fled from the Romans.

Medieval period

The miraculous story of the first known

parishioner A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of the town, Bricstan, is documented in the '' Historia Ecclesiastica'' by the Chronicler

Orderic Vitalis Orderic Vitalis (; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England.Hollister ''Henry I'' p. 6 Working out of ...

(1075 – c.1142). According to the legend, Bricstan was a pious

free tenant Free tenants, also known as free peasants, were tenant farmer peasants in medieval England who occupied a unique place in the medieval hierarchy. They were characterized by the low rents which they paid to their manorial lord. They were subj ...

from the town who had joined the monastery at

Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral can trace its origin to the abbey founded in Ely in 67 ...

in 1115 to begin training as a monk. However, he was accused of theft and imprisoned in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The legend recounts that one night he had a vision of Saint Etheldreda coming towards him, and as if by a miracle, his heavy chains fell from him and he was shackled no longer. When he awoke from his dream, he discovered that this was indeed true and he was free of his chains. The wife of Henry I, Matilda of Scotland, heard of the miracle, and she assured herself that he was no rogue or thief, issued a writ of pardon and declared him a free man. During the Medieval period, the town was dominated by Chatteris Abbey, a small

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

nunnery A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican Comm ...

dedicated to St Mary, built in 980 by Eadnoth the Younger for Aelfwyn or Alfwen the niece of King Edgar and one of only eight nunneries mentioned in the ''Domesday Book''. The first abbess of Chatteris was Eadnoth's sister, Aelfwyn. Throughout its existence, the abbey was comparatively poor compared to other foundations, due to a lack of royal

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

and a consequent lack of

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

estates. As a result, the abbey survived the first wave of closures during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, but was surrendered to the king's commissioners in 1538, by which time there were eleven nuns in residence. At this date fourteen local families still used the abbey church as parochial but this, unusually, did not save it from demolition, the parishioners being transferred to nearby St Peter and St Paul's Church in the area. It has been conjectured that due to the short space between them, the parish church may have been the abbey church, although Claire Breay's ''Cartulary of Chatteris Abbey'' discounts this idea, citing that historical documentation clearly defines two separate churches. A range of the cloister buildings survived as part of a mansion known as Park House. This was demolished in 1847 and the site has now completely vanished beneath streets and housing, although the "Park Streets" of Chatteris mark the boundary of its walls and several buildings contain stone originating from the abbey. A large portion of the town was destroyed by a great fire in 1310, which destroyed the nunnery and a large portion of the church, leaving only sections of the base of the tower.

Early modern and contemporary

Later fires in 1706 and 1864 destroyed most medieval and Georgian architecture, and a large proportion of the town's

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

s date from the Victorian period onwards. However, many of the pasture fields on the outskirts of the town have evidence of

ridge and furrow Ridge and furrow is an Archaeology, archaeological pattern of ridges (Medieval Latin: ''sliones'') and troughs created by a system of ploughing used in Europe during the Middle Ages, typical of the open field system, open-field system. It is a ...

farming practices, although these are under threat by current building proposals. To the north of the town runs the Forty Foot Drain, a large river also called Vermuyden's Drain, after the Dutch engineer whose name is associated with the fen drainage works of the middle of the 17th century. Several of the older buildings of the town show evidence of the Dutch architectural style. Chatteris is a market town and has possessed this designation since 1834, although an earlier market existed in the town, which was discontinued due to poor roads in 1808. A small market is still held every Friday. Following the Beeching Axe, Chatteris railway station, formerly on the St Ives extension of the

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...

, was closed in March 1967. The station buildings no longer exist.

Geography

Chatteris is situated between Huntingdon, St Ives, Peterborough, March and Ely, in the middle of the Fens—the lowest-lying area in the United Kingdom—with most of the land surrounding the town being below

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

, although the highest point in the Fens (36 feet above sea level) is within Chatteris's parish boundaries. The

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

y land surrounding the town is largely used for agriculture, drained by numerous ditches and dykes, and there are two large drainage rivers near the town – the Forty Foot Drain, also known as Vermuyden's Drain, and the Sixteen Foot Drain. Chatteris is a key turning point on the A141 road (known as the

Isle of Ely The Isle of Ely () is a historic region around the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. Between 1889 and 1965, it formed an Administrative counties of England, administrative county. Etymology Its name has been said to ...

way) and the starting point of the A142 road to Ely and Suffolk (known as Ireton's Way). The town also has important links to Cambridge and the A14 via the B1050 to Bar Hill. The town centre traffic was bypassed in 1986, with the disused route of the former St Ives extension of the Great Eastern Railway being used to build the A141 to March and Guyhirn.

Climate

There are no

Met Office The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...

recording stations in the Fens, but an indication of rainfall and temperature of the

county town In Great Britain and Ireland, a county town is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county, and the place where public representatives are elected to parliament. Following the establishment of county councils in ...

Cambridge on the edge of the Fens shows that rainfall is below the national average, and in a wider study of

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

, the region had temperatures comparable with London, the warmest part of the UK.

Governance

There are three tiers of local government covering Chatteris, at

(town),

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

, and county level: Chatteris Town Council, Fenland District Council, and

Cambridgeshire County Council Cambridgeshire County Council is the county council for non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county, which additionally includes the City o ...

. The district and county councils are also members of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, led by the directly elected

Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough The mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is a combined authority mayor, first 2017 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election, elected in May 2017. The mayor is leader of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority. This o ...

. The town council is based at 14 Church Lane. The town is part of the North East Cambridgeshire parliamentary seat, whose Member of Parliament is currently Steve Barclay, a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Administrative history

Chatteris was an

ancient 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the North Witchford

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of Cambridgeshire. It was administered by its

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

and manorial courts until 1873, when the parish was made a

local government district Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

, with an elected local board. Such local government districts were reconstituted as urban districts under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The act followed the reforms carried out at county leve ...

. The North Witchford hundred formed part of the

, which was historically a

liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

under the secular jurisdiction of the

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with ...

. The bishop's jurisdiction was ended by the Liberty of Ely Act 1837 ( 7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 53). Between 1889 and 1965, the Isle of Ely was an

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 1973 in Northern Ireland, 2002 in the Republic of Ireland. They are now abolished, although most Northern ...

with its own county council, whilst also forming part of the wider geographical county of Cambridgeshire. Between 1965 and 1974, the administrative county covering Chatteris was called

Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely was, from 1965 to 1974, an administrative county, administrative and Geographical counties of England, geographical county in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. In 1974 it became part of an enlarged Cambridgeshire. ...

. Chatteris Urban District was abolished in 1974 under 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 ...

. District-level functions passed to the new Fenland District Council. A

successor parish Successor parishes are Civil parishes in England, civil parishes with a parish councils in England, parish council, created in England in 1974. They replaced, with the same boundaries, a selected group of Urban district (England and Wales), urban d ...

called Chatteris was created covering the area of the abolished urban district, with its parish council taking the name Chatteris Town Council.

Policing

Under the Police Act 1964 and local government reform in 1974, the Isle of Ely Constabulary became part of the Mid-Anglia Constabulary until the present Cambridgeshire Constabulary was formed in 1974. A small

police station A police station is a facility operated by police or a similar law enforcement agency that serves to accommodate police officers and other law enforcement personnel. The role served by a police station varies by agency, type, and jurisdiction, ...

is situated in East Park Street, but it is no longer open to the public.

Economy

Overview

Chatteris is sited in particularly fertile agricultural land, and as such, the town's local economy is largely based on this industry. Alan Bartlett and Sons Ltd, a major British grower and packer of root vegetables has a large facility in the town with over 2,500 hectares under cultivation, much of it growing parsnips and the Chantenay and Bushytops carrot. The company is a demerger of Albert Bartlett & Sons, which are now based in Scotland. Rustler Produce Ltd, also based in Chatteris, is another major player in this industry, and a number of smaller vegetable producers and processors operate in the Chatteris area. Another major employer in the town is Metalcraft (Stainless Metalcraft (Chatteris) Ltd). The company was established in the town in the late 19th century and over the years has manufactured diamond mining equipment and overhead cranes. The company is now part of the Avingtrans Group and specialises in creating engineered products for the oil, gas, nuclear and medical industries. An

Aldi Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...

supermarket located on Bridge Street opened in 2016. It was formerly a large Co-op which opened in 1990, trading under a variety of brandnames until its closure in 2014. Another supermarket constructed on the A141 Fenland Way became the first of

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

's discount Jack's-branded stores in the UK and hosted the press launch on 19 September 2018, opening to the public the following day. It is located within a larger building intended as a Tesco supermarket, constructed at a cost of £22 million but left

mothball Mothballs are small balls of chemical pesticide and deodorant, sometimes used when storing clothing and other materials susceptible to damage from silverfish, Mold (fungus), mold or moth larvae (especially clothes moths like ''Tineola bissell ...

ed following the company's decision to halt the opening of 49 out-of-town supermarkets following poor financial results in October 2014. In 2022 Jack's closed and converted to a

store as originally intended. The other half opened as a Poundstretcher in 2018 which closed in 2023 and re-opened as a B&M store. Alongside the two big stores is a smaller Screwfix store opened in 2020. The traditional town centre stretches from Park Street through Market Hill to the High Street and generally features more specialist non-branch shops. The town centre has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

but no banks following the closure of

Barclays Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

in 2019. The Petrou Brothers fish and chip shop in West Park Street won the 2006 National Fish and Chip Shop of the Year competition; the owners were presented with the award by chef Ainsley Harriott. There are a number of small restaurants, pubs, tea shops and several members' clubs.

Transport

Chatteris was well served by local bus routes, with regular buses to the nearby towns of March, St Ives, Ely and the city of Cambridge. There are also occasional services to Huntingdon and Peterborough. However the decline in bus usage associated with Covid and more generally has led to the potential ending of all services. The nearest railway stations are in

and Manea.

Demographics

The United Kingdom Census 2011 found the population of Chatteris to be 10,453. This was an increase of 1163 since 2001 which recorded 8,820 people living in 3,809 households, with the average number of people per dwelling 2.31.Chatteris Parish
in the ''2001 Census''. The Research Group. Cambridgeshire County Council, October 2003 The 2001 census found that 98.9% of the population of the town were of the white ethnic group. The parish of Chatteris is large, covering 6,099

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s, equalling an average population density of 1.45, although most of the dwellings are concentrated in a smaller area, the outskirts of the town consisting of farmland. 99.6% of residents lived in households, the remaining 0.4% lived in communal establishments.NOMIS
Chatteris Parish Local Area Report Census 2011. URL accessed 28 December 2018

Ethnic groups

The majority of the population in Chatteris state their ethnic group as "White". At 97.2% this is higher than the average of 94.1 for England and Wales. Since 2011 diversity in Chatteris has increased slightly and all ethnic groups have increased in size except for "Other" but this is likely due to the addition of "Mixed" as an option in the 2011 census.

Languages

In the 2011 Census 2.3% of households in Chatteris reported to have no people in household who have English as a main language.

Religion

Christianity is the majority religion in Chatteris. From 2001 to 2011 it fell from 74.8% to 62.6%, partly due to a decrease in numbers but mostly due to population growth of which the majority have no religion. Despite the reduction in numbers the Christian population of Chatteris is above the average for England and Wales at 59.3%. The parish church of St Peter & St Paul is situated in the centre of the town. A church has been on the site since at least 1162, although the current tower dates from 1352. The building had fallen into disrepair during the 19th century, and the majority of the building is the result of an intensive restoration in 1910. This included restoring a pitched roof and adding new aisles, although the nave arches are original. The church of St Peter & St Paul is a Grade I listed building. In 1935, a new two-manual

Harrison & Harrison Harrison & Harrison Ltd is a British company based in Durham that makes and restores pipe organs. It was established in Rochdale in 1861. It is well known for its work on instruments such as King's College, Cambridge, Westminster Abbey, and t ...

organ was installed, a fine example of a pneumatic action instrument. Recent years have seen the construction of several new facilities, such as the Bricstan room extension. The church lists itself as of the

low church In Anglican Christianity, the term ''low church'' refers to those who give little emphasis to ritual, often having an emphasis on preaching, individual salvation, and personal conversion. The term is most often used in a liturgical sense, denot ...

branch of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. The church also hosts

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

services. The Emmanuel Church in East Park Street was created through the union of the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

, United Reformed and Baptist Union churches in Chatteris in 1990. It is based in the former United Reformed building in East Park Street. Several former chapel buildings exist around the town. The town has a

Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

citadel, also in East Park Street, and a Grace Baptist church, founded in 2010 and called Chatteris Community Church, meets in the King Edward centre on King Edward Street.

Migration

The majority of the population of Chatteris was born within the UK. 6.4% of residents were born outside the UK. This is below the national average of 13%.

Education

The town has three

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

s, Kingsfield Primary School (created in 2003 by the amalgamation of the former Burnsfield School and King Edward School), Glebelands School, which opened in the early months of 1994 and Cromwell Primary which opened in 2021. Cromwell Community College is an all-through school admitting primary school and

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

age pupils. It was founded in 1939. The Isle College used to have a presence in the town, with a base in Grove House. However, this closed following the college's merger with the

College of West Anglia The College of West Anglia (often abbreviated to CoWA or CWA) is a four-campus college of further and higher education in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, England. The college has three campuses, located in King's Lynn, Milton and Wisbech, Cambridg ...

. The town has a library run by Cambridgeshire County Council.

Sport

The town's football club, Chatteris Town, known as The Lillies were founded in 1920 and are currently members of the Peterborough and District Football League Premier Division. They play at the West Street ground. The women's team, Chatteris Town Lillies Ladies, was re-established in 2021, and are currently competing in Division Two of the Cambridgeshire Girls and Women's League. The youth section ''The Young Lillies'' has teams up to the age of U18. The town also has a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

club, Chatteris Cricket Club, which was founded in 1879. The club has five senior teams and four youth teams that compete in both the Fenland and Cambridgeshire leagues. Chatteris CC won the St Ivo Midweek League in 2008 and 2009 going both seasons unbeaten. The town also has a bowls club and a tennis club (St Peters). Chatteris Airfield is about north-northeast, which is mainly used for skydiving, and is the base of the North London Skydiving Centre. A flying school is also based at the airfield. The town has one swimming pool, the Empress, which is privately owned and is a registered charity run by three trustees. It is open to season ticket holders and can also be booked for private hires or group sessions. It is home of the Chatteris Kingfishers swimming club. Plans for a public swimming pool and leisure centre have been proposed by the council since 1990, but have yet to be approved. A new gym situated in the grounds of Cromwell Community College opened in 2013. Fen skating was very popular in the past. An illustration from 1823 by

George Cruikshank George Cruikshank or Cruickshank ( ; 27 September 1792 – 1 February 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern William Hogarth, Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dicken ...

shows the

Wisbech Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bordering Norfolk and ...

coach in the background of a skating match.

Culture

Community activities and events

The town is noted for its annual display of

Christmas lights Christmas lights (also known as fairy lights, festive lights or string lights) are lights often used for decoration in celebration of Christmas, often on display throughout the Christmas season including Advent and Christmastide. The custom ...

, which are entirely funded by community donations and have been featured on BBC Look East. In June each year the town has a traditional festival weekend. The town has a museum https://www.chatterismuseum.org.uk/ run by volunteers, with several permanent exhibitions about local history, the Fens, Victoriana and the railways. Chatteris also has a

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

club, an

Army Cadet Force The Army Cadet Force (ACF), generally shortened to Army Cadets, is a national Youth organisations in the United Kingdom, youth organisation sponsored by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence and the Bri ...

and a youth football team. Chatteris has morning and evening

Women's Institutes The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organization for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being the ...

, which both meet at the King Edward Centre, and a

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...

which meet at the local fire station. Since 2012 Chatteris has a branch of the

University of the Third Age The University of the Third Age (U3A), is an international movement whose aims are the education and stimulation of mainly retired members of the community — those in their third 'age' of life. There is no universally accepted model for the U ...

(U3A) which caters for people no longer in full time employment, with a talk every month at the general meeting held at the King Edward Centre, plus over 20 interest groups of various kinds, and a number of trips and theatre visits are also provided during the year. Chatteris in Bloom is a charity responsible for entering the town in to the annual " Anglia in Bloom" competition. Chatteris achieved the highest gold award in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and in 2023 was joint winner of Anglia in Bloom with Huntingdon. The town has a

brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...

, founded in 1882, which competes in the East Anglian Brass Band Association.

Music

In 2005, British indie band

Half Man Half Biscuit Half Man Half Biscuit are an English rock band, formed in 1984 in Birkenhead, Merseyside. Known for their satirical, sardonic, and sometimes surreal songs, the band comprises lead singer and guitarist Nigel Blackwell, bassist and singer Neil Cr ...

perhaps best known for " The Trumpton Riots" and " Dickie Davies Eyes"included a song entitled " For What Is Chatteris..." on their award-winning ''

Achtung Bono ''Achtung Bono'' is the tenth album by UK Independent music, indie rock band Half Man Half Biscuit, released in 2005. In 2010, a Facebook campaign was mounted with the aim of saving BBC 6 Music from threatened closure and, as a sign of protest ...

'' album. The song extolled the virtues of the town, offset against how unsatisfying the best place in the world can suddenly become when the one you love is no longer there: "a market town that lacks quintessence / that's Chatteris without your presence". News of the song made the headlines of the '' Cambridgeshire Times'' and the ''

Peterborough Evening Telegraph The ''Peterborough Telegraph'', or ''PT'' as it is known locally (formerly the ''Peterborough Evening Telegraph'' or ''ET''), is the local newspaper for the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, in the United Kingdom. It is based at New Priestga ...

'' during September 2005, a month before the album's official release.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East and

ITV Anglia ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...

. Television signals are received from the Sandy Heath TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Heart East, and Greatest Hits Radio East. The town is served by these local newspapers, ''Fenland Citizen'' and ''Cambs Times''.

Notable residents

* Eric Boon, boxer; British Lightweight Champion 1938–1944. * George William Burdett Clare,

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

recipient after whom the doctors' surgery is named. * Sir George Herbert Farrar, South African mining magnate, politician and soldier. * John Percy Farrar, English soldier and mountaineer. President of the

Alpine Club Alpine clubs are typically large social clubs that revolve around climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Many alpine clubs also take on aspects typically reserved for local sport associations, providing education and training courses, se ...

from 1917 to 1919 and a member of the Mount Everest Committee. * John Dunn Gardner, MP and landowner, resident of Chatteris House. * Dave Boy Green, boxer. * Dominic Mohan (former resident), former editor of ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'' newspaper. * Joe Perry, snooker player. * Joseph Ruston, engineer and MP. * Lindsay Shilling, Principal Trombonist at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

.Lindsay Shilling profile
, URL accessed 21 August 2009

References

External links

Chatteris History Page

2001 Census

NOMIS statistics for Chatteris
* {{authority control Market towns in Cambridgeshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire Fenland District Cambridgeshire places with etymologically Brittonic names