Tag Archives: Huntingdon

Haddenham Cambridgeshire

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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 Haddenham CambridgeshireHoly 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 Haddenham Cambridgeshire

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.

Web Links:

Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk

Sir Thomas Overbury

Haddenham and Aldreth Parish Council Web Site

Floods of 1947

Porch House, Hillrow

Keyston

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The Church of St John the Baptist Keyston is a challenge,

  1. Getting there without setting tyre rubber on the A14.
  2. Taking a photograph that does the building justice.

Keyston lies on the very westerly edge of the county of Cambridgeshire or Huntingdonshire, if your preference is for the historic rather than the modern and are prepared to defy the 1974  Local Government edict.

It sits to the east of the town of Thrapston in Northamptonshire, which boasts connections with George Washington’s family, the first president of the United States of America  and west of Huntingdon the birth place of Oliver Cromwell.  In the North lies the village of Titchmarsh with all its associations  with the poet John Dryden and is with easy reach if you are prepared take your life in your hands and cross the A14 which carries its traffic incessantly between Felixstowe, the Midlands and beyond.

Our visit to Keyston in Huntingdonshire is purely of a metaphysical inspiration as John Donne, lawyer, renowned preacher, poet and soon to be become Dean of St Pauls Cathedral was awarded the living of Keyston  in the early part of 1616.  He held this post until 1621  when he resigned it shortly before he was appointed Dean of St Pauls.

The Church of St John the Baptist Keyston

The Church of St John the Baptist, Keyston, Huntingdonshire

“Thou hast set up many candlesticks, and kindled many lamps in me; but I have either blown them out, or carried them to guide me in forbidden ways.”

John Donne