Huntingdonshire

Huntingdonshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Historically it was a county in its own right. It includes St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots, and Ramsey.

In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, Huntingdon and Peterborough merged with Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely to form the new non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire. A Huntingdon district was created based closely on the former administrative county borders, with the exclusion of the Old Fletton urban district became part of the Peterborough district, as did that part of Norman Cross Rural District in Peterborough New Town.

The district was renamed Huntingdonshire on 1 October 1984, by resolution of the district council.

The earliest English settlers in the Huntingdonshire district were the Gyrwas, an East Anglian tribe, who early in the 6th century worked their way up the Ouse and the Cam as far as Huntingdon. After their conquest of East Anglia in the latter half of the 9th century, Huntingdon became an important seat of the Danes, and the Danish origin of the shire is borne out by an entry in the Saxon Chronicle referring to Huntingdon as a military centre to which the surrounding district owed allegiance, while the shire itself is mentioned in the Historia Eliensis in connection with events which took place before or shortly after the death of Edgar. Continue reading »

Some facts and figures about wards in Huntingdonshire from the 2001 Census:

The average (mean) age in The Hemingfords ward (43.5 years old) was almost 12 years older than in Huntingdon North ward (31.6 years old).

More than 10% of the population in St Ives South ward were aged 75 or more compared to just 2.6% of the population in St Ives East ward.

More than one in three people in St Ives East ward were single (never married).

The ward with the highest level of people who considered their health to be good or fairly good was Ellington ward (96%).

The level of people with no qualifications in Huntingdon North ward (40.6%) was almost three times higher than in Huntingdon West ward (13.6%).

Just 5.1% of households in the Upwood & The Raveleys ward didn’t own a car or van compared to more than one in three households in Huntingdon North ward.

There was less than one car per household in the Huntingdon North ward (0.9).