Stretham Cross, Cambridgeshire
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Stretham Locally, the is a
glottal stop The glottal stop or glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many Speech communication, spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic ...
: or even
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 ...
south-south-west of Ely in
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, about by road from London. Its main attraction is
Stretham Old Engine Stretham Old Engine is a steam-powered engine just south of Stretham in Cambridgeshire, England, that was used to pump water from flood-affected areas of The Fens back into the River Great Ouse. It is one of only three surviving drainage engine ...
, a
steam-powered A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tra ...
pump used to drain the fens. The pump is still in use today although converted to electric power. It has open days throughout the year.


History

A
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 ...
hoard consisting of gold jewellery including a torque, bracelet, six ribbed-rings as well as a bronze
rapier A rapier () is a type of sword originally used in Spain (known as ' -) and Italy (known as '' spada da lato a striscia''). The name designates a sword with a straight, slender and sharply pointed two-edged long blade wielded in one hand. It wa ...
was discovered in Granta Fen near Stretham in 1850. Dating to between 1300 and 1000 BC, the torque is in the
Hunt Museum The Hunt Museum () is a museum located in The Custom House, Limerick, the Custom House in the city of Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It holds a personal collection donated by the John Hunt (antiquarian), Hunt family, it was originall ...
in Limerick while the remainder of the treasure is in the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
. Stretham means ''homestead or village on the road'' (possibly
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
);
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''strata'' for paved road or
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 ...
''ystrad'' for road plus old English ''ham'' for village. The route of the Roman road from Cambridge is uncertain beyond Waterbeach. Brythnoth (the first Abbot of the Benedictine monastery at
Ely Abbey Ely Abbey was an Anglo-Saxon monastic establishment on the Isle of Ely first established in 673 by Æthelthryth the daughter of Anna, King of East Anglia. The first establishment was destroyed by the Danes in 870, but Edgar, King of England re-est ...
) and
Æthelwold Æthelwold was a common Anglo Saxon name. It may refer to: Royalty and nobility *King Æthelwold of Deira, King of Deira, d. 655 *King Æthelwold of East Anglia, King of East Anglia, d. 664 *King Æthelwold Moll of Northumbria, King of Northumbria, ...
(Bishop of Winchester) purchased the Stretham estate, among others including Haddenham,
Wilburton Wilburton is a small village of just over 1,000 inhabitants, situated in Cambridgeshire, England. It is 6 miles south west of Ely. While nominally an agricultural village, many residents work in Cambridge, Ely or London. History Wilburton i ...
and
Witchford Witchford is a village and civil parish about west of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,385. History Anglo-Saxon cemetery When the site of RAF Witchford was being cleared a bulldozer drive ...
, after the restoration of the monastery in 970 with the encouragement of King Edgar. 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 ...
records the village as "Stradham: Abbot of Ely. Fisheries." Several fires have occurred in the village. In 1696 damage assessed at ÂŁ2,170 was caused and a general collection was made. A more serious fire broke out on May Day 1844 in a hovel next to the blacksmith's shop. The whole of 'Bell Street' was destroyed and ÂŁ20,000 worth of damage was caused. There was no engine in the village. About two o'clock the Haddenham engine arrived, and good use made of it, under the most active and energetic directions of the Rev. S. Banks, incumbent of Haddenham may be attributed the saving of a great part of the village. A fire of a similar character occurred in Stretham seventy-three years earlier, going over very nearly the same ground. This occurred early on a Sunday morning in May 1771, and in a short time consumed four houses, a malting and a barn, causing considerable losses for the owners. In the autumn of 1850 four fires, the work of incendiaries, occurred at Stretham in as many weeks, "by which property to a large amount was sacrificed." A detective from London made investigations, but the culprit was not discovered. In the September 1850 fire it was reported that the Red Lion Inn had been totally consumed. The Stretham steam pumping engine, built in 1831 by Butterley Company, was one of the largest beam engines 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 ...
; at 15 rpm it generated 105 horsepower lifting 30 tons of water per revolution, or 450 tons per minute. The village was the site of an
observation post An observation post (commonly abbreviated OP), temporary or fixed, is a position from which soldiers can watch enemy movements, to warn of approaching soldiers (such as in trench warfare), or to direct fire. In strict military terminology, an ...
of the
Royal Observer Corps The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain. It operated in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 Decembe ...
, in use during the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
from 1962 to 1968. The post is situated near the windmill, which also served as an aircraft post from 1936. The river floods that began in mid-March 1947 affected over of England, impacting thirty counties. It was the worst UK flooding event for over 200 years. The winter of 1946–1947 had been very severe, with mean average temperatures 4 Â°C (7 Â°F) below normal, for that time of year. Snow had been falling continuously since 23 January, with drifts up to deep in places. As the thaw began in mid-March, the warmer weather brought heavy rains. The rain running off the frozen ground, combined with the thaw, overwhelmed multiple rivers in England and eastern Wales, which flooded. The pumping station at Chear Fen, near Stretham, ran only for a short time during the floods, when one of the boilers broke down completely and the other boiler could not raise pressure. In 1950, a new pumping station was opened. On 21 May 1954 a Swift, a jet flying out of
RAF Waterbeach Royal Air Force Waterbeach or more simply RAF Waterbeach is a former Royal Air Force station located in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire which is about north of Cambridge, England. The site was transferred to the Royal Engineers, part of the British ...
crashed onto the Chittering Farm Estate in Stretham Fen. Flying Officer Neil Hamilton Thornton, the pilot, was killed. The skeletal remains of a 130-million-year-old
Upper Jurassic The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 161.5 ± 1.0 to 143.1 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987. In European lithostratigraphy, the name ...
Pliosaur Pliosauroidea is an extinct clade of plesiosaurs, known from the earliest Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous. They are best known for the subclade Thalassophonea, which contained crocodile-like short-necked forms with large heads and massive toot ...
were discovered in a deep
Kimmeridge Clay The Kimmeridge Clay is a sedimentary rock, sedimentary deposit of fossiliferous marine clay which is of Late Jurassic to lowermost Cretaceous age and occurs in southern and eastern England and in the North Sea. This rock formation (geology), form ...
pit in the village in 1952 by workers of the
Great Ouse The River Great Ouse ( ) is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the ...
River Board. These
carnivore A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they ar ...
s could reach up to in length and pliosaur teeth are a common fossil; full skeletons are however rare. This particular example was named ''Stretosaurus macromerus'' in honour of the village where it was found.


Stretham Feast Sunday

A Stretham
Feast A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes inc ...
Sunday was celebrated in the village and continued into the second half of the 20th century. It provided an opportunity for family reunions. The event included a parade by local bands, local friendly societies, Mother's Union,
Women's Institute 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 ...
,
British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British Charitable organization, charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. ...
and decorated lorries.


Governance

Stretham has a parish council. Parish council meetings are held in the
village hall A village hall is a public building in a rural or suburban community which functions as a community centre without a religious affiliation. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is a building which is owned by a local gover ...
situated in the parish. Parish council services include bus shelters,
cemeteries A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many dead people are buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ) implies th ...
,
shared equity Equity sharing is another name for shared ownership or '' co-ownership''. It takes one property, more than one owner, and blends them to maximize profit and tax deductions. Typically, the parties find a home and buy it together as co-owners, but s ...
housing, local planning consultation, play areas, village halls, and war memorials. The area formed part of
Ely Rural District Ely Rural District was a rural district in England from 1894 to 1974. It was named after Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely, but did not include the city itself, instead covering the rural area to the west and north of it. It formed part of the administ ...
from 1894 until 1974. East Cambridgeshire District Council (ECDC) was formed in 1974 with administration buildings in Ely. The district council collects council tax, provides services such as building regulations and local planning, leisure and tourism, handles issues strategic to the district, and many other services. The village (as at 2022) is in the ECDC Stretham Ward.
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 ...
provides county-wide services such as major road infrastructure, libraries and heritage, and strategic planning. A mobile library (as at 2022) visits 3 locations in the village every 1st Wednesday monthly. The parish (as of 2024) is part of the Ely and East Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency.


Geography


Geology

The village is on an east–west running
boulder clay Boulder clay is an unsorted agglomeration of clastic sediment that is unstratified and structureless and contains gravel of various sizes, shapes, and compositions distributed at random in a fine-grained matrix. The fine-grained matrix consists o ...
(middle-
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...
)
ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...
sitting on a belt of mainly
Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...
Kimmerigian
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
s running south-west from
The Wash The Wash is a shallow natural rectangular bay and multiple estuary on the east coast of England in the United Kingdom. It is an inlet of the North Sea and is the largest multiple estuary system in the UK, as well as being the largest natural ba ...
. To the east is a north–south running belt of geologically more recent Upper-
Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...
Lower Greensand The Lower Greensand Group is a geological unit present across large areas of Southern England. It was deposited during the Aptian and Albian ages of the Early Cretaceous. It predominantly consists of sandstone and unconsolidated sand that were d ...
capped by Lower-Cretaceous
Gault Clay The Gault Formation is a geological formation of stiff blue clay deposited in a calm, fairly deep-water marine environment during the Lower Cretaceous Period (Upper and Middle Albian). It is well exposed in the coastal cliffs at Copt Point in Fo ...
; the whole area is surrounded by even more recent
fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires ...
deposits. A rich layer of
phosphate Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthop ...
fossils, known locally as
coprolite A coprolite (also known as a coprolith) is fossilized feces. Coprolites are classified as trace fossils as opposed to body fossils, as they give evidence for the animal's behaviour (in this case, diet) rather than morphology. The name ...
and mined for its
fertiliser A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrition, plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from Liming (soil), liming materials or other non- ...
value, is to be found at the junction of Lower Greensand and Gault Clay. Further east is a north-east—south-west running belt of Cretaceous
chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...
. To the west, again running north-east—south-west, is a scarp belt of middle-Jurassic
sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...
s including
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
and
sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
. The flat fenland countryside around the village, typical for this part of the region, lies about above sea-level. The highest point in the village is above sea-level and the highest point in the area is at Ely, three-mile () north-north-east. In contrast, the highest point in Cambridgeshire, above sea-level, is at Great Chishill, almost due south. Holme at nine feet () below sea-level is East Cambridgeshire's (and the United Kingdom's) lowest point, and is north-west.


Boundaries

The eastern border is formed by the River Cam. The River Great Ouse forms the south-west border then, at the Stretham Ferry Bridge, cuts through the south-eastern corner joining the River Cam at the north-east corner of the village. The A10 road crosses the River Great Ouse at close to the Stretham Ferry Bridge at the southern border of the village then, running firstly due north, cuts the village in half running north-east on towards Little Thetford then Ely. Newmarket road, in this area the west–east running A1123 from Huntingdon, joins the village coming from the west out of Wilburton through the village crossing the River Great Ouse at Gravel Farm then on towards Wicken.


Climate

The average annual rainfall of makes Cambridgeshire one of the driest counties in the
British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
. Protected from the cool onshore coastal breezes east of the region, Cambridgeshire is warm in summer and cold and frosty in winter. Regional
weather forecasting Weather forecasting or weather prediction is the application of science and technology forecasting, to predict the conditions of the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather info ...
and historical summaries are available from the UK
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 ...
. The nearest Met Office
weather station A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasting, weather forecasts and to study the weather and clima ...
is Cambridge.


Demography

Stretham is in output area classification zones (CGM) one through five; mainly classified as type three-C, accessible countryside, though about one third of the area is classed as three-A, village life. In both these classifications, most residents work from home employed in agriculture of fishing. The areas in this classification are less densely populated than other areas of the country. The usually detached households generally have two or more cars. Varied ethnic backgrounds are less likely in such areas.


Architecture

In 1763 an agreement was reached to build a bridge across the River Great Ouse for the Ely-Cambridge turnpike at Stretham Ferry. The original bridge was replaced in 1925, and the road was realigned in 1976 so this bridge is no longer used by traffic between Ely and Cambridge.


Notable buildings

To the east of the 12th century site of St James' Church stands an early 15th century cross "...the most perfect surviving example in the country."; it was restored in 1910. Parts of St James's Church are 14th century though it was heavily restored in the 19th century. A church clock was fitted in 1877. It chimes on two bells after the ordinary way, except when the hour is up, when it does not chime, but strikes on the large bell; the face is round, with two hands and an attractive appearance. Monuments include a tomb lid with an inscription which refers to Nicholas de Kyngestone, rector late 13th century; a brass to Joan Swan, 1497; a black marble slab for Anne Brunsell, 1667, wife of a rector, and sister of Sir
Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren FRS (; – ) was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist who was one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the history of England. Known for his work in the English Baroque style, he was ac ...
. The church is part of the Ely team ministry along with the nearby St George's Church, Little Thetford. The Stretham Windmill (now a private home) at the top of High Street where it meets the A10 is a Grade II Listed Building (listed in 1988). It dates from 1881 and consists of four storeys of tarred brick and a metal ogee cap and fantail. The
Royal Observer Corps The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain. It operated in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 Decembe ...
were based adjacent to it from 1962 till 1968 and used the windmill itself as an aircraft observation post from 1936. The windmill is a notable landmark on the A10 road. The Red Lion public house is a former coaching inn which had been operating since at least 1763. The village store includes 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 ...
.


Transport

The village was once served by a
railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
on the Ely and St Ives Railway. The line between Ely station and
Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...
was opened 16 April 1866 under Great Eastern Railway (GER) operation. On 10 May 1878 the line was completed when the
Needingworth Needingworth is a village in Cambridgeshire, England. Needingworth lies approximately east of Huntingdon and just west of the Prime Meridian. Needingworth is in the civil parish of Holywell-cum-Needingworth. Needingworth is situated within Hu ...
junction, on the St Ives to
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 ...
line, was linked to the Ely–St Ives branch. Although passenger traffic was always poor; the line closed to passengers 22 February 1931, seasonal freight traffic of sugar-beet and fruit kept the line going until it finally closed 5 October 1964. The new bridge for the A10 at Stretham Ferry was constructed in 1975 diverting the road over the River Great Ouse at Chear Lode.


Education

Stretham Community Primary School serves the community.


Notable people

*
Hervey le Breton Hervey le Breton (also known as Hervé le Breton; died 30 August 1131) was a Breton cleric who became Bishop of Bangor in Wales and later Bishop of Ely in England. Appointed to Bangor by King William II of England, when the Normans were advanc ...
(d. 1131),
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 ...
. * Lancelot Ridley (d. 1576), appointed one of the first Six Preachers of
Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...
in 1541 and a rector of Stretham from 1560, was buried in the parish. * John Parker (1532/3–1592), Church of England clergyman. * Mark Ridley (1560–1624), son of Lancelot Ridley, physician who became the personal physician to the
Tsar of Russia The Tsar of all Russia, formally the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, was the title of the Russian monarch from 1547 to 1721. During this period, the state was a tsardom. The first Russian monarch to be crowned as tsar was Ivan ...
, was born in Stretham. A 7,203 entry Russian–English dictionary was published by Ridley, and also books on
magnetism Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that occur through a magnetic field, which allows objects to attract or repel each other. Because both electric currents and magnetic moments of elementary particles give rise to a magnetic field, ...
; he was a friend of William Gilbert. * Ralph Brownrigg (1592–1659), Bishop of Exeter. Vicar in Stretham and
Prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Catholic Church, Catholic or Anglicanism , Anglican clergy, a form of canon (priest) , canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in part ...
of Ely in 1821. *
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
(1709–1784) was an English cleric and academic. He was Master of
Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...
from 1770 until his death. From 1771 he was vicar of Stretham. A close friend of
Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, and classics, classical scholar at Cambridge University, being a fellow first of Peterhouse then of Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College. He is widely ...
, he acted with
William Mason William, Willie, or Willy Mason may refer to: Arts and entertainment *William Mason (poet) (1724–1797), English poet, editor and gardener *William Mason (architect) (1810–1897), New Zealand architect *William Mason (composer) (1829–1908), Ame ...
as executor of Gray's will. * Henry Hervey Baber (bap. 1775, d. 1869),
philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...
and Church of England clergyman, rector at St James, Stretham 1827–1869. * Joseph Glynn (1799–1863), engineer, responsible for the Stretham steam pumping engine and others. * Philip Freeman (1818–1875), Church of England clergyman and Archdeacon of Exeter. Married youngest daughter of Henry Hervey Baber (above). * Sir George Harry Smith Willis (1823–1900),Vetch (2004)
ODNB The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
br>Sir George Harry Smith Willis
British Army general and colonel of the Middlesex Regiment (The Duke of Cambridge's Own). He inherited half of the manorial rights or lordship of Stretham in 1861 in the right of his wife (daughter of G. G. Morgan, the previous owner, who died in 1845). * Jean Adamson MBE (1928–2024), writer of the ''
Topsy and Tim Topsy may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Topsy, a character in the novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' * Topsy, a character in the 2018 film ''Mary Poppins Returns'' * '' Topsy and Eva'', a 1928 film based on ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' * '' Topsy and Tim ...
'' series, lived in the village.


See also

*
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 ...
*
History of Cambridgeshire The England, English county of Cambridgeshire has a long history. Anglo-Saxon times The area that is now Cambridgeshire was settled at about the 6th century by groups of Angles, who pushed their way up the River Great Ouse, Ouse and the River ...


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * *


External links


Official website
*
2001 Census profile, Stretham parish, East Cambridgeshire
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{authority control Villages in Cambridgeshire Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire East Cambridgeshire District