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Huntingdonshire

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Huntingdonshire is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England.

Gray1824.hunts
Gray1824.hunts

It sits within the larger area of Cambridgeshire. The district has a population of about 180,800 people. This number comes from the 2021 census. Many different towns and villages make up this place. The largest towns are St Neots, Huntingdon, and St Ives.

Huntingdonshire population pyramid
Huntingdonshire population pyramid

The local district council is based in the town of Huntingdon.

The history of this area goes back a very long time. Its borders were first set during the Anglo-Saxon era. These lines have stayed mostly the same since the 10th century. In the year 1154, King Henry II declared the whole area a forest. Later, in 1889, it became an administrative county. Over the years, the district has joined with other places. It merged with the Soke of Peterborough in 1965. Then, in 1974, it joined with Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely. It became part of the new Cambridgeshire we know today.

Local government has changed many times in Huntingdonshire. In 1984, the district was officially named Huntingdonshire again. Some people even asked to make it a standalone authority. They wanted it to be a unitary authority like other places. However, the government decided to keep it part of Cambridgeshire. A group called the Huntingdonshire Society was formed to help. They want to promote the history of the area. They even set up a special day every April 25. This day celebrates the birthday of Oliver Cromwell.

There are many interesting facts about life in this district. Huntingdonshire is the birthplace of a sport called bandy. This is a sport played on ice. The Bury Fen Bandy Club was undefeated for 100 years. A man named Charles Tebbutt wrote the first rules in 1882. He helped people in other countries learn to play it. The area also has a beautiful county flag.

Flag of Huntingdonshire
Flag of Huntingdonshire

The flag is green and shows a gold hunting horn.

Many famous people have links to this part of England. Oliver Cromwell was educated at the Huntingdon Grammar School. Catherine of Aragon was a Queen of England. She died at Kimbolton Castle in this district. Other notable people include the scholar Nicholas Ferrar. He lived in the Little Gidding community for many years. The area is also home to the Huntingdonshire County Cricket Club. This club is one of the minor counties in England. It played in domestic competitions from 1999 to 2003.

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File:Gray1824.hunts.jpg
Gray1824.hunts.jpg
File:Flag of Huntingdonshire.svg
Flag of Huntingdonshire.svg
File:Huntingdonshire population pyramid.svg
Huntingdonshire population pyramid.svg
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