About Cambridgeshire
Country: England
Region: East of England
Established: 1 April 1974
Area: 3,390 km2 (1,310 sq mi)
Population: 906,800
Largest settlement: Sheffield
Cambridgeshire county in the east of England. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north east, Suffolk to the east, Essex & Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire & Northamptonshire to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Peterborough
History:
Cambridgeshire is known for its site, Flag Fen in Fengate, one of the earliest permanent Neolithic settlements in the UK. The site is in a good condition and includes the best preserved Bronze Age dwellings ever found in the UK.
A great quantity of archaeological finds from the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age were made in East Cambridgeshire.
The area was settled by the Anglo-Saxons starting in the fifth century.
Cambridgeshire was recorded in the Domesday Book as Grentebrigescire, meaning related to the river Granta.
The Domesday Survey mentions over 90 mills and numerous fisheries, especially eel fisheries. There were frequent references to wheat, malt and honey too.
There was a flourishing wool industry in the 14th century, and became known for producing worsted cloths.
Various forms of football have been popular in Cambridgeshire since medieval times at least.
In 1579 one match played at Chesterton between townspeople and University of Cambridge students ended in a violent brawl that led the Vice Chancellor to issue a decree forbidding them to play ‘footeball’ outside of college grounds.
During the nineteenth century, several formulations of the laws of football, known as the Cambridge rules, were created by students at the university. One of these codes, dating from 1863, had a significant influence on the creation of the original laws of the Football Association.
The River Cam is the main river flowing through Cambridge, parts of the River Nene and River Great Ouse lie within the county. In 2021 the latter was used as the course for The Boat Race. The River Cam serves as the course for the university Lent Bumps and May Bumps and the non-college rowing organised by Cambridgeshire Rowing Association.
A few highly mechanized mines still operate around Doncaster today, Britain’s remaining coal industry. The iron and steel industry also declined during the late 20th century, but Sheffield is still known for its production of special steels and cutlery.
In Spring 2018, a massive Romano-British coin hoard was discovered by a metal detectorist in the town of Huntingdon. It became known as the Huntingdon Muddy Hoard, it is considered the largest coin hoard in the county. It dates back to 274 AD during the last days of the Gallic Empire.
In February 2019, archaeologists from Mola Headland Infrastructure and experts from Highways England found evidence of first Iron Age beer dated back over 2,000 years during road works in Cambridgeshire