Cambridgeshire, England
Where ancient rivers wind through meadows, market towns remember kings, and the fenland sky stretches to forever.
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Huntingdon town centre · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
Huntingdonshire
An hour from London, yet a world apart. Huntingdonshire is a land of wide skies, ancient rivers, and market towns that have witnessed a thousand years of English life — birthplace of Cromwell, home of Pepys, shaped by the great draining of the fens and the Romans before them.
Places to Discover
CC BY-SA / Wikimedia Commons
CC BY-SA / Wikimedia Commons
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CC BY-SA / Wikimedia Commons
A Storied Past
From Roman legions marching Ermine Street to the schoolboy Oliver Cromwell who would reshape a nation, Huntingdonshire has stood at the crossroads of English history with quiet but undeniable significance.
Samuel Pepys, the great diarist, was born in the county. The monasteries rose and fell. The fenlands were drained by Dutch engineers. Each era left its mark in stone, field patterns, and place names that persist today.
Romans establish Godmanchester on the great Ermine Street, linking London to York.
King Edgar grants a charter to Ramsey Abbey, beginning centuries of monastic influence.
The stone bridge and its remarkable chapel completed — one of only four bridge chapels in England.
Oliver Cromwell born in Huntingdon; one day he will rule England as Lord Protector.
The great diarist born in Brampton — his family rooted in the county he immortalised in his journals.
Vermuyden engineers the Old Bedford River, transforming the fenland landscape forever.
River Great Ouse, St Ives · CC BY-SA / Wikimedia Commons
The Great Ouse
The River Great Ouse winds through the heart of Huntingdonshire, past water meadows and market quays, beneath medieval bridges and willows trailing in the current. For centuries it was the county's lifeblood — carrying grain, wool and people. Today it carries canoes, rowing boats, and the unhurried days of a slower England.
The Fens of Huntingdonshire are no dreary waste; they are a land of endless sky, of black earth that speaks of ancient sea, and of waters that hold the quiet of centuries.
— On the Character of the Fens
The Natural World
The county's landscape is defined by water — the meandering Great Ouse, the remnant fenland with its vast skies, and ancient hay meadows rich with wildflowers. This is England's nature at its most unhurried.
A vast rewilding project restoring 3,700 hectares of lowland fen — home to cranes, bitterns and marsh harriers.
Reputedly England's largest meadow: 257 acres of rare wildflower grassland between Huntingdon and Godmanchester.
The Great Ouse runs at its most pastoral through Huntingdonshire, fringed by willows and patrolled by otters.
One of Britain's largest reservoirs — a Site of Special Scientific Interest for migratory birds and fly fishing.
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Grafham Water · CC BY-SA / Wikimedia Commons
Plan Your Journey
An hour from London, Huntingdonshire rewards slow travel — the kind where you stop at a pub garden watching the river go by.
Fast trains from London King's Cross to Huntingdon take just over an hour. The A1(M) runs the length of the county.
Georgian coaching inns, riverside B&Bs, and countryside retreats offer restful bases for exploring.
Farm shops, traditional market fare, riverside gastropubs, and the freshest fenland produce year-round.
Spring for wildflowers and river walks. Summer for festivals and boat hire. Autumn for atmospheric fenland mists.