Cambridgeshire is a ceremonial county in the East of England, 1,310 square miles (3,390 km2) of fen, clay and chalk. About 897,200 people lived there at the 2021 census. Cambridge is the county town, but Peterborough is the larger city.
Six councils cover the county: Cambridgeshire County Council with the districts of Cambridge, East Cambridgeshire, Fenland, Huntingdonshire and South Cambridgeshire, plus the separate unitary authority of Peterborough.
| Country | England, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Region | East of England |
| Area | 1,310 sq mi (3,390 km2) |
| Population (2021) | 897,217 |
| Density | 265 people per km2 |
| County town | Cambridge |
| Largest city | Peterborough (216,470) |
| Cities | Cambridge, Ely, Peterborough |
| Lowest point | Holme Fen, about 2.75 m below sea level |
Towns and Villages in Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire has roughly 415 named towns, villages and hamlets. The list below shows about 270 of them, split between the county council area and Peterborough.
Cambridgeshire (234 of 360 shown)
- Abbots Ripton
- Abbotsley
- Alconbury
- Alconbury Weald
- Alwalton
- Ashley
- Babraham
- Badlingham
- Balsham
- Bar Hill
- Bartlow
- Barton
- Bassingbourn
- Begdale
- Black Bank
- Bluntisham
- Bottisham
- Bourn
- Brampton
- Bridgefoot
- Brinkley
- Broad Green
- Broughton
- Buckden
- Bunker’s Hill
- Burwell
- Bury
- Caldecote
- Cambourne
- Cambridge
- Cardinal’s Green
- Castle Camps
- Catworth
- Caxton
- Chatteris
- Chesterton
- Cheveley
- Childerley
- Chippenham
- Chittering
- Clayhithe
- Coldham
- Comberton
- Commercial End
- Coppingford
- Coton
- Cottenham
- Coveney
- Croxton
- Croydon
- Dillington
- Doddington
- Down Field
- Dry Drayton
- Dullingham
- Dunkirk
- Duxford
- Earith
- East Hatley
- Eaton Socon
- Eldernell
- Ellington
- Elsworth
- Eltisley
- Elton
- Ely
- Eversden
- Fen Ditton
- Fenstanton
- Fenton
- Folksworth
- Fordham
- Foul Anchor
- Fowlmere
- Foxton
- Friday Bridge
- Fulbourn
- Gamlingay
- Girton
- Glatton
- Godmanchester
- Gold Hill
- Grafham
- Grantchester
- Graveley
- Great Chishill
- Great Eversden
- Great Gidding
- Great Gransden
- Great Paxton
- Great Shelford
- Great Staughton
- Great Stukeley
- Great Wilbraham
- Guilden Morden
- Guyhirn
- Haddenham
- Hail Weston
- Hamerton
- Harlton
- Harston
- Hartford
- Haslingfield
- Hauxton
- Hemingford Abbots
- Hemingford Grey
- Heydon
- Hilton
- Hinxton
- Histon
- Holme
- Holywell
- Horningsea
- Horseheath
- Houghton
- Huntingdon
- Ickleton
- Impington
- Isleham
- Kimbolton
- King’s Dyke
- Kingston
- Kirtling
- Knapwell
- Lark Hall Corner
- Leverington
- Linton
- Litlington
- Little Chishill
- Little Eversden
- Little Green
- Little Paxton
- Little Raveley
- Little Thetford
- Littleport
- Lode
- Long Meadow
- Long Stowe
- Longstanton
- Manea
- March
- Melbourn
- Meldreth
- Mepal
- Mile End
- Molesworth
- Morden Green
- Murrow
- Needingworth
- Norman Cross
- Northstowe
- Oakington
- Offord Cluny
- Old Hurst
- Old Wimpole
- Orwell
- Over
- Pampisford
- Papworth Everard
- Parson Drove
- Perry
- Pondersbridge
- Prickwillow
- Primrose Place
- Quy Waters
- Ramsey
- Ramsey Forty Foot
- Ramsey Hollow
- Ramsey Saint Marys
- Ring’s End
- Rogues Alley
- Saint Ives
- Saint Neots
- Sawston
- Sawtry
- Saxon Street
- Shepreth
- Shudy Camps
- Six Mile Bottom
- Soham
- Somersham
- Southoe
- Spaldwick
- Steeple Gidding
- Steeple Morden
- Stetchworth
- Stilton
- Stonea
- Stow cum Quy
- Streetly End
- Stretham
- Sutton
- Sutton Gault
- Swaffham Bulbeck
- Swaffham Prior
- Swavesey
- Tadlow
- The Lipneas
- Thriplow
- Tilbrook
- Tipps End
- Toft
- Trumpington
- Upend
- Upton
- Upwood
- Warboys
- Wardy Hill
- Waresley
- Waterbeach
- Weald
- Wendy
- Wenny Severals
- West End
- West Wratting
- Westley Bottom
- Weston Colville
- Westry
- Whittlesey
- Whittlesford
- Wicken
- Wilburton
- Willingham
- Wimblington
- Wimpole
- Winwick
- Wisbech
- Wistow
- Witcham
- Witchford
- Wood Walton
- Woodhurst
- Yaxley
- Yelling
Peterborough (36 of 55 shown)
- Ailsworth
- Bainton
- Barnack
- Castor
- Eastfield
- Etton
- Eye
- Glinton
- Gunthorpe
- Hampton Hargate
- Helpston
- Lolham
- Lynch Wood
- Maxey
- Milking Nook
- Millfield
- New Fletton
- Newborough
- Northborough
- Old Fletton
- Orton Brimbles
- Orton Longueville
- Orton Northgate
- Orton Waterville
- Orton Wistow
- Peakirk
- Peterborough
- Ravensthorpe
- Stanground
- Stanground South
- Thorney
- Ufford
- Walton
- Wansford
- Westwood
- Wittering
Geography
Lincolnshire lies to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex to the south-east, Hertfordshire to the south, Bedfordshire to the south-west and Northamptonshire to the west.
The northern half is the Fens: drained peat and silt, laid out in straight dykes and long fields, and among the flattest and most fertile land in Britain. Holme Fen, south of Peterborough, lies about 2.75 metres below sea level and is the lowest ground in the country. The peat there has shrunk so much since drainage that the Holme Posts, driven in level with the surface in 1851, now stand roughly four metres proud.
South of the Fens the land rises gently over Gault clay and chalk towards the Gog Magog Hills near Cambridge. The Great Ouse, the Cam and the Nene are the main rivers; all three reach the sea through the Wash.
Demographics
The 2021 census counted 897,217 residents. Peterborough had 216,470, Huntingdonshire 181,827, South Cambridgeshire 163,042, Cambridge 145,022, Fenland 102,731 and East Cambridgeshire 88,125.
Cambridge is young and highly qualified, with about 30% of residents aged 18 to 29 and two universities in the city. Peterborough and the Fenland towns have large Eastern European populations, drawn since 2004 by food processing and field work; Wisbech and March both record substantial Lithuanian, Latvian and Polish communities.
Economy and Local Life
Cambridge anchors the technology cluster often called Silicon Fen. Chip design, software and life sciences firms cluster on the science parks and around the Biomedical Campus at Addenbrooke’s, where research institutes sit alongside the region’s main teaching hospital.
The Fens produce a large share of England’s field vegetables, sugar beet, celery and salad crops, supported by processing plants at Wisbech, Chatteris and March. Peterborough works in logistics, insurance and manufacturing, helped by its position on the East Coast Main Line and the A1.
Ely Cathedral, the Ship of the Fens, dominates the skyline for miles and draws steady visitor numbers, as do the Cambridge colleges and the Imperial War Museum airfield at Duxford.
History
The Isle of Ely was an island in the marshes and the last serious pocket of English resistance to the Normans, held by Hereward the Wake until 1071. The cathedral was begun in 1083.
Oliver Cromwell was born in Huntingdon in 1599 and farmed at St Ives and Ely before the Civil War. Large-scale fen drainage began in the 1630s under the Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden, whose Old and New Bedford Rivers still run dead straight across the landscape.
The University of Cambridge dates from 1209, founded by scholars who had left Oxford. The modern county took shape in 1974, when Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely merged with Huntingdon and Peterborough; Peterborough became a unitary authority in 1998.
Getting There
The A1 and A1(M) run north to south through Peterborough, Huntingdon and St Neots. The M11 comes up from London to Cambridge, the A14 crosses from Huntingdon to Newmarket and Felixstowe, and the A47 links Peterborough to Norfolk and the Midlands.
East Coast Main Line trains call at Peterborough and Huntingdon, reaching London King’s Cross in under an hour. Cambridge has direct services to King’s Cross and Liverpool Street, Thameslink trains through central London to Brighton, the Fen Line north to Ely and King’s Lynn, and routes east to Norwich and Ipswich. The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway links Cambridge to St Ives and Huntingdon on a former railway. London Stansted Airport is 30 miles south of Cambridge.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the population of Cambridgeshire?
897,217 at the 2021 census, including 216,470 in Peterborough.
What is the largest city in Cambridgeshire?
Peterborough, with 216,470 people. Cambridge, the county town, had 145,022.
How many councils cover Cambridgeshire?
Six: Cambridgeshire County Council with five district councils, plus Peterborough City Council, which is a unitary authority.
Where is the lowest point in Britain?
Holme Fen in Cambridgeshire, about 2.75 metres below sea level, south of Peterborough.
What are the postcode areas for Cambridgeshire?
CB for Cambridge and Ely, PE for Peterborough, Wisbech, March and Huntingdon, and a small part of SG in the south.