Huntingdon

Huntingdon, an inland county of England, lies between Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire, which close it in on the N.E. and W., and has Bedfordshire to the S., and is watered by the Ouse.

Its area is 229,515 acres, and in the N. it is very level, much of it belonging to the Fen district, but the surface varies somewhat in the W. and S. The soil is generally loam with clay and gravel, and is not particularly fertile, except on the meadow-lands, which are renowned for their richness. The agricultural farming is good, but there is little dairy farming, and nothing remarkable about the breeds of sheep or cattle. The agriculture is improving, and several of the remaining lakes have been drained. Once part of Mercia, the county was forest, though little timber now remains, and remained for a long time under forest-laws. It returns two members to Parliament, being divided for this purpose into north and south. Huntingdon, the capital, is about 60 miles N. of London, on the left bank of the Ouse, the site sloping down to the river. There are two fine old churches, and a large market-place, and the Great Northern Railway has a station. The corn and wool trade occupy many, and there are breweries, an iron-foundry, brickworks, and oil mills. Huntingdon was the birth-place of Oliver Cromwell.