One of the smallest of the counties, Huntingdonshire is an utter delight: a county of pretty little villages, with no major towns until the Peterborough suburbs at the county’s northern fringe. It lies between Cambridgeshire to the east and Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire on the west.
Huntingdonshire is roughly rhomboid in shape, centred on Huntingdon, and the meeting of the Great North Road (now the A1) and the route from east coast to the Midland towns, now the A14. The four towns of Huntingdonshire are St Neots, St Ives, Ramsey and Huntingdon itself; three mediæval abbey towns and the fortress of the Ouse.
The county is almost entirely flat. The south of the county is a network of villages surrounded by mixed farming. North of Huntingdon the land lies within the Great Fen, long since drained and converted into broad, fertile arable fields, where much of the land is below sea level. The main town of the fens is Ramsey.
The Great Ouse enters Huntingdonshire at St Neots, the largest town in the county, and flows past Huntingdon and St Ives until the border with Cambridgeshire. The course of the river in Huntingdonshire is where the river shows its greatest beauty. Huntingdonshire is mainly agricultural, though with much light industry and computer technology companies, and around Huntingdon in particular road haulage thrives due to the county’s position.
County Facts
County Town: Huntingdon
Main Towns: Huntingdon, Kilbolton, Godmanchester, St Ives, St Neots.
Main Rivers: Nene, Ouse, Kym.
Highlights: Cromwell’s Birthplace and Cromwell Museum, Huntingdon; Flag Fen; Old Fletton.
Highest Point: Field (nr Three Shire Stone), 263 feet.
Area: 359 sq miles
County Flower: Water-violet
County Day: 25th April (Birthday Oliver Cromwell)
