Whittlesey - History and Architecture

History and Architecture

Whittlesey appears in the Cartularium Saxonicum (973 A.D.) as Witlesig, in the Domesday Book as Witesie, and in the Inquisitio Eliensis (1086 A.D.) as Wittleseia. The meaning is “Wit(t)el’s island”, deriving from either Witil, “the name of a moneyer”, or a diminutive of Witta, a personal name; + “eg”, meaning “'island', also used of a piece of firm land in a fen.”

Before the draining of the fens, Whittlesey was an island of dry ground surrounded by the marshy fens. Excavations of nearby Flag Fen indicate thriving local settlements as far back as 1000 BC. In more recent times Whittlesey was linked to Peterborough in the west and March in the east by the Roman Fen Causeway, probably built in the 1st century AD, and Roman artefacts have been recovered at nearby Eldernell. In 2010, in the nearby village of Eastrea, a Roman skeleton was discovered. Named 'Maximus' by villagers, the 2000 year old skeleton was unearthed during an archaeological dig on the proposed site of the new Eastrea village hall.

The town's two parishes of St Mary's and St Andrew's were controlled by the abbeys in Thorney and Ely respectively until the Dissolution of the Monasteries (c.1540). St Mary's church dates back to the fifteenth century, but the majority of the building is later, and the church now boasts one of the largest buttressed spires in Cambridgeshire. St Andrew's is a mixture of perpendicular and decorated styles and has records back to 1635. The parishes were combined for administrative purposes by the Whittlesey Improvement Act of 1849. Despite the proximity of Peterborough, Whittlesey is in the Diocese of Ely.

Until its draining in 1851, nearby Whittlesey Mere was the largest lake in southern England, and the town is still accessible by water, connected to the river Nene by King's Dyke which forms part of the Nene-Ouse Navigation link. Moorings can be found at Ashline Lock alongside the Manor Leisure Centre's cricket and football pitches.>

Other notable historic features include the market cross, known as the buttercross, dating back to 1680, the old town hall (once also serving as the fire station, and now the town museum) of 1857 and a number of thatched mud walls.

The town is also notable for its three 80-metre high wind turbines, which are the largest on-shore turbines in England. They power the McCains chips plant, reducing their electricity bills by 60%.

The town has one secondary school, Sir Harry Smith Community College (built on the site of Whittlesey Workhouse), and three primary schools. There is also another primary school in the neighbouring village of Coates.