Cambridgeshire, England

In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles described Cambridgeshire like this:

Cambridgeshire, inland eastern co. of England; bounded N. by Lincolnshire, E. by Norfolk and Suffolk, S. by Essex and Herts, W. by Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Northamptonshire; greatest length, N. and S., 48 miles; greatest breadth, E. and W., 28 miles; average breadth, 16 miles; area, 524,935 ac.; pop. ...

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185,594. The N. section of the county, including the Isle of Ely and part of the Great Bedford Level, is a large flat expanse of country, which, for the most part, formerly consisted of fen and marsh. It is now intersected in all directions by wide trenches or canals. The land, thus drained and reclaimed, is a rich, black soil, and bears excellent crops. From this tract the pleasant vale of the Cam stretches away to the SW., and contains a great number of excellent dairy farms. (For agricultural statistics, see Appendix.) Cambridgeshire comprises 17 hundreds, 172 pars. with parts of 7 others, the parl. and mun. bor. of Cambridge (1 member, and Cambridge University 2 members), and the mun. bor. of Wisbech. It is almost entirely in the diocese of Ely. For parliamentary purposes it is divided into 3 divisions, viz., Northern or Wisbech, Western or Chesterton, and Eastern or Newmarket, 1 member for each division.

Vision of Britain presents long-run change by redistricting historical statistics to modern units. However, none of our modern units covers an area close to that of Cambridgeshire. If you want trends covering a particular location within the county, find it on our historical maps and then select "Tell me more".

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