Cambridgeshire
Huntingdonshire
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Nearby Places
Nearby churches
"WHITTLESEY in Domesday "Witesie," but generally written Whittlesea, is an ancient market and union town, and head of a petty sessional division, with a station on the Great Eastern railway, 82 miles from London, 11 west from March and 6½ east-by-south from Peterborough, in the Northern division of the county, hundred of North Witchford, Isle of Ely, county court district of Peterborough, rural deanery of March, and in the peculiar archidiaconal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Ely."
"The Wash, which forms an extensive portion of this parish, is about seven miles long, and varies from half a mile to one mile and a quarter in width; the land is chiefly used for pasturage, but for many months in the year is covered with water to a depth of several feet. There are ferry-boats at several parts of the Wash; wild fowl and other migratory birds abound in the vicinity. The navigable river Nene and the Whittlesey dyke run on either side of the town."
"The Whittlesey Improvement Act, 1849 (12 and 13 Vict. c.32), defined a district around the town for lighting, paving and cleansing the same, by commissioners appointed under the Act; but under the provisions of the "Local Government Act, 1894" (56 and 57 Vict. c. 73), the district is governed by an Urban District Council of 18 members. The town is lighted with gas by a company and supplied with water from private wells. On the south side of the town the dyke banks are shaded by trees over-hanging the pathway, which thus forms an agreeable promenade. From Church street and Peterborough end extensive and pleasing views of the adjacent counties of Hunts and Northampton are obtained."
"The area of Whittlesey Urban district and parish is 640 acres; rateable value, £6,085; the population in 1891 was 3,556: the area of Whittlesey Rural parish is 25,075 acres of rich and productive land and 155 of water; rateable value, £43,024; the population in 1891 was 2,789, which includes the hamlets of Coates, Eastrea and the surrounding fens and 57 officers and inmates in the workhouse. The population of St. Andrew ecclesiastical parish in 1891 was 2,171, and of St. Mary, 2,541."
[Kellys Directory of Cambridgeshire 1900]
"Whittlesey originally consisted of two parishes, which, under the Whittlesey Improvement Act, were consolidated for all civil but divided for ecclesiastical purposes, and described as the united parishes of St. Mary and St. Andrew, Whittlesey, the ancient parish and manor of St. Mary retaining about two-thirds of the whole, after the parish and manor of St. Andrew had been taken out of it. By c. 32 sec. 9 of the above Act a separate district was assigned in 1850 out of St. Mary's parish to the church at Coates, which will be found described under a separate heading."
[Kellys Directory of Cambridgeshire 1900]
"The Cemetery, formed in 1859, is about a quarter of a mile from the town, on the Coates road, and covers an area of four acres; it contains two mortuary chapels and is now under the control of a joint burial committee of the Whittlesey Urban and Rural District Councils.
The churches and chapels were wholly closed to inter-ments and the graveyards (with modifications) by Order in Council, March 25, 1873."
[Kelly's Directory - 1900]
The burial ground 1859-63 is recorded in the Cambridge Records Office.
The Census Records from 1841-1891 can be found in the Cambridge Record Office. In addition the 1851 Census for Whittlesey is available in full transcript form, on microfiche, from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Bookstall.
"The General Baptist chapel in Windmill street has 300 sittings; the Particular Baptist chapel in Gracious street, 350; the Congregational chapel in Broad street, 350; the Methodist New Connexion in Church street, 150; Primitive Methodist in Woolpack lane, 200; the Wesleyan in Queen street, 300; and the Free Methodist at King's Dyke, 100."
[Kelly's Directory - 1900]
Baptist Church: Records exist for births 1810-37 on microfilm at the Cambridge Record Office.
Independent Church: Records exist for baptisms 1814-37 on microfilm at the Cambridge Record Office.
United Reformed Church, Broad Street : Records exist for marriages 1976-88 at the Cambridge Record Office.
Wesleyan Methodist Church: Records exist for the Peterborough Wesleyan Circuit of which Whittlesey is part.
Primitive Methodist Church: Records exist for the Peterborough Primitive Circuit of which Whittlesey is part.
"The Town Hall in Almshouse street, erected in 1857, is a plain structure of brick; magisterial and other meetings are held here, and the building also serves as a fire engine station.
The Public Hall, in Station road, erected in 1880 by a Limited Company, at a cost of £1,500, is a building of white brick with stone dressings, and will seat 600 persons; it is licensed for theatrical and other performances.
The Market House in the Market place, a large open square, is a small but ancient edifice, with a tiled roof supported on stone pillars.
The market is held on Friday, and a fair for horses and cattle June 13. Courts leet and baron are held twice a year; the fines in the manor are certain.
The Conservative Association and the Constitutional Club occupy premises in Almshouse street, comprising a news room and committee rooms; there is also a Social Club for gentlemen, with billiard and reading rooms, at the Public Hall; there are 40 members.
The brick-making industry here has considerably increased during the past few years, and the four yard employ a large percentage of the labouring population of the town. The bricks are made by the semi-dry process; there are also some excellent beds of gravel.
The Trustees of the Town Lands Charity manage lands formerly devised to relieve the inhabitants of these parishes from the tax anciently laid in the Isle of Ely for the repairs of Aldreth causeway: but under an Order of the Charity Commissioners, dated April 29th, 1898, one quarter of the proceeds is devoted to ecclesiastical purposes and the remainder to educational and other charitable purposes.
There are several charities, founded by Messrs. Kelfull, Dow, Randall and NobIe: that of Mr. Kelfull includes a provision for educating 15 boys; and that of Mr. Sudbury for the commercial education of five boys and the apprenticing of others; the whole of the above charities, with the exception of Sudbury's, have been amalgamated under a scheme of the Charity Commissioners, framed in the year 1868; the net income of the united charities now (1900) amounts to about £80, and Sudbury's to about £69 10s.
The soil of the whole parish is chiefly a black loam, with a subsoil of clay and gravel; the land is fertile, and the chief crops are wheat, peas and potatoes, with a great portion of rich pasture; potatoes are grown extensively for the London market.
Whittlesey Mere, named from this place, but 6 miles distant and in Huntingdonshire, has been drained by the Middle Level Commissioners, and an area of 1,500 acres brought under cultivation.
Traces of a Roman road are found at Eldernell, where several antiquities have been dug up, including a massive gold ring."
[Kelly's Directory - 1900]
The old Whittlesey Straw Bear Festival has been revived and details can be found on the Straw Bear site.
The "1839 Pigot's Directory of Cambridgeshire" for Whittlesey index of Inns & Hotels, Taverns and Public Houses, Brewers & Maltsters + Wine & Spirit Merchants.
Land Tax: records were compiled afresh each year and contain the names of owners and occupiers in each parish, but usually there is no address or place name. These records reside in the Cambridge Record Office for the years 1798-1803, 1798-99 (on microfilm).
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[Last updated 4 June 2003 Martin Edwards]