Town in Cambridgeshire, England
Huntingdon
One small Cambridgeshire town schooled both Oliver Cromwell and Samuel Pepys, and later sent John Major to Parliament.
Key information
- County
- Cambridgeshire
- Nation
- England
- Population
- about 24,000, 2011 Census
- Known for
- Oliver Cromwell's birthplace, the Cromwell Museum, Hinchingbrooke House, John Major's old seat
- Famous people
- Oliver Cromwell, Samuel Pepys, John Major
- Football clubs
- Huntingdon Town
About Huntingdon
The schoolroom that taught a Lord Protector and a diarist
Huntingdon's grammar school turned out two of the most famous names in English history, a few decades apart. Oliver Cromwell, born in the town in 1599, learned his letters here. Samuel Pepys, the diarist who would later run the Navy Board, sat in the same school in the following generation. The medieval building, once a hospital, now houses the Cromwell Museum. It is a modest stone room for a man who went on to rule England as Lord Protector. Cromwell never quite left the place behind. He was elected MP for Huntingdon in 1628, his first step into national politics, long before the Civil War made him a general.
A crossing, a castle and a Scottish earl
Huntingdon grew up where the Great Ouse could be crossed. The Normans noticed: William the Conqueror had a castle raised here in 1068, and the grassy earthworks of Castle Hills still sit above the town. The medieval bridge linking Huntingdon with neighbouring Godmanchester is one of the town's oldest working structures, and still carries traffic over the river. The town's earldom had a surprising Scottish flavour. It was held by Scottish royalty, including David, brother of William the Lion, and the title was later attached to Robin Hood in some retellings of the legend, which made him Robert, Earl of Huntingdon.
The house that gave Britain its sandwich
Just outside the centre stands Hinchingbrooke House, once home to the Cromwell family. Oliver's grandfather, Sir Henry Williams, was known as the Golden Knight for his wealth. The house later passed to the Montagu family, the Earls of Sandwich, and the name needs no explanation. Today the house serves as a school, its parkland open for walks. It is a very Huntingdon sort of story: a grand house with a place in English politics and, indirectly, in every lunchbox.
The Prime Minister's constituency
Huntingdon has a long political pedigree, and its most famous modern name is John Major. He was first elected as MP for the Huntingdonshire area in 1979, and represented Huntingdon from 1983 until 2001. In between he became Prime Minister, serving from 1990 to 1997. For a few years, the quiet market town on the Ouse was the constituency of the man at 10 Downing Street. The town's connection with Cromwell and Major makes it unusual: it can claim a Lord Protector and a Prime Minister among its MPs.
Coaching inns, hurdles and Saturday football
Huntingdon sat on the old Great North Road, and its coaching-inn past survives at the George Hotel. The galleried courtyard is the sort of space where travellers once changed horses, and for many years it was the setting for Shakespeare at The George's summer productions. Horse racing is the local sport. Huntingdon Racecourse, at Brampton just outside the town, stages National Hunt meetings, with hurdles and chases through the winter. On the football pitch the local side is Huntingdon Town, a proper non-league club. The town's market, riverside walks and Georgian town hall give the centre a settled, solid feel that suits its history.