Wistow, Huntingdonshire, England. Geographical and Historical information from 1932.

WISTOW:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1932.

"WISTOW, the parish of Wistow consists of a strip of land running north-east and south-west (some 4 miles long), and of varying breadth. It is crossed by the high road from Ramsey to St. Ives at a distance of two and a half miles from Ramsey. Rather more than half the parish is on the west side of this road. In early days the possession of a portion of fen for the supply of reeds for thatching, fuel, and summer grazing for stock, was very important. To obtain these advantages, Wistow was connected to the fen by a narrow strip of land 300 yards wide. The soil is clayey loam with a sub-soil of clay but, here and there, there are deposits of gravel. Beans, peas, cereals and occasionally potatoes are grown in the highland part of the parish. To the north-east are about 700 acres of fenland, all of which are now arable producing celery, potatoes and cereal crops. At the time of the Domesday survey (1086), there was a wood for pannage, one league long and half a league broad. One end of this Wood remains under the name of Rolt's Wood; the other end (Wistow Wood) no longer exists. A Windmill is mentioned in 1252 to which the tenants of Wistow, Upwood and the two Raveleys owed suit. The Mill recently still standing, was situated nealy a mile west-south-west of the Church on the Raveley side of Wistow, and was probably on the site of the original windmill. In the survey of the Manor at this date there is a reference to Robert Ailmare, as the tenant; this surname still exists in the parish as Elmer. There were formerly two brickworks in the parish, one of which near the village has been disused since the middle of the 19th century. The other at Shillhow, where the road from Ramsey to St Ives crosses the parish, was closed at the end of the 19th century. The village is rather more than half-a-mile west of the road from Ramsey to St. Ives and on the west side of the brook that rises in Abbots Ripton, crosses Kings Ripton and empties itself at Ramsey into the fen drainage system. The compact village is on a slight slope facing east. it is principally ranged around roads forming an irregular four-sided figure, with the church at the south-west corner. From the church a road runs nearly due west then south-west to Huntingdon, some 7 miles distant. Crossing the brook, which forms the boundary of the baulieu of Ramsey, is a bridge built probably in the 16th century, with three arches which was widened early in the 20th century."