| Grunty Fen | |
|---|---|
 Grunty Fen fields | |
  Grunty Fen Location within Cambridgeshire | |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Grunty Fen is a fen and former civil parish, now in the parish of Wilburton, in the East Cambridgeshire district, in Cambridgeshire, England. It is 4 miles south west of Ely. In 1931 the parish had a population of 95. [1]
Grunty Fen consists of the low-lying land at the centre of the Isle of Ely that separates the villages of Wilburton and Stretham from Witchford and Wentworth; the area lies at under 5 metres above sea-level. Despite the importance of nearby Ely, the land around Grunty Fen was uninhabitable even following the draining of The Fens in the seventeenth century, and was still only used for sheep grazing and turf cutting through the eighteenth century. One of the last parts of The Fens to be drained, a catchwater drain was dug in 1838, though it took another couple of decades for the land to become completely dry. Following enclosure the land was farmed, but the thin peaty soil soon eroded and by the Second World War the area was largely uncultivated once more. There are now several working farms covering the fen. [2]
The parish of Grunty Fen was situated in the hundred of South Witchford and covered an area of 1793 acres. At one stage the it was considered extra-parochial, [3] with the area divided between the parishes of Ely, Witchford, Wentworth, Haddenham, Wilburton, Stretham, and Little Thetford. From 1858 Grunty Fen was a civil parish in its own right until it was abolished on 1 April 1933 and merged with Wilburton. [4] [5]
The Ely and St Ives Railway crossed the area and was jokingly called the "Grunty Fen Express". The former railway stations of Wilburton and Stretham that opened in 1866 both fell within the parish, closing to passenger traffic in 1931 and closing completely in July 1964. [2] [5]
The area made national headlines when Isle of Ely MP Clement Freud asked the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher whether she had plans to visit Grunty Fen where residents were concerned about the level of wage settlements. Thatcher replied that the 97 residents were a happy, agricultural community with a low rate of unemployment. [2] [6] Clement Freud used to race a horse called Grunty Fen.
From the late 1980s BBC Radio Cambridgeshire broadcast a weekly slot featuring Dennis of Grunty Fen, "Britain's favourite vocal yokel", a fictional character who lives in a converted railway carriage with his 92-year-old grandmother. Despite the death of the creator, Pete Sayers, in 2005, the character's popularity continues. [7] [8]
An annual race known as the Grunty Fen Half Marathon has been run annually since 1991. The race starts and ends at Witchford Village College. [9]
The Isle of Ely is a historic region around the city of Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. Between 1889 and 1965, it formed an administrative county.
East Cambridgeshire is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in the city of Ely. The district also contains the towns of Littleport and Soham and surrounding rural areas, including parts of the Fens.
Whittlesey is a market town and civil parish in the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, England. Whittlesey is 6 miles (10 km) east of Peterborough. The population of the parish was 17,667 at the 2021 Census.
Wilburton is a small village of just over 1,000 inhabitants, situated in Cambridgeshire, England. It is 6 miles south west of Ely. While nominally an agricultural village, many residents work in Cambridge, Ely or London.
A civil parish is a country subdivision, forming the lowest unit of local government in England. There are 264 civil parishes in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, most of the county being parished; Cambridge is completely unparished; Fenland, East Cambridgeshire, South Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire are entirely parished. At the 2001 census, there were 497,820 people living in the parishes, accounting for 70.2 per cent of the county's population.
Mepal is a village in Cambridgeshire, England. Mepal is part of the East Cambridgeshire district, and is located just north of the A142 road between Ely and Chatteris. First listed as Mepahala in the 12th century, the village name meant 'Nook of land of a man named Mēapa' in Old English.
North East Cambridgeshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Steve Barclay, a Conservative.
Cottenham is a village in Cambridgeshire, England. Cottenham is one of the larger villages surrounding the city of Cambridge, located around five miles north of the city. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 6,095. Cottenham is one of a number of villages that make up the historical Fen Edge region in between Cambridge and Ely, which were originally settlements on the shore of the marshes close to the city of Cambridge, then an inland port.
Benwick is a village and civil parish in the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, England in the historic Isle of Ely. It is approximately 15 miles (24 km) from Peterborough and 30 miles (48 km) from Cambridge. The population of Benwick was recorded as 1137 in the United Kingdom Census 2011 with 452 households. The River Nene passes through the village, which is thus accessible by boat from the inland waterways network in England.
Stretham is a village and civil parish 4 miles (6 km) south-south-west of Ely in Cambridgeshire, England, about 74 miles (119 km) by road from London. Its main attraction is Stretham Old Engine, a steam-powered pump used to drain the fens. The pump is still in use today although converted to electric power. It has open days throughout the year.
Ely Rural District was a rural district in England from 1894 to 1974. It was named after Ely, but did not include the city itself, instead covering the rural area to the west and north of it. It formed part of the administrative county of the Isle of Ely from 1894 to 1965, when this was merged into Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely.
Chesterton is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was created upon the splitting up of the three member Cambridgeshire constituency into three single member divisions in 1885. The seat was abolished in 1918 when Cambridgeshire was recreated as a single-member constituency.
Wentworth is a small village near Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. It is in the Isle of Ely, adjacent to Grunty Fen, Wentworth lies south of the A142 between Witchford and Sutton, approximately 5 miles west of Ely. The village is centred on St Peter’s Church and a number of listed buildings at the junction of Main Street and Church Road. Residents travel to nearby settlements, including Ely for many goods and services. In 2015, there was no public transport serving the village. However, as of 2017, there is a limited bus service and the nearest railway station serving the village is Ely. In the 1870s, Wentworth, Cambridgeshire was described as:
" a parish in Ely district, Cambridge; 4½ miles W by S of Ely r. station. Post town, Ely. Acres, 1,437. Real property, £2,653. Pop., 180. Houses, 40. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely. Value, £450.* Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Ely. The church is partly Norman, chiefly early English, and all good."
Witchford is a village and civil parish about 2.5 miles (4 km) west of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,385.
Little Thetford is a small village in the civil parish of Thetford, 3 miles (5 km) south of Ely in Cambridgeshire, England, about 76 miles (122 km) by road from London. The village is built on a boulder clay island surrounded by flat fenland countryside, typical of settlements in this part of the East of England.
Between Anglo-Saxon times and the 19th century Cambridgeshire was divided for administrative purposes into 17 hundreds, plus the borough of Cambridge. Each hundred had a separate council that met each month to rule on local judicial and taxation matters.
Welches Dam is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Manea, in the Fenland district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is around 5 miles (8 km) to the north west of Ely. The parish covered an area of 2,355 acres (953 ha). Within the parish boundaries were the hamlet of the same name and the settlement of Purls Bridge. In 1951 the parish had a population of 69. Welches Dam is the site of the visitor centre for the RSPB Ouse Washes reserve.
