Huntingdon

The George Hotel on the corner of High Street and George Street was once a posting house. It was named after Saint George of England in 1574 and bought some 25 years later by Henry Cromwell, grandfather of Oliver Cromwell.[2] Charles I made the George his headquarters in 1645. Later the highwayman Dick Turpin is said to have been a customer when it was a coaching inn on the Great North Road. A theatre was built to the rear of the George in about 1799. The Lincoln company of actors managed by Thomas Shaftoe Robertson and later Fanny Robertson performed here in race weeks.[10] Two wings of the inn burnt down in the mid-19th century, but two were saved, including one with a balcony overlooking the yard. Since 1959, the courtyard and balcony have been used for Shakespeare performances by a company run by the Shakespeare at the George Trust.[11]

Huntingdon is home to many local businesses, including Huntingdon Racecourse. Hinchingbrooke Business Park also contains offices and warehouses.

The nearest weather station for long-term data is at RAF Wyton, 3 mi (5 km) north-east of the town centre. More recently Monks Wood, 5 mi (8 km) to the north-west, has also provided data.

Like most of Britain, Huntingdon has a temperate, maritime climate free of temperature extremes, with rainfall spread fairly evenly over the year. The absolute maximum recorded at Wyton was 35.4 °C (95.7 °F)[21] in August 1990; the temperature at Monks Wood rose in July 2006 to 35.1 °C (95.2 °F).[22] The mean annual warmest day is 29.7 °C (85.5 °F),[23] and on 16 days a year will rise to 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above.[24]

Typically 43.2 nights of the year report an air frost.[25] The absolute minimum at Wyton was −16.1 °C (3.0 °F)[26] in January 1982. The mean for the annual coldest night of the year is −7.7 °C (18.1 °F).[27]

With annual rainfall at under 550 millimetres (21+1⁄2 inches) a year,[28] the Huntingdon area is among the driest in the UK – 103.4 days on average record at least 1 mm of rain.[29] All averages mentioned refer to the period 1971–2000.

Between 1801 and 1901, the current area of Huntingdon consisted of four parishes: Huntingdon All Saints, Huntingdon St Benedict, Huntingdon St John and Huntingdon St Mary. The populations of these were counted in the ten-year UK census and ranged in the period between 2,368 in 1801 and 4,735 in 1891.[30] (The census was omitted in 1941.)

All population census figures are taken from the report Historic Census figures Cambridgeshire to 2011 by Cambridgeshire Insight.[30] For the censuses of 1961 and 1971, Huntingdon was combined with Godmanchester.

In 2011, the parish covered an area of 2,765 acres (1,119 hectares).[30] The population density in that year was 5,493.1 inhabitants per square mile (2,120.9 inhabitants per square kilometre).

Hinchingbrooke House, once a convent, is said to be haunted. The bridge over the Alconbury Brook named Nun's Bridge is said also to be haunted, by one of the nuns who once lived at the convent.[31] She is said often to be accompanied by another ghost that resembles a nurse. The myth goes that the nun had a monk-lover who caused them to be murdered.

Huntingdon station

Huntingdon railway station is sited on the East Coast Main Line. Services that stop here are operated by Govia Thameslink Railway, on the Thameslink and Great Northern routes.

Great Northern services operate between Peterborough and London Kings Cross station; trains take just over an hour to reach the capital. Thameslink services run between Peterborough and Horsham, in West Sussex, via St Pancras and Blackfriars.[32]

Bus services are operated primarily by Stagecoach East and Whippet. Routes serve the town, including Hinchingbrooke Hospital, and connect Huntingdon with Peterborough, St Neots, Ramsey, St Ives and Cambridge.[33]

Luton and Stansted airports are located within 40 miles (64 km) of the town.

• Henry Compton (Charles Mackenzie, 1805–1877), actor, born in Huntingdon
• George Mackley (1900–1983), wood engraver, born in Huntingdon
• Terry Reid, (born 1949), rock vocalist and guitarist, born in Huntingdon
• The Charlottes (formed 1988), indie rock band formed in Huntingdon.
• Ceara O'Neill (born 1990), actor and musician, born in Huntingdon
• Himesh Patel (born 1990), actor, born in Huntingdon

• Henry of Huntingdon (c. 1088–1157), historian (Historia Anglorum) and Archdeacon of Huntingdon.[37]
• Samuel Pepys (1633–1703), diarist, attended Huntingdon Grammar School in about 1644.[38]
• Basil Montagu (1770–1851), jurist, barrister, writer and philanthropist, and illegitimate son of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich[39] and Martha Ray
• Robert Carruthers (1799–1878), local historian (History of Huntingdon) and journalist

• Christina of Markyate (c. 1096–98 – c. 1155), anchoress and prioress, was born in Huntingdon.
• John Swanel Inskip (1816–1884), American minister and evangelist, was born in Huntingdon.

Oliver Cromwell, 1646

• David, Earl of Huntingdon (c. 1144–1219), Scottish prince, was born in Huntingdon.[40]
• Richard Patrick (died 1566), MP for Huntingdon in 1559
• Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658), Lord Protector, was born in Huntingdon.[2]
• Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich (1625–1672), English Civil War general and Restoration politician, attended Huntingdon Grammar School.[41]
• Richard Cromwell (1626–1712), Lord Protector (1658–59), was born in Huntingdon.[42]
• Henry Cromwell (1628–1674), Lord Deputy of Ireland and chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin, was born in Huntingdon.[43]
• Charlie Elphicke (born 1971), Conservative member of Parliament for Dover 2010–19 and sex offender,[44] was born in Huntingdon.

• Michael Foster (1836–1907), physiologist and academic, was born in Huntingdon.[45]
• Robert William Edis (1839–1927), architect and writer on decoration, was born in Huntingdon and educated at Huntingdon Grammar School.
• Walter Samuel Millard (1864–1952), naturalist and conservationist, was born in Huntingdon.

• Walter Yarnold (1893–1978), first-class cricketer, was born in Huntingdon
• Josh Gifford, (1941–2012), National Hunt jockey and trainer, was born in Huntingdon.
• Oliver Gavin (born 1972), racing car driver, was born in Huntingdon.
• Charlotte Edwards (born 1979), international women's cricketer, was born in Huntingdon.
• Darren Bent (born 1984), footballer, was raised in Huntingdon.
• Harriet Lee (born 1991), Paralympic swimmer, was born in Huntingdon.
• James Sykes (born 1992), first-class cricketer, born in Huntingdon
• James Kettleborough (born 1992), first-class cricketer, was born in Huntingdon.
• Alex Martin (born 1992), first-class cricketer, was born in Huntingdon.
• Todd Kane (born 1993), footballer, was born in Huntingdon.[46]
• George Furbank (born 1996), England international professional rugby union player was born in Huntingdon

• Salon de Provence, France
• Szentendre, Hungary
• Wertheim am Main, Germany
• Gubbio, Italy

Source:[47]

• Gordon Peacock: 7 May 2022.
• Derek Bristow: 7 May 2022.[48]

• RAF Wyton: 17 September 1955.[49][50]
• RAF Brampton: 1995.[51]
• The Royal Anglian Regiment: 21 January 2010.[52]
• The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment: 23 November 2017.
• The 501st Combat Support Wing, USAF: 21 September 2018.[53][54]