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

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. Hilton lies approximately north-west of

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 ...

. Hilton is situated within

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England, which was historically a county in its own right. It borders Peterborough to the north, Fenland to the north-east, East Cambridgeshire to the e ...

, which is a

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''s ...

of Cambridgeshire as well as being a historic county of England. The parish adjoins those of Elsworth, Fenstanton,

Hemingford Abbots Hemingford Abbots is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Hemingford Abbots lies approximately east of Huntingdon, and is almost continuous with neighbouring Hemingford Grey. Hemingford Abbots is si ...

, Hemingford Grey, Papworth Everard and Papworth St Agnes. The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

is dedicated to St

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

and is a Grade I listed building; it has a peal of six bells. Historically, the village was in Huntingdonshire for over 1,000 years until 1974. A fragment of a

wall painting A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

, made for Captain Sparrow (1601–1651), at Park Farm, Hilton, probably around the time of his marriage in 1633, is now in the Victoria & Albert Museum,

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 fragment depicts two figures representing the

sense A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditio ...

s of

Taste The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste. Taste is the perception stimulated when a substance in the mouth biochemistry, reacts chemically with taste receptor cells l ...

and

Sight Visual perception is the ability to detect light and use it to form an image of the surrounding Biophysical environment, environment. Photodetection without image formation is classified as ''light sensing''. In most vertebrates, visual percept ...

and was donated by David Garnett and his wife Angelica Bell of Hilton Hall, who were members of the

Bloomsbury Group The Bloomsbury Group was a group of associated British writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the early 20th century. Among the people involved in the group were Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster, Vanessa Bell, a ...

. On the village green is a

turf maze Historically, a turf maze is a labyrinth made by cutting a convoluted path into a level area of short grass, sod, turf or lawn. Some had names such as Mizmaze, Troy Town, The Walls of Troy, Julian's Bower, or Shepherd's Race. This is the type of m ...

that was cut by William Sparrow in 1660.

Government

As a civil parish, Hilton 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, voters list, 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 ...

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

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 county, administrative and Geographical counties of England, geographical county in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. It existed from 1965 to 1974, when it became part of Cambridgesh ...

. 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 ...

, Hilton became a part of the county of Cambridgeshire. The second tier of local government is Huntingdonshire District Council, which is a

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, and provides services such as building regulations, local planning, environmental health, leisure and tourism. Hilton is a part of the district ward of ''The Hemingfords'' and is represented on the district council by two councillors. District councillors serve for four year terms following elections to Huntingdonshire District Council. For Hilton, the highest tier of local government is

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 ...

which has administrative 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. Hilton is part of the electoral division of ''The Hemingfords and Fen Stanton'' and is represented on the county council by one councillor. For parliamentary elections, Hilton is in the constituency of

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 ...

, and elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the

first past the post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

system of election. Hilton is represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

Jonathan Djanogly Jonathan Simon Djanogly (born 3 June 1965) is a British politician and solicitor who served as Shadow Solicitor General for England and Wales from 2004 to 2010 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Courts and Legal Aid from 2010 to 2 ...

(

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 ...

). Djanogly has represented the constituency since 2001. The previous member of parliament was

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

(Conservative) who represented the constituency between 1983 and 2001.

Demography

Population

In the period 1801 to 1901 the population of Hilton was recorded every ten years by the UK census. During this time the population was in the range of 223 (recorded in 1801) to 387 (recorded in 1861). From 1901, a census has been taken every ten years, with the exception of 1941 (due to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

). All population census figures from the report ''Historic Census figures Cambridgeshire to 2011'' by ''Cambridgeshire Insight''. In 2011, the parish covered an area of and so the population density of Hilton in 2011 was 509.3 persons per square mile (196.6 per square kilometre).

Landmarks

With an entrance from the main village street, Hilton Hall is an

English country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

dating from the early 17th century, but much altered. On the

village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...

is a

(or

labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth () is an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the h ...

) some 55 ft (16.5 m) in diameter, one of only eight remaining in England. A stone pillar at its centre records that the maze was cut by William Sparrow (1641–1729) in 1660. The Latin inscriptions, above and below a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

(presumably Sparrow's), reads:Information board, village green, Hilton. Archaeological Field Unit, Cambridgeshire :''"Sic transit gloria mundi"'' ("Thus the glory of the world passes away") ''"Gvlielmvs Sparrow, Gen., natvs ano. 1641. Aetatis svi 88 qvamdo obiit, hos gyros fornavit anno 1660"'' ("William Sparrow, Gentleman, born in the year 1641. Aged 88 when he died, he formed these circles in the year 1660"). The English inscription reads ''"William Sparrow departed this life the 25th August, Anno Domini 1729, aged 88 years"''. Latin_Inscription_Hilton_Maze

The design of the maze is similar to the famous pavement labyrinth at

Chartres Cathedral Chartres Cathedral (, lit. Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres) is a Catholic cathedral in Chartres, France, about southwest of Paris, and is the seat of the List of bishops of Chartres, Bishop of Chartres. Dedicated in honour of the Virgin Mary ( ...

, laid in 1235. An illustration by W.H. Matthews in his "Mazes and Labyrinths" (1922) shows several paths leading to the central circle: the erection of the pillar at its centre, some 69 years after it had been cut, could have confused the design, or the paths may simply have become overgrown. Recent maintenance has made the maze conform to the standard medieval pattern. It has been suggested that the young Sparrow might have recut the maze on the site of an earlier one that had become indistinct from lack of maintenance. There is no evidence to support this theory, but the dating of turf mazes is notoriously difficult. There was a turf maze of a similar design in the nearby village of Comberton; that maze was called "the Mazles", but it no longer exists.

Notable residents

*The writer David Garnett, his wife Angelica Garnett and his daughter Amaryllis Garnett lived at Hilton Hall.

In popular culture

In E. M. Forster's 1910 novel ''

Howards End ''Howards End'' is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. ''Howards End'' is considered by many to be Forster's masterpiece. The book wa ...

'', the primary residence of the Wilcox family is in Hilton. The author was also part of the Bloomsbury Group, which may explain why the city is chosen as a key place in his novel.

References

External links

Hilton Official Village Web Site

The Hilton wall painting of Taste and Sight
(if this link fails, tr

and search for "Hilton wall painting")
W.H. Matthews, "Mazes and Labyrinths" (1922)
online version of this classic book

Jeff Saward's website
Labyrinth Society
{{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Mazes Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire Huntingdonshire