Littleport, Cambridgeshire
Encyclopedia
Littleport is the largest village
in East Cambridgeshire
, England, approximately 6 miles (10 km) north of Ely
and 6 miles (10 km) south-east of Welney
. It lies on the Bedford Level South section of the River Great Ouse
, close to Burnt Fen
and Mare Fen
. There are two Primary schools in the village; Millfield Primary and Littleport Community school.
The Littleport riots of 1816
were a factor in Parliament
passing the Vagrancy Act of 1824
.
s to the Abbot's of Ely
in 1086.
Littleport was the site of the Littleport Riots of 1816. War-weary veterans from the Battle of Waterloo
had returned home, only to find that they could not get any work, and that the grain prices had gone up. They took to the streets and smashed shops and other buildings until troops came to put an end to the riots. St George's church registers were destroyed during the riots. The remaining registers start from 1754 (marriages), 1756 (burials), and 1783 (baptisms). Some original historical documents relating to the riots are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies
at the County Record Office Cambridge.
In 2003 a Harley-Davidson
statue was unveiled in Littleport to commemorate the centenary of the famous motorcycle company. William Harley, the father of the company's co-founder William Sylvester Harley, had been born in Victoria Street, Littleport, in 1835, before emigrating to the USA in 1859.
, cemeteries
, shared equity housing, local planning consultation, play areas, village halls, and war memorials. Parish council meetings are held in the village hall
situated in each civil parish.
The civil parish councils were governed by Ely Rural District
council from 1894 until 1974. East Cambridgeshire District Council
(ECDC) was formed in 1974 with administration buildings in Ely
. The district council collects taxes
, provides services such as building regulations and local planning, leisure and tourism, handles issues strategic to the district, and many other services. ECDC is in turn governed by Cambridgeshire County Council
which has administration buildings in Cambridge
. The county council provides county-wide services such as major road infrastructure, fire and rescue, libraries and heritage, and strategic planning.
The parish is represented in the House of Commons
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
as part of North East Cambridgeshire. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP)
by the first past the post system of election. It is also part of the East of England constituency
of the European Parliament
which elects seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method
of party-list proportional representation
.
.
From 1979-1983, Jim Burns guitars were based in Padnal Road in Littleport. They produced guitars such as the Steer, popularized by guitarist Billy Bragg
.
. Protected from the cool onshore coastal breezes east of the region, Cambridgeshire is warm in summer and cold and frosty in winter.
Regional UK climate forecasts
and historical summaries are available from the UK Met Office
. The nearest Met Office weather station
is Cambridge NIAB.
There are many additional local weather stations reporting periodic figures to the internet. For example, via Weather Underground
, Inc.
by area. The city of Ely itself has the highest East Cambridgeshire population with Soham
second and Littleport third.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in East Cambridgeshire
East Cambridgeshire
East Cambridgeshire is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in Ely....
, England, approximately 6 miles (10 km) north of Ely
Ely, Cambridgeshire
Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about by road from London. It is built on a Lower Greensand island, which at a maximum elevation of is the highest land in the Fens...
and 6 miles (10 km) south-east of Welney
Welney
Welney is a village and civil parish in the Fens of England, and the county of Norfolk. The village is situated immediately to the west of parallel Old Bedford River, River Delph and New Bedford River, which are here crossed by the A1101 road. The village is some south-west of the town of Downham...
. It lies on the Bedford Level South section of the River Great Ouse
River Great Ouse
The Great Ouse is a river in the east of England. At long, it is the fourth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The river has been important for navigation, and for draining the low-lying region through which it flows. Its course has been modified several times, with the first recorded being in...
, close to Burnt Fen
Burnt Fen
Burnt Fen is an area of low-lying land crossed by the A1101 road between Littleport in Cambridgeshire and Mildenhall in Suffolk, England. It is surrounded on three sides by rivers, and consists of prime agricultural land, with sparse settlement...
and Mare Fen
Mare Fen
Mare Fen is managed as a nature reserve by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough. It lies north of the village of Swavesey and west of Over in the county of Cambridgeshire.- References :- External links :...
. There are two Primary schools in the village; Millfield Primary and Littleport Community school.
The Littleport riots of 1816
Ely and Littleport riots 1816
The Ely and Littleport riots, also known as the Littleport riots, began in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, on 22 May 1816, against a background of similar unrest throughout the country following the Napoleonic Wars. A group of 56 Littleport residents met at The Globe Inn to discuss the high...
were a factor in Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
passing the Vagrancy Act of 1824
Vagrancy Act 1824
The Vagrancy Act 1824 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was introduced in 1824 as a measure to deal with specific problems in England following the Napoleonic Wars...
.
History
With an Old English name of Litelport, the village was worth 17,000 EelEel
Eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...
s to the Abbot's of Ely
Isle of Ely
The Isle of Ely is a historic region around the city of Ely now in Cambridgeshire, England but previously a county in its own right.-Etymology:...
in 1086.
Littleport was the site of the Littleport Riots of 1816. War-weary veterans from the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
had returned home, only to find that they could not get any work, and that the grain prices had gone up. They took to the streets and smashed shops and other buildings until troops came to put an end to the riots. St George's church registers were destroyed during the riots. The remaining registers start from 1754 (marriages), 1756 (burials), and 1783 (baptisms). Some original historical documents relating to the riots are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies
Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies
Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies Service is a UK local government institution which collects and preserves archives, other historical documents and printed material relating to the modern county of Cambridgeshire, which includes the former counties of Huntingdonshire and the Isle of Ely...
at the County Record Office Cambridge.
In 2003 a Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson , often abbreviated H-D or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first decade of the 20th century, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression...
statue was unveiled in Littleport to commemorate the centenary of the famous motorcycle company. William Harley, the father of the company's co-founder William Sylvester Harley, had been born in Victoria Street, Littleport, in 1835, before emigrating to the USA in 1859.
Governance
Littleport is a civil parish with an elected council. Parish council services include bus sheltersBus stop
A bus stop is a designated place where buses stop for passengers to board or leave a bus. These are normally positioned on the highway and are distinct from off-highway facilities such as bus stations. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage...
, cemeteries
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
, shared equity housing, local planning consultation, play areas, village halls, and war memorials. Parish council meetings are held in the village hall
Village hall
In the United States, a village hall is the seat of government for villages. It functions much as a city hall does within cities.In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building within a village which contains at least one large room, usually owned by and run for the benefit of the local...
situated in each civil parish.
The civil parish councils were governed by Ely Rural District
Ely Rural District
Ely was a rural district in England from 1894 to 1974. It was named after Ely, and surrounded it to the west and north. The district was created in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894 from the Ely rural sanitary district...
council from 1894 until 1974. East Cambridgeshire District Council
East Cambridgeshire
East Cambridgeshire is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in Ely....
(ECDC) was formed in 1974 with administration buildings in Ely
Ely, Cambridgeshire
Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about by road from London. It is built on a Lower Greensand island, which at a maximum elevation of is the highest land in the Fens...
. The district council collects taxes
Council tax
Council Tax is the system of local taxation used in England, Scotland and Wales to part fund the services provided by local government in each country. It was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as a successor to the unpopular Community Charge...
, provides services such as building regulations and local planning, leisure and tourism, handles issues strategic to the district, and many other services. ECDC is in turn governed by Cambridgeshire County Council
Cambridgeshire local elections
Cambridgeshire County Council is elected every four years by the first past the post system of election. The council currently consists of 69 councillors, representing 60 electoral divisions. The Conservative Party has a majority on the council, having gained control in the 1997 local elections...
which has administration buildings in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
. The county council provides county-wide services such as major road infrastructure, fire and rescue, libraries and heritage, and strategic planning.
The parish is represented in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
as part of North East Cambridgeshire. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP)
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
by the first past the post system of election. It is also part of the East of England constituency
East of England (European Parliament constituency)
East of England is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 7 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
which elects seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method
D'Hondt method
The d'Hondt method is a highest averages method for allocating seats in party-list proportional representation. The method described is named after Belgian mathematician Victor D'Hondt who described it in 1878...
of party-list proportional representation
Party-list proportional representation
Party-list proportional representation systems are a family of voting systems emphasizing proportional representation in elections in which multiple candidates are elected...
.
Economy
Thomas Peacock, who founded the gentlemen's tailoring chain Hope Brothers, was born in Littleport in 1829. The first Hope Brothers shirt-making factory was opened in the village in 1882. For a period in the 1940s and 1950s, Hope Brothers were also manufacturers of the England football kit. The factory was eventually taken over by BurberryBurberry
Burberry Group plc is a British luxury fashion house, manufacturing clothing, fragrance, and fashion accessories. Its distinctive tartan pattern has become one of its most widely copied trademarks. Burberry is most famous for its iconic trench coat, which was invented by founder Thomas Burberry...
.
From 1979-1983, Jim Burns guitars were based in Padnal Road in Littleport. They produced guitars such as the Steer, popularized by guitarist Billy Bragg
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...
.
Climate
With an average annual rainfall of 24 inches (609.6 mm), Cambridgeshire is one of the driest counties in the British IslesBritish Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
. Protected from the cool onshore coastal breezes east of the region, Cambridgeshire is warm in summer and cold and frosty in winter.
Regional UK climate forecasts
Weather forecasting
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a given location. Human beings have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia, and formally since the nineteenth century...
and historical summaries are available from the UK Met Office
Met Office
The Met Office , is the United Kingdom's national weather service, and a trading fund of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
. The nearest Met Office weather station
Weather station
A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for observing atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, wind speed, wind...
is Cambridge NIAB.
There are many additional local weather stations reporting periodic figures to the internet. For example, via Weather Underground
Weather Underground (weather service)
Weather Underground is a commercial weather service that provides real-time weather information via the Internet. Weather Underground provides weather reports for most major cities across the world on its Web site, as well as local weather reports for newspapers and Web sites...
, Inc.
Demography
Littleport is 28.46 square miles (73.7 km²) in size making it the largest village in East CambridgeshireEast Cambridgeshire
East Cambridgeshire is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in Ely....
by area. The city of Ely itself has the highest East Cambridgeshire population with Soham
Soham
Soham is a small town in the English county of Cambridgeshire. It lies just off the A142 between Ely and Newmarket . Its population is 9,102 , and it is within the district of East Cambridgeshire.-Archaeology:...
second and Littleport third.