Tag Archives: Fens

Haddenham Cambridgeshire

On a grey day when rain was a probability opposed to a possibility I set out for Haddenham In The Isle of Ely Cambridgeshire. You can give your imagination a treat by dreaming of undulating landscapes and mountainous regions as Haddenham sits on a ridge in The Isle at a staggering 121 feet (“In old money”).

Holy Trinity Church

Before the fens were drained Haddenham was the main entrance into The Isle of Ely from Aldreth Causeway so it was of significant importance, its population was the largest with the exception of Littleport and Thorny, today it has to contend with articulated vehicles escaping the A14 on their way between Huntingdon and Newmarket.

Porch House, Hillrow

In 1612 the Lord of the manor was none other than Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge whose daughter Frances was implicated in the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury. It gave him the entitlement to hold a market and fair in Aldreth and Haddenham.

If you are of a campanological bent you may be interested to know there was bell foundry in Haddenham between 1665 and 1680, producing bells for Witchford and other villages in Cambridgeshire.

In March 1947 the whole of the western end of the parish was severely effect by the great floods.

The Old Library, Haddenham, Cambridgeshire

Web Links:

Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk

Sir Thomas Overbury

Haddenham and Aldreth Parish Council Web Site

Floods of 1947

Porch House, Hillrow

Coveney Cambridgeshire

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Coveney sits 43 feet above sea level overlooking Ely Cathedral in the east. It was a small island in the fens a long time before The Earl of Bedford and Cornelius Vermuyden ever dreamt of draining the Cambridgeshire Fens.

Mansion Farm House

If the name of Coveney evokes a land fit for Lucifer’s Angles think again, it derives its name from “island in the bay” and was once the home of Aethelswyth, daughter of the Noble Saxon Oswi, who came here with her maidens to work on her embroidery and weaving in the early 11 century.

The Village Sign , Showing a image of Aethelswyth

The Church of St Peter ad Vincula dates back to the 13th century and its tower can be seen sitting proud as you approach the village from Wardy Hill in the north west. There is a village pond where you can sit on a summers day and take in the extensive views across the fens to Ely. Beside the pond is situated the village lockup, this was used in a time gone bye to store the village bier that carried the coffins to the Church. Mansion Farm House which is the oldest house in the village lies just north of the church and it is said to have been built around the same time, there was a National School for both boys and girls, the property is now used as a Bed and Breakfast.

The Village Lockup and Seat Next to The Village Pound

The celebrated, controversial, disputatious Dr. Conyers Middleton was rector of Coveney between 1725 and 1728, his first wife’s granddaughter was Elizabeth Montagu the British social reformer, who helped organize and lead the bluestocking Society, she was a frequent visitor to the Middletons in Cambridgeshire in younger days.

Winter The Church of St Peter ad Vincula Coveney Cambridgeshire

The Church of St Peter ad Vincula Coveney Cambridgeshire

Restoration The Church of St Peter ad Vincula Coveney Cambridgeshire

Lychgate The Church of St Peter ad Vincula Coveney Cambridgeshire

The Church of St Peter ad Vincula Coveney Cambridgeshire on a Frosty Day

Views of The Church of St Peter ad Vincula

: The Old Chapel and grave stones now part of Mansion Farm House

: Methodist Chapel

: The Old Rectory

The School House and The Old School

Related Web Links:

St Peter-ad-Vincula, Coveney

Cambridgeshire History Online Coveney

British History Online Coveney with Manea

Trinity College Chapel, Conyers Middleton

Elizabeth Montagu

The Old Scholl Bed and Breakfast

Wicken Cambridgeshire,

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St Laurence Church, Wicken, Cambridgeshire, England

Wicken is a village situated north of Cambridge south of Ely sitting between Stretham in the west, Fordham in the east and Newmarket in the south east. Its is known for its sausages and Wicken Fen which is managed by the National Trust, (the fen not the sausages).

The church of St Laurence is on the outskirts of the village to the west and is the last resting place of Henry Cromwell and his wife.

Henry was the fourth son of Oliver Cromwell, he retired first to Chippenham where his father in law was a MP on the restoration of Charles II. In his final years he acquired Spinney Abbey on the outside of Wicken.

There is a legend that says Charles Stuart visited Henry while horse racing at Newmarket but most historians say this is most unlikely. Henry Cromwell died in 1674 and there is a commeration slab in the church which belies the powerful man resting below.