Description
Huntingdon, a municipal borough, a market-town, the head of a union and county court district, and the county town of Huntingdonshire. It stands on the river Ouse, Ermine Street, and on three lines of railway, viz.-the G.N.R., the G.E.R., and the M.R., 59 miles N from London. The Ouse is navigable from it to the sea, and the railways give it communication with all parts of England. A six-arched bridge connects it, across the Ouse, with Godman-chester. Either it or Godmanchester occupies the site of the Roman Dnrolipons. It was known to the Saxons as Hun-tandene, and at Domesday as Huntedone, and these names are supposed to be forms or corruptions of Huntersdown. A castle was built at it in 917 by Edward the Elder, a mint was in it before the Conquest, and no fewer than fifteen. churches were anciently in it or near it. Tosti, a Danish nobleman, probably the brother of Earl Harold, was made Earl of Huntingdon. Earl Harold himself acquired that title after Tosti's death, and raised the force of the surrounding country to the aid of his father, Earl Godwin. Waltheof, the nephew-in-law of William the Conqueror, was made Earl of Huntingdon after the Conquest; and David, the brother of Queen Matilda, afterwards David I. of Scotland, also was made Earl of Huntingdon, and renovated or rebuilt the castle of Edward the Elder. The castle was forfeited by Bruce of Scotland, was given by Edward I. to the Clintons, but has-now completely disappeared. The eminence on which it stood, is still called Castle Hill, and commands a fine view. The town again gave, and continues to give, the title of Earl to. the family of Hastings. Henry of Huntingdon the chronicler, Prior Gregory a Hebrew scholar, and Oliver Cromwell the Protector, were natives.
The environs are very pleasant, and they include the Earl of Sandwich's noble mansion, Hinchingbrooke House, which belonged to the Cromwells and gave entertainment to James I. on, his first journey from Scotland. The town comprises one principal street nearly a mile long, and several streets branching right and left. The drainage was long so bad as to create much malodour, but has been corrected since 1862. The town is fairly well paved, and has an abundant supply of water from works belonging to the corporation. It received a charter from King John, and is now governed by a corporation consisting of a mayor, 4 aldermen, and 12 councillors, who also act as the urban sanitary authority. It formerly sent, in conjunction with Godmanchester, two members to Parliament, but in 1867 the number was reduced to one, and by the Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885, both boroughs were merged in the county. The town formerly had a goodly number of churches, but there are now only two old churches and four parishes, known as All Saints', St John's, St Mary's, and St Benedict's. All Saints' Church stands on the N side of the market-place; is chiefly Late Perpendicular of the early part of the 16th century; was mainly renovated, partly rebuilt, in 1862; comprises nave, chancel, and aisles, with a tower; presents a picturesque appearance,. broken with buttresses, battlements, and pinnacles, and enriched with a good deal of carving and panel-work; has new-windows of stained glass, and contains some interesting old. monuments. Robert Cromwell, father of the Protector, was buried in this church in 1617. St Mary's Church occupies the site of a Black canonry founded in 973; was rebuilt in' 1608-20, and restored in 1862; and comprises nave, chancel, and aisles, with a tower. It contains some remarkable and interesting monuments, a stone pulpit, and an Early English font. It was restored in 1876. A church, which is a perpetual curacy without a parish or endowment, dedicated to-St John the Baptist, was built in 1845 at the expense of Lady Olivia B. Sparrow, and is a handsome edifice in the Norman style. The living of All Saints, with St John the Baptist, is a rectory in the diocese of Ely; net value,-£175; the living of St Mary's, with St Benedict's, is a vicarage of the net value of, £150. There is a Nonconformist church in the High Street, which was erected in 1868 at a cost of nearly £12, 000, which is used both by Baptists and Congregationalists, and there are also Roman Catholic and' Wesleyan chapels. The Black Canonry, on the ground now-occupied by St Mary's Church, was removed in the time of Henry IL, by Eustace de Lovetot, to a site without the town; became the burial-place of the Earls of Huntingdon, and' was given at the dissolution to Richard Cromwell. An Augustinian friary was founded in the town about 1285, but has disappeared. A leper's hospital, or almshouse, dedicated to St Margaret, was founded by King Malcolm, and was given to Trinity Hall, Cambridge. The Grammar School, in-connection with an hospital dedicated to StJohn, was founded in the time of Henry II. by David Earl of Huntingdon, is well endowed, was partially rebuilt in 1863 and restored in 1876, has a scholarship at St Peter's College, Cambridge, and had Oliver Cromwell for a pupil. Walden's Charity was founded in 1079 by Lionel Walden, and has an endowment. The Literary and Scientific Institution in High Street was built in 1842 at a cost of £2000; contains an octagon room' 30 feet in diameter used for the library and museum; and contains also a room 68 feet by 27, which is now used for amusement and recreation in connection with the library. The militia barracks are in St John's parish, and form a quadrangular block of brick buildings, with a spacious drill ground and sheds. The Town and County Hospital is in St Mary's parish, was built in 1853 and enlarged in 1863, and has forty-two beds, with extensive accommodation for out-patients. Eight almshouses, for widows above sixty years of age, were founded by St John's Hospital Charity. The workhouse stands within the borough, and has accommodation for 284 inmates. The town has a head post office, two banks, some good hotels, is a seat of assizes and county courts, and a place of election for the southern division of the county. There are oil and flour mills, an iron foundry, a manufactory of patented perforated bricks, two large breweries, and some very extensive nurseries. A weekly market is held on Saturday, and fairs are held on the Saturday before Michaelmas day, the Tuesday before Easter, the second Tuesday of May, and the third Saturday of Nov., but they are now falling into desuetude. There is a large racecourse, situated about a quarter of a mile from the market-place, and races which extend over two days are held in Aug. The entire area of Huntingdon is 1074 acres; population, 4346. The area of the parish of All Saints is 19 arces; population, 359; of St John, 475 acres; population, 1579; of St Mary, 569 acres; population, 1686; and of St Benedict, 11 acres; population, 722.
Huntingdon or Southern Parliamentary Division of Huntingdonshire was formed under the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885, and returns one member to the House of Commons. Population, 25, 420. The division includes the following:-Leightonstone-Alconbury, Alconbury Weston, Barham, Brampton, Brington, Bnckworth, Bythorn, Catworth (Great), Catworth (Little), Coppingford, Covington, Easton, Ellington, Gidding (Great), Gidding (Little), Gidding (Steeple), Godmanchester, Graffham, Hamerton, Hartford, Huntingdon (All Saints), Huntingdon (St Benedict), Huntingdon (St John), Huntingdon (St Mary), Keyston, Leighton, Ludding-ton, Molesworth, Old Weston, Spaldwick, Stow, Stnkelev (Great), Stukeley (Little), Thurning, Upton, Winwick, Wool-ley; Toseland-Abbotsley, Buckden, Diddington, Eynesbury, Gransden (Great), Hailweston, Kimbolton, Midloe, Offord Cluney, Offord Darcey, Papworth (St Agnes), Paxton (Great), Paxton (Little), St Neots, Southoe, Staughton (Great), Swineshead, Tetworth, Toseland, Waresley, Yelling.
