Huntingdonshire

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This article has not been researched and written yet

This article has not been researched and written yet

This article has not been researched and written yet

This article has not been researched and written yet

This article has not been researched and written yet

This article has not been researched and written yet

This article has not been researched and written yet

The most important feature of the Huntingdonshire landscape was man-made – Ermine Street or the Great North Road, which bisected the county, had been one of the key routes to the north since Roman times and the passing trade of those travelling its length was a major element in the local economy. Since it had been deflected to avoid the Fens which extended into the north east of the county, its course marked a very obvious boundary in the geography of the region.

Huntingdon, with a population of about 1,100 in the early 1640s, was no more than the third largest town in one of the smallest counties in England. In fact, for all but administrative purposes, the largest town, Godmanchester, located on the other side of the River Ouse at the point where it was crossed by the Great North Road, was little more than an extension of its neighbour. Taken together, the two communities were large enough to provide a perennial challenge to their main rival, St Ives, six miles downstream. M. Carter, ‘Town or urban society?