Chatteris
Encyclopedia
Chatteris is a civil parish and one of four market town
s in the Fenland
district of Cambridgeshire
, England
, situated in The Fens
between Huntingdon
, March
and Ely
. The town is in the North East Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency.
Mentioned in the Domesday Book
of 1086, the town has evidence of continuous settlement from the Neolithic period and is locally reputed to have been the last refuge of Boudica
as she fled from the Romans
. The parish of Chatteris is large, covering 6,099 hectares, and for much of its history was a raised island in the low-lying wetland
of the Fens. Following the draining of the Fens, beginning in the 17th century and completed in the 19th century, the town has become a centre of agriculture and related industry.
According to the United Kingdom Census 2001
, the town has a population of 8,820 although this is likely to be much higher due to extensive housing developments since the census was taken. Furthermore, due to its proximity to Cambridge
, Huntingdon and Peterborough
, the town has emerged as a commuter town
.
Caeteric - Ceto meaning a wood and Ric, a river, although it may also derive from "cader", meaning hill fort
, suggesting a similar site to the nearby Stonea Camp
. The town was mentioned in the Domesday Book as "Cetriz" and "Cateriz".
Archeological evidence has been found of Neolithic
, Bronze Age
and Iron Age
settlements in the area, and Chatteris possesses what has been interpreted as the only upstanding Neolithic boundaries in Fenland. Saxon evidence is less well preserved, although in 679, Hunna, the chaplain to Æthelthryth of Ely
built a hermitage
on Honey Hill. More apocryphically, Chatteris is reputed to have been the last refuge of Boudica as she fled from the Romans.
, is documented in the Historia Ecclesiastica
by the Chronicler Orderic Vitalis
(1075 - c.1142). According to the legend, Bricstan was a pious free tenant
from the town who had joined the monastery at Ely Cathedral
in 1115 to begin training as a monk. However, he was accused of theft and imprisoned in London
. The legend recounts that one night he had a vision of Saint Etheldreda coming towards him, and as if by a miracle, his heavy chains fell from him and he was shackled no longer. When he awoke from his dream, he discovered that this was indeed true and he was free of his chains. The wife of Henry I
, Matilda of Scotland, heard of the miracle, and she assured herself that he was no rogue or thief, issued a writ of pardon and declared him a free man.
During the Medieval period, the town was dominated by Chatteris Abbey
, a small Benedictine
nunnery dedicated to St Mary, built in 980 by Alfwen the niece of King Edgar and one of only eight nunneries mentioned in the Domesday Book. Throughout its existence, the abbey was comparatively poor compared to other foundations, due to a lack of royal patronage
and a consequent lack of tithe estates. As a result, the abbey survived the first wave of closures during the Dissolution of the Monasteries
, but was surrendered to the king's commissioners in 1538, by which time there were eleven nuns in residence.
At this date fourteen local families still used the abbey church as parochial but this, unusually, did not save it from demolition, the parishioners being transferred to nearby St Peter and St Paul's Church in the area. It has been conjectured that due to the short space between them, the parish church may have been the abbey church, although Claire Breay's Cartulary of Chatteris Abbey discounts this idea, citing that historical documentation clearly defines two separate churches. A range of the cloister buildings survived as part of a mansion known as Park House. This was demolished in 1847 and the site has now completely vanished beneath streets and housing, although the "Park Streets" of Chatteris mark the boundary of its walls and several buildings contain stone originating from the abbey. A large portion of the town was destroyed by a great fire in 1310, which destroyed the nunnery and a large portion of the church, leaving only sections of the base of the tower.
farming practices, although these are under threat by current building proposals.
To the north of the town runs the Forty Foot Drain
, a large river also called Vermuyden
's Drain, after the Dutch
engineer whose name is associated with the fen drainage works of the middle of the 17th century. Several of the older buildings of the town show evidence of the Dutch architectural style.
Chatteris is a market town and has possessed this designation since 1834, although an earlier market existed in the town, which was discontinued due to poor roads in 1808. A small market is still held every Friday. Following the Beeching Axe
, Chatteris railway station
, formerly on the St. Ives
extension of the Great Eastern Railway
was closed in March 1967.
The town is in the North East Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency, with the incumbent MP being the Conservative
Stephen Barclay
. The constituency has traditionally been considered a safe
Conservative seat, although the Liberal MP Clement Freud
held the seat from 1973 to 1987. The town is locally governed by Cambridgeshire County Council
, Fenland District Council and Chatteris Town Council, each performing separate functions.
The town is historically part of the Isle of Ely
, once under the secular jurisdiction of the Bishop of Ely
, a power ended by the Liberty of Ely Act, 1837. After various changes throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, following the recommendations of the Local Government Commission for England, on 1 April 1965 the bulk of the area was merged to form Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely
, and since the Local Government Act 1972
, Chatteris has been part of the wider Cambridgeshire County Council.
Under the Police Act 1964
and local government reform in 1974, the Isle of Ely Constabulary became part of the present Cambridgeshire Constabulary
. A small police station
is situated in East Park Street, open on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
, although the highest point in the Fens (36 feet above sea level) is within Chatteris's parish boundaries. The peat
y land surrounding the town is largely used for agriculture, drained by numerous ditches and dykes, and there are two large drainage rivers near the town - the Forty Foot Drain, also known as Vermuyden's Drain, and the Sixteen Foot Drain.
Chatteris is a key turning point on the A141 road (known as the Isle of Ely way) and the starting point of the A142 road to Ely and Suffolk (known as Ireton's Way
). The town also has important links to Cambridge and the A14 via the B1050 to Bar Hill
. The town centre traffic was bypassed in 1986, with the disused route of the former St. Ives extension of the Great Eastern Railway being used to build the A141 to March and Guyhirn
.
There are no Met Office
recording stations in the Fens, but an indication of rainfall and temperature of the county town
Cambridge on the edge of the Fens shows that rainfall is below the national average, and in a wider study of East Anglia
, the region had temperatures comparable with London, the warmest part of the UK.
s, equalling an average population density of 1.45, although most of the dwellings are concentrated in a smaller area, the outskirts of the town consisting of farmland.
Another major employer in the town is Metalcraft (Stainless Metalcraft (Chatteris) Ltd). The company was established in the town in the late 19th century and over the years has manufactured diamond mining equipment and overhead cranes. The company is now part of the Avingtrans Group and specialises in creating engineered products for the oil, gas, nuclear and medical industries.
The town's main retail outlets are situated in Market Hill and High Street. The town centre has a post office
, a branch of Barclays and a small Budgens
supermarket. However, the town generally features more specialist non-branch shops in the centre. A Co-op
supermarket is situated on Bridge Street. In 2007, the Petrou Brothers fish and chip shop in West Park Street won the National Chip Shop of the Year competition.
The parish church of St Peter & St Paul is situated in the centre of the town. A church has been on the site since at least 1162, although the current tower dates from 1352. The building had fallen into disrepair during the 19th century, and the majority of the building is the result of an intensive restoration in 1910. This included restoring a pitched roof and adding new aisles, although the nave arches are original. In 1935, a new two manual Harrison & Harrison
organ was installed, a fine example of a pneumatic action instrument. Recent years have seen the construction of several new facilities, such as the Bricstan room extension. The church lists itself as being of the low church
branch of the Church of England
. The church also hosts the town's Catholic congregation.
The Emmanuel Church in East Park Street was created through the union of the Methodist, United Reformed and Baptist Union churches in Chatteris in 1990. It is based in the former United Reformed building in East Park Street, although several of the former chapel buildings still exist around the town. The town also has a Salvation Army
citadel, also in East Park Street.
Community College, founded in 1939. The Isle College used to have a presence in the town, with a base in Grove House. However, this closed following the College's merger with the College of West Anglia
. The town has a library run by Cambridgeshire County Council.
, was founded in 1920 and currently play in the Kershaw Premier Division of the Cambridgeshire Football Association County League. The town also has a cricket
club, Chatteris Cricket Club, which was founded in 1879. The club has five senior teams and four youth teams that compete in both the Fenland and Cambridgeshire leagues. Chatteris CC won the St Ivo Midweek League in 2008 and 2009 going both seasons unbeaten. The town also has a bowls club and a tennis club (St Peters). Chatteris Airfield is about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north-northeast, which is mainly used for skydiving, and is the base of the North London Skydiving Centre.
The town has one swimming pool, the Empress, which is privately owned and is a registered charity run by three trustees. It is open to members and can be booked for private hires or group sessions. It is home of the Chatteris Kingfishers swimming club, who after successes in 2008 compete in Division One of the 2009 "Cambs Cup" competition. Plans for a public swimming pool and leisure centre have been proposed by the council since 1990, but have yet to be approved. Proposals for the development of Cromwell Community College under the government's BSF programme include significant leisure provisions and these are expected to start in 2010.
The town has a museum run by volunteers, with several permanent exhibitions about local history, the Fens, Victoriana and the Railways. Chatteris also has a Scout
club, an Army Cadet force and a youth football team.
Chatteris has morning and evening Women's Institutes, which both meet at the King Edward Centre, and a Rotary Club which meet at the local fire station, and put on an annual firework display, plus other events in the town. The town's annual entry in the "Anglia in Bloom" competition was awarded a Silver Gilt in 2008, and achieved a Gold in 2009.
The town also has a brass band
, founded in 1882, which competes in the East Anglian Brass Band Association.
In 2005, cult British indie band Half Man Half Biscuit
- best known for "The Trumpton Riots" and "Dickie Davies Eyes", featured a song entitled "For What Is Chatteris..." on their award-winning Achtung Bono
album. The song extolled the virtues of the town offset against how little the best place in the world can suddenly become to someone when the one they love is no longer resident: "a market town that lacks quintessence/that's Chatteris without your presence". News of the song made the headlines of the Cambridgeshire Times and the Peterborough Evening Telegraph
during September 2005, a month before the album's official release.
Churches
Schools
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
s in the Fenland
Fenland
Fenland is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in March, and covers the neighbouring market towns of Chatteris, Whittlesey, and Wisbech, often called the "capital of the fens"...
district of Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, situated in The Fens
The Fens
The Fens, also known as the , are a naturally marshy region in eastern England. Most of the fens were drained several centuries ago, resulting in a flat, damp, low-lying agricultural region....
between Huntingdon
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was chartered by King John in 1205. It is the traditional county town of Huntingdonshire, and is currently the seat of the Huntingdonshire district council. It is known as the birthplace in 1599 of Oliver Cromwell.-History:Huntingdon...
, March
March, Cambridgeshire
March is a Fenland market town and civil parish in the Isle of Ely area of Cambridgeshire, England. March was the county town of the Isle of Ely, a separate administrative county between 1889 and 1965, and is now the administrative centre of Fenland District Council.The town was an important...
and Ely
Ely, Cambridgeshire
Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about by road from London. It is built on a Lower Greensand island, which at a maximum elevation of is the highest land in the Fens...
. The town is in the North East Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency.
Mentioned in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086, the town has evidence of continuous settlement from the Neolithic period and is locally reputed to have been the last refuge of Boudica
Boudica
Boudica , also known as Boadicea and known in Welsh as "Buddug" was queen of the British Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire....
as she fled from the Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. The parish of Chatteris is large, covering 6,099 hectares, and for much of its history was a raised island in the low-lying wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
of the Fens. Following the draining of the Fens, beginning in the 17th century and completed in the 19th century, the town has become a centre of agriculture and related industry.
According to the United Kingdom Census 2001
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
, the town has a population of 8,820 although this is likely to be much higher due to extensive housing developments since the census was taken. Furthermore, due to its proximity to Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, Huntingdon and Peterborough
Peterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
, the town has emerged as a commuter town
Commuter town
A commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential, from which most of the workforce commutes out to earn their livelihood. Many commuter towns act as suburbs of a nearby metropolis that workers travel to daily, and many suburbs are commuter towns...
.
Toponymy and early history
Chatteris's name probably derives from the Anglo-SaxonOld English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
Caeteric - Ceto meaning a wood and Ric, a river, although it may also derive from "cader", meaning hill fort
Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...
, suggesting a similar site to the nearby Stonea Camp
Stonea Camp
Stonea Camp is an Iron Age hill fort located near March in the Cambridgeshire Fens. Situated on a gravel bank just above sea-level, it is the lowest hill fort in Britain. Around 500 BC, when fortification is thought to have begun at this site, this "hill" would have provided a significant area of...
. The town was mentioned in the Domesday Book as "Cetriz" and "Cateriz".
Archeological evidence has been found of Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
, Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
settlements in the area, and Chatteris possesses what has been interpreted as the only upstanding Neolithic boundaries in Fenland. Saxon evidence is less well preserved, although in 679, Hunna, the chaplain to Æthelthryth of Ely
Æthelthryth
Æthelthryth is the proper name for the popular Anglo-Saxon saint often known, particularly in a religious context, as Etheldreda or by the pet form of Audrey...
built a hermitage
Hermitage (religious retreat)
Although today's meaning is usually a place where a hermit lives in seclusion from the world, hermitage was more commonly used to mean a settlement where a person or a group of people lived religiously, in seclusion.-Western Christian Tradition:...
on Honey Hill. More apocryphically, Chatteris is reputed to have been the last refuge of Boudica as she fled from the Romans.
Medieval period
The miraculous story of the first known parishioner of the town, Bricstan of ChatterisBricstan
Bricstan was a 12th century trainee monk, miracle witness and Chatteris's first known parishioner. His story is chronicled by Bishop Hervey, the Bishop of Ely when Chatteris Abbey was placed under the patronage of the Bishop of Ely by King Henry I in 1131.-The legend:Bricstan was a free tenant...
, is documented in the Historia Ecclesiastica
Historia Ecclesiastica
Historia Ecclesiastica is the name of many different works, documenting the history of Christianity.These include books by:*Alexander Natalis*Bartholomew of Lucca, Historia Ecclesiastica Nova...
by the Chronicler Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis was an English chronicler of Norman ancestry who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th and 12th century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. The modern biographer of Henry I of England, C...
(1075 - c.1142). According to the legend, Bricstan was a pious free tenant
Free tenant
Free Tenants, also known as Free Peasants, were peasants in Medieval England who occupied a unique place in the Medieval hierarchy. They were characterised by the low rents they paid to their Manorial Lord as well as being subject to fewer laws and ties than villeins.-Definition:One of the major...
from the town who had joined the monastery at Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral is the principal church of the Diocese of Ely, in Cambridgeshire, England, and is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and a suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon...
in 1115 to begin training as a monk. However, he was accused of theft and imprisoned in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The legend recounts that one night he had a vision of Saint Etheldreda coming towards him, and as if by a miracle, his heavy chains fell from him and he was shackled no longer. When he awoke from his dream, he discovered that this was indeed true and he was free of his chains. The wife of Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
, Matilda of Scotland, heard of the miracle, and she assured herself that he was no rogue or thief, issued a writ of pardon and declared him a free man.
During the Medieval period, the town was dominated by Chatteris Abbey
Chatteris Abbey
Chatteris Abbey in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire was founded as a monastery for Benedictine nuns in 1016 by Ednoth, Bishop of Dorchester. Before 1310 much of the monastery was destroyed by fire...
, a small Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
nunnery dedicated to St Mary, built in 980 by Alfwen the niece of King Edgar and one of only eight nunneries mentioned in the Domesday Book. Throughout its existence, the abbey was comparatively poor compared to other foundations, due to a lack of royal patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
and a consequent lack of tithe estates. As a result, the abbey survived the first wave of closures during the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
, but was surrendered to the king's commissioners in 1538, by which time there were eleven nuns in residence.
At this date fourteen local families still used the abbey church as parochial but this, unusually, did not save it from demolition, the parishioners being transferred to nearby St Peter and St Paul's Church in the area. It has been conjectured that due to the short space between them, the parish church may have been the abbey church, although Claire Breay's Cartulary of Chatteris Abbey discounts this idea, citing that historical documentation clearly defines two separate churches. A range of the cloister buildings survived as part of a mansion known as Park House. This was demolished in 1847 and the site has now completely vanished beneath streets and housing, although the "Park Streets" of Chatteris mark the boundary of its walls and several buildings contain stone originating from the abbey. A large portion of the town was destroyed by a great fire in 1310, which destroyed the nunnery and a large portion of the church, leaving only sections of the base of the tower.
Early modern and contemporary
Later fires in 1706 and 1864 destroyed most medieval and Georgian architecture, and a large proportion of the town's listed buildings date from the Victorian period onwards. However, many of the pasture fields on the outskirts of the town have evidence of ridge and furrowRidge and furrow
Ridge and furrow is an archaeological pattern of ridges and troughs created by a system of ploughing used in Europe during the Middle Ages. The earliest examples date to the immediate post-Roman period and the system was used until the 17th century in some areas. Ridge and furrow topography is...
farming practices, although these are under threat by current building proposals.
To the north of the town runs the Forty Foot Drain
Forty Foot Drain
In the drainage schemes of The Fens of Eastern England, some of the principal drainage channels are each known as The Forty Foot or Forty Foot Drain, the name being qualified when there is a need to distinguish between them...
, a large river also called Vermuyden
Cornelius Vermuyden
Sir Cornelius Wasterdyk Vermuyden was a Dutch engineer who introduced Dutch reclamation methods to Britain, and made the first important attempts to drain The Fens of East Anglia.-Life:...
's Drain, after the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
engineer whose name is associated with the fen drainage works of the middle of the 17th century. Several of the older buildings of the town show evidence of the Dutch architectural style.
Chatteris is a market town and has possessed this designation since 1834, although an earlier market existed in the town, which was discontinued due to poor roads in 1808. A small market is still held every Friday. Following the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
, Chatteris railway station
Chatteris railway station
Chatteris railway station was a station in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire on the line between St Ives and March. For much of its history it was run by the Great Eastern Railway. It closed to passengers on 6 March 1967 in the wake of the Beeching Report...
, formerly on the St. Ives
St Ives, Cambridgeshire
St Ives is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England, around north-west of the city of Cambridge and north of London. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Huntingdonshire.-History:...
extension of the Great Eastern Railway
Great Eastern Railway
The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...
was closed in March 1967.
Governance
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Stephen Barclay
Stephen Barclay
Stephen Paul Barclay is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom who has been the Member of Parliament for North East Cambridgeshire since May 2010.-Early life and education:...
. The constituency has traditionally been considered a safe
Safe seat
A safe seat is a seat in a legislative body which is regarded as fully secured, either by a certain political party, the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both...
Conservative seat, although the Liberal MP Clement Freud
Clement Freud
Sir Clement Raphael Freud was an English broadcaster, writer, politician and chef.-Early life:Freud was born in Berlin, the son of Jewish parents Ernst Ludwig Freud and Lucie née Brasch. He was the grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and the brother of artist Lucian Freud...
held the seat from 1973 to 1987. The town is locally governed by Cambridgeshire County Council
Cambridgeshire County Council
Cambridgeshire County Council is the county council of Cambridgeshire, England. The council currently consists of 69 councillors, representing 60 electoral divisions. The Conservative Party has a majority on the council, having gained control in the 1997 local elections...
, Fenland District Council and Chatteris Town Council, each performing separate functions.
The town is historically part of the Isle of Ely
Isle of Ely
The Isle of Ely is a historic region around the city of Ely now in Cambridgeshire, England but previously a county in its own right.-Etymology:...
, once under the secular jurisdiction of the Bishop of Ely
Bishop of Ely
The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire , together with a section of north-west Norfolk and has its see in the City of Ely, Cambridgeshire, where the seat is located at the...
, a power ended by the Liberty of Ely Act, 1837. After various changes throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, following the recommendations of the Local Government Commission for England, on 1 April 1965 the bulk of the area was merged to form Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely
Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely
Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely was, from 1965 to 1974, an administrative county of England. In 1974 it became part of an enlarged Cambridgeshire.-Formation:...
, and since the Local Government Act 1972
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
, Chatteris has been part of the wider Cambridgeshire County Council.
Under the Police Act 1964
Police Act 1964
The Police Act 1964 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that updated the legislation governing police forces in England and Wales, constituted new police authorities, gave the Home Secretary new powers to supervise local constabularies, and allowed for the amalgamation of existing...
and local government reform in 1974, the Isle of Ely Constabulary became part of the present Cambridgeshire Constabulary
Cambridgeshire Constabulary
Cambridgeshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom. In addition to the non-metropolitan county, the Police area includes the city of Peterborough, which became a unitary authority area in...
. A small police station
Police station
A police station or station house is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, along with locker rooms, temporary holding cells and interview/interrogation rooms.- Facilities...
is situated in East Park Street, open on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Geography
Chatteris is situated between Huntingdon, St. Ives, Peterborough, March and Ely, in the middle of The Fens—the lowest-lying area in the United Kingdom—with most of the land surrounding the town being below sea levelSea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
, although the highest point in the Fens (36 feet above sea level) is within Chatteris's parish boundaries. The peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
y land surrounding the town is largely used for agriculture, drained by numerous ditches and dykes, and there are two large drainage rivers near the town - the Forty Foot Drain, also known as Vermuyden's Drain, and the Sixteen Foot Drain.
Chatteris is a key turning point on the A141 road (known as the Isle of Ely way) and the starting point of the A142 road to Ely and Suffolk (known as Ireton's Way
Henry Ireton
Henry Ireton was an English general in the Parliamentary army during the English Civil War. He was the son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell.-Early life:...
). The town also has important links to Cambridge and the A14 via the B1050 to Bar Hill
Bar Hill
Bar Hill is a purpose-built village with a population of 4,000 about 4 miles northwest of Cambridge, England on the A14 road.The Prime Meridian passes just to the west of Bar Hill.-History:...
. The town centre traffic was bypassed in 1986, with the disused route of the former St. Ives extension of the Great Eastern Railway being used to build the A141 to March and Guyhirn
Guyhirn
Guyhirn is a small village near the town of Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, England. The village sits on the northern bank of the River Nene.Guyhirn is found at a junction of two sizeable "A" roads, where the A141 leaves the A47.-Origin of the name:...
.
There are no Met Office
Met Office
The Met Office , is the United Kingdom's national weather service, and a trading fund of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
recording stations in the Fens, but an indication of rainfall and temperature of the county town
County town
A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...
Cambridge on the edge of the Fens shows that rainfall is below the national average, and in a wider study of East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
, the region had temperatures comparable with London, the warmest part of the UK.
Demography
The United Kingdom Census 2001 found the population of Chatteris to be 8,820 people living in 3,809 households, with the average number of people per dwelling 2.31. However, since 2001, there have been significant housing developments which have substantially increased this number. The census found that 98.9% of the population of the town were of the white ethnic group. The parish of Chatteris is large, covering 6,099 hectareHectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s, equalling an average population density of 1.45, although most of the dwellings are concentrated in a smaller area, the outskirts of the town consisting of farmland.
Economy
Chatteris is sited in particularly fertile agricultural land, and as such, the town's local economy is largely based on this industry. Albert Bartlett Ltd, a major British grower and packer of root vegetables has a large facility in the town with over 2,500 hectares under cultivation, much of it growing the Chantenay carrot. According to their website, one in six of Britain's onions pass through their facilities in Chatteris, as well as a third of Britain's parsnips. Rustler Produce Ltd, also based in Chatteris, is another major player in this industry, and a number of smaller vegetable producers and processors operate in the Chatteris area.Another major employer in the town is Metalcraft (Stainless Metalcraft (Chatteris) Ltd). The company was established in the town in the late 19th century and over the years has manufactured diamond mining equipment and overhead cranes. The company is now part of the Avingtrans Group and specialises in creating engineered products for the oil, gas, nuclear and medical industries.
The town's main retail outlets are situated in Market Hill and High Street. The town centre has a post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, a branch of Barclays and a small Budgens
Budgens
Budgens Stores Ltd is a chain of foodstores in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1872 by John Budgen, who opened the first store at Maidenhead, Berkshire. Budgens supermarket chain operates over 227 stores and employs over 6,000 staff...
supermarket. However, the town generally features more specialist non-branch shops in the centre. A Co-op
The Co-operative Group
The Co-operative Group Ltd. is a United Kingdom consumer cooperative with a diverse range of business interests. It is co-operatively run and owned by its members. It is the largest organisation of this type in the world, with over 5.5 million members, who all have a say in how the business is...
supermarket is situated on Bridge Street. In 2007, the Petrou Brothers fish and chip shop in West Park Street won the National Chip Shop of the Year competition.
Religion
The 2001 Census found that 6,596 (74.8%) of people in the town stated Christian to be their religion, with 54 (0.6%) of other religions and 2163 (24.5%) as having no religion.The parish church of St Peter & St Paul is situated in the centre of the town. A church has been on the site since at least 1162, although the current tower dates from 1352. The building had fallen into disrepair during the 19th century, and the majority of the building is the result of an intensive restoration in 1910. This included restoring a pitched roof and adding new aisles, although the nave arches are original. In 1935, a new two manual Harrison & Harrison
Harrison & Harrison
Harrison & Harrison Ltd are a British company that make and restore pipe organs, based in Durham and established in 1861. They are well known for their work on instruments such as King's College Cambridge, Westminster Abbey and the Royal Festival Hall....
organ was installed, a fine example of a pneumatic action instrument. Recent years have seen the construction of several new facilities, such as the Bricstan room extension. The church lists itself as being of the low church
Low church
Low church is a term of distinction in the Church of England or other Anglican churches initially designed to be pejorative. During the series of doctrinal and ecclesiastic challenges to the established church in the 16th and 17th centuries, commentators and others began to refer to those groups...
branch of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. The church also hosts the town's Catholic congregation.
The Emmanuel Church in East Park Street was created through the union of the Methodist, United Reformed and Baptist Union churches in Chatteris in 1990. It is based in the former United Reformed building in East Park Street, although several of the former chapel buildings still exist around the town. The town also has a Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
citadel, also in East Park Street.
Education
The town has two primary schools, Kingsfield Primary School (created in 2003 by the amalgamation of the former Burnsfield School and King Edward School) and Glebelands School, which opened in the early months of 1994. The town's secondary school is CromwellOliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
Community College, founded in 1939. The Isle College used to have a presence in the town, with a base in Grove House. However, this closed following the College's merger with the College of West Anglia
College of West Anglia
The College of West Anglia is a college of further education in Norfolk, England. Founded in 1894 as the King's Lynn Technical School in the port town of King's Lynn, Norfolk...
. The town has a library run by Cambridgeshire County Council.
Sport and leisure
The town's football club, Chatteris TownChatteris Town F.C.
Chatteris Town F.C. is an English football club based in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire. The club are currently members of the Cambridgeshire League Premier Division, and play at West Street.-History:...
, was founded in 1920 and currently play in the Kershaw Premier Division of the Cambridgeshire Football Association County League. The town also has a cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
club, Chatteris Cricket Club, which was founded in 1879. The club has five senior teams and four youth teams that compete in both the Fenland and Cambridgeshire leagues. Chatteris CC won the St Ivo Midweek League in 2008 and 2009 going both seasons unbeaten. The town also has a bowls club and a tennis club (St Peters). Chatteris Airfield is about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north-northeast, which is mainly used for skydiving, and is the base of the North London Skydiving Centre.
The town has one swimming pool, the Empress, which is privately owned and is a registered charity run by three trustees. It is open to members and can be booked for private hires or group sessions. It is home of the Chatteris Kingfishers swimming club, who after successes in 2008 compete in Division One of the 2009 "Cambs Cup" competition. Plans for a public swimming pool and leisure centre have been proposed by the council since 1990, but have yet to be approved. Proposals for the development of Cromwell Community College under the government's BSF programme include significant leisure provisions and these are expected to start in 2010.
Culture and community
The town is noted for its annual display of Christmas lights, which are entirely funded by community donations and have been featured on BBC Look East. In 2008, a medieval-themed Historical Festival replaced the town's traditional festival week.The town has a museum run by volunteers, with several permanent exhibitions about local history, the Fens, Victoriana and the Railways. Chatteris also has a Scout
Boy Scout
A Scout is a boy or a girl, usually 11 to 18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split this age group into a junior and a senior section...
club, an Army Cadet force and a youth football team.
Chatteris has morning and evening Women's Institutes, which both meet at the King Edward Centre, and a Rotary Club which meet at the local fire station, and put on an annual firework display, plus other events in the town. The town's annual entry in the "Anglia in Bloom" competition was awarded a Silver Gilt in 2008, and achieved a Gold in 2009.
The town also has a brass band
Brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
, founded in 1882, which competes in the East Anglian Brass Band Association.
In 2005, cult British indie band Half Man Half Biscuit
Half Man Half Biscuit
Half Man Half Biscuit, often "HMHB", are an English rock band from Birkenhead, Merseyside, active since the mid-1980s, known for satirical, sardonic, and sometimes surreal songs. The group comprises Nigel Blackwell , Neil Crossley , Ken Hancock , and Carl Henry...
- best known for "The Trumpton Riots" and "Dickie Davies Eyes", featured a song entitled "For What Is Chatteris..." on their award-winning Achtung Bono
Achtung Bono
Achtung Bono is the tenth album by UK rock band Half Man Half Biscuit, released in 2005.The title is a satirical reference to the title of the 1991 album by Irish rock band U2 – Achtung Baby....
album. The song extolled the virtues of the town offset against how little the best place in the world can suddenly become to someone when the one they love is no longer resident: "a market town that lacks quintessence/that's Chatteris without your presence". News of the song made the headlines of the Cambridgeshire Times and the Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Peterborough Evening Telegraph
The Peterborough Evening Telegraph, or ET as it is known locally, is the local newspaper for the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom...
during September 2005, a month before the album's official release.
Notable residents
- Eric BoonEric BoonEric Boon was a champion British lightweight boxer. Born in Chatteris Cambridgeshire, he was known by the nicknames Boy Boon and the Fen Tiger...
, boxer; British Lightweight Champion 1938-1944. - George William Burdett ClareGeorge William Burdett ClareGeorge William Burdett Clare VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
, Victoria CrossVictoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
recipient for whom the doctors' surgery is named. - Sir George Herbert FarrarGeorge Herbert FarrarSir George Herbert Farrar, 1st Baronet, DSO Sir George Herbert Farrar, 1st Baronet, DSO Sir George Herbert Farrar, 1st Baronet, DSO (17 June 1859 Chatteris, Cambridgeshire – 20 May 1915 Kuibis, South West Africa, was a South African mining magnate, politician and soldier - Colonel and assistant...
, South African mining magnate, politician and soldier. - John Percy FarrarJohn Percy FarrarCaptain John Percy Farrar DSO , also known as Percy Farrar and as J. P. Farrar, was an English soldier and mountaineer. He was President of the Alpine Club from 1917 to 1919 and a member of the Mount Everest Committee.-Family:...
, English soldier and mountaineer. President of the Alpine Club from 1917 to 1919 and a member of the Mount Everest Committee. - Dave Boy GreenDave Boy GreenDave "Boy" Green is a former British welterweight boxing champion and businessman. Born in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, a small fenland town, he boxed as the "Fen Tiger".-Early years:...
, boxer. - Dominic MohanDominic MohanDominic Mohan is a British journalist and newspaper editor.He is the Editor of The Sun newspaper in London. He joined The Sun in 1996 working on the "Bizarre" column...
(former resident) Editor of The SunThe Sun (newspaper)The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
newspaper. - Joe PerryJoe Perry (snooker player)-External links:*...
, snooker player - Joseph RustonRuston (engine builder)Ruston & Hornsby, later known as Ruston, was an industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, England, the company's history going back to 1840. The company is best known as a manufacturer of narrow and standard gauge diesel locomotives and also of steam shovels. Other products included cars, steam...
, engineer and MP. - Lindsay ShillingLindsay ShillingLindsay Shilling is Principal Trombone at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden alongside Eric Crees. Prior to his appointment in 2005 he was Principal Trombone at the London Philharmonic Orchestra for seven years and Sub-Principal Trombone of the London Symphony Orchestra for the 1994/5 season...
, Principal Trombonist at the Royal Opera HouseRoyal Opera HouseThe Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
.
Transport
Chatteris is well served by local bus routes - with regular buses to the nearby town of March, St Ives, Ely and the city of Cambridge. There are also occasional services to Huntingdon and Peterborough.External links
- 2001 Census
- Fenland tourism website
- Chatteris ShapeYourPlace website
- Chatteris Links.co.uk
- Chatteris Christmas Lights website
- Chatteris Historic Festival website
Churches
Schools