March, Cambridgeshire
Encyclopedia
March is a Fenland
market town and civil parish in the Isle of Ely
area of Cambridgeshire
, England
. March was the county town
of the Isle of Ely, a separate administrative county between 1889 and 1965, and is now the administrative centre of Fenland District Council.
The town was an important railway centre, with a major junction station
on the Great Eastern
and Great Northern railway
s, 88 miles (141.6 km) from London by rail, 29 miles (46.7 km) north of Cambridge
, 14 miles (22.5 km) north west of Ely
and 9 miles (14.5 km) south of Wisbech
.
Like many Fenland towns, March was once an island surrounded by marshes. It occupied the second largest "island" in the Great Level. As the land drained, the town grew and prospered as a trading and religious centre. It was also a minor port and, in more recent times, a market town and an administrative and railway centre. The town is situated on the banks of the old course of the River Nene
, which is navigable, and today mainly used by pleasure boats.
, the Fen Causeway
and there is evidence of Roman settlements in the area.
Before the draining of the fens
, the town was effectively an island in the marshy fens. It was formed from two settlements, Merche and Mercheford, separated by a canal. The town probably owes its origin to the ford on the old course of the Nene, where the road between Ely
and Wisbech
, the two chief towns of the Isle of Ely, crossed the river. At one time shipping on the River Nene provided the basis of the town's trade, but this declined with coming of the railways in the 19th century.
A bridge of one arch was erected over the River Nene towards the north end of the town in 1850. High Street, which is the chief thoroughfare, is continued over the bridge to Broad Street on the north side of the Nene, and the High Causeway is lined with a fine avenue of elm and other trees.
A Local Board of Health was formed in 1851, under the Act, 14 and 15 Vict. c. 103 (1851), but under the provisions of the Local Government Act, 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), the town became governed by an Urban District Council of 12 members, and was gaslit from the worka of the March Gas and Coke Co. Limited. The Wisbech Water Works Company, by a provisional order obtained in 1884, supplied the town with water, which was brought through mains from Wisbech, a distance of 10 miles (16 km).
The town was divided into four ecclesiastical parishes which, with three others, were formed out of the parish of Doddington
subsequently to 1863, according to the provisions of the Doddington Rectory Division Acts, 10 and 11 Vict. c. 3 (1847) and 19 and 20 Vict. c. 1 (1856)."
"The area of the entire civil parish is 19669 acres (79.6 km²) of land and 108 of water; rateable value, £47,414; the area of the ecclesiastical parishes is:- St. Mary, 7,143; St John 3,485; St. Peter, 4,072.
The population of the civil parish and urban district in 1891 was 6,988; and the ecclesiastical parishes, viz.
St. John, 3,685; St. Mary, 634; St. Peter, 1,697 and St. Wendreda, 972."
March is also home to HM Prison
Whitemoor
, first opened in 1992. It houses around 500 of the most dangerous prisoners in the UK
.
, March was a minor port. In 1566 eight boats, capable of carrying one, one and a half, or two cartloads, were used in the coal and grain trades. A certain amount of traffic - in coal and other commodities, carried in barges, was observed by Dugdale
in 1657. Local tradesmen’s tokens of 1669, and a silver shilling token of 1811, have been noted.
Originally a market appears to have been held near the original town (then village) centre, on land beside The Causeway. A Market Cross (now called The Stone Cross) points towards the existence of an early market and this cross was erected in the early 16th century. This site was very near to St Wendreda’s Church.
In 1669 the people of the town successfully petitioned King Charles II
and in 1670 he granted the Lord of the Manor of Doddington
a Royal Charter endowing the right to hold a market with two annual fairs, in spite of the opposition of Wisbech Corporation. This market was held on Fridays. The Lord of the Manor of Doddington, who owned a large part of March, gave special permission to the townspeople to sell their goods on some of his land in the town centre. This site, now called the Market Place, was then known as Bridge Green Common and later named Market Hill.
In 1785 the tolls were assessed at £6 per year. Soon after this the market appears to have lapsed, though the fairs continued at this period to be prosperous. The development of the market was impeded by the absence of a covered hall and by the fact that market day in March and several neighbouring towns fell on the same day (Friday).
In 1807 the Vestry decided that it was not hygienic for goods to be loaded or unloaded in the vicinity of the market and ordered all saw pits, timber and other encroachments around the Market Place to be removed. The market was struggling during this time and an attempt to revive it in 1821 was not very successful. A Butter Cross, also known as a market house, was erected in 1831. This building also housed the town fire engine and had an upstairs room that for a time housed the ‘Clock House School’ and later the Town Surveyor’s Office. This office was covered by a turret which housed the Town Clock (purchased by public subscription about 1750) and the Fire Bell. During later refurbishments this clock was re-housed in St Peter’s Church Tower. The Town Stocks were also placed in the Market Place and local offenders (and those who refused to go to church) were placed in them.
The want of a market house was remedied, in a make-shift fashion, by Sir Henry Peyton (who was the Lord of the Manor of Doddington). His building, however, was only 40 ft (12.2 m) by 17 ft (5.2 m), and provided only 14 stalls under cover.
After the opening of the railway in 1847 another attempt was made to increase the market. In 1851 the market had been stated to be ‘making progress’; and £150 was subscribed to give a treat to the poor at its re-opening. The difficulty of the clashing with other market days was solved in December 1856 by changing the day from Friday to Wednesday ‘by private arrangement and without any formalities’. The tolls were, however, collected in an arbitrary and haphazard way; they were assessed for poor rate purposes at £10.
In 1872 the Board of Health bought a Shand and Mason fire engine that was the town’s first steam appliance that was to be housed in the Market House. During the same year the vestry agreed to erect a urinal at the back of the Butter Cross for use by boys attending the Clock House School, but would not erect a water closet (toilet).
The market toll-keeper in 1888, though he had no fixed scale of charges and kept no record of receipts, was said to be taking about £50 a year. The success and prosperity of the market fluctuated over the years and an attempt by the Local Board to purchase the market rights to mark Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee
of 1887 was a failure. However in 1897 Sir Algernon Peyton agreed to sell the market rights, the Market Place and Market House to March Urban District Council for the sum of £800. At that time the market was leased to F. B. Phillips who agreed to surrender his lease in 1898 subject to receiving the market tolls for one year without charge.
The market rights passed to Fenland District Council following the Local Government Re-organisation in 1974.
She was a 7th century Anglo-Saxon
who is supposed to be a daughter of King Anna of East Anglia
(killed 654) one of the first Christian Kings of the kingdom of East Anglia. Two of her sisters, Etheldreda
and Sexburgha
, who were the abbesses of Ely
and Minster-in-Sheppey
respectively, are better known saints. She is also associated with Exning
, Suffolk.
The saint’s relics were enshrined in gold, in Ely Cathedral
, until in 1016 they were carried off to battle in the hope they would bring victory to Edmund Ironside
the son of King Ethelred. But at the Battle of Ashingdon
the army of King Canute
captured the relics and he presented them to Canterbury Cathedral
. In 1343 the relics were returned to March but their final resting place is unknown.
The church is world famous for its magnificent double-hammer beam roof and together with 120 carved angels it is regarded as one of the best of its kind.
John Betjeman
described the church as "worth cycling 40 miles (64.4 km) in a head wind to see".
In Victorian times, other Anglican churches were built in March, nearer to where the majority of the inhabitants now lived.
It is open every Saturday and Wednesday from 10:30 - 15:30 and contains a vast amount of local memorabilia, both from March, and its surrounding villages. Such artefacts include the clock face from the Church of St Mary, Benwick
and a large collection of cameras.
identified a need for a supply depot and redeveloped part of the site.
since 1979. It is unusual for the homophonous
phrase of the walk's name.
The town has several bars and restaurants. In 2008, the Barracuda group transformed the landmark Griffin hotel into a "Smith & Jones" branded pub, and in March 2011 Wetherpoons opened in the former Hippodrome bingo hall.
The towns major employers are Whitemoor prison, Tesco and Sainbury supermarkets and the many food processing factories in the area.
Fenland
Fenland is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in March, and covers the neighbouring market towns of Chatteris, Whittlesey, and Wisbech, often called the "capital of the fens"...
market town and civil parish in the Isle 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:...
area of Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. March was the county town
County town
A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...
of the Isle of Ely, a separate administrative county between 1889 and 1965, and is now the administrative centre of Fenland District Council.
The town was an important railway centre, with a major junction station
March railway station
March railway station serves the town of March in Cambridgeshire, England. The station is east of Peterborough on the Ely to Peterborough Line....
on the Great Eastern
Great Eastern Railway
The Great Eastern Railway was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia...
and Great Northern railway
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
s, 88 miles (141.6 km) from London by rail, 29 miles (46.7 km) north of 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...
, 14 miles (22.5 km) north west 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 9 miles (14.5 km) south of Wisbech
Wisbech
Wisbech is a market town, inland port and civil parish with a population of 20,200 in the Fens of Cambridgeshire. The tidal River Nene runs through the centre of the town and is spanned by two bridges...
.
Like many Fenland towns, March was once an island surrounded by marshes. It occupied the second largest "island" in the Great Level. As the land drained, the town grew and prospered as a trading and religious centre. It was also a minor port and, in more recent times, a market town and an administrative and railway centre. The town is situated on the banks of the old course of the River Nene
River Nene
The River Nene is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in the county of Northamptonshire. The tidal river forms the border between Cambridgeshire and Norfolk for about . It is the tenth longest river in the United Kingdom, and is navigable for from Northampton to The...
, which is navigable, and today mainly used by pleasure boats.
History
Modern March lies on the path of the Roman roadRoman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
, the Fen Causeway
Fen Causeway
Fen Causeway or the Fen Road is the modern name for a Roman road of England that runs between Denver, Norfolk in the east and Peterborough in the west. Its path covers , passing March and Eldernell before joining the major Roman north-south route Ermine Street west of modern-day Peterborough...
and there is evidence of Roman settlements in the area.
Before the draining of the fens
The Fens
The Fens, also known as the , are a naturally marshy region in eastern England. Most of the fens were drained several centuries ago, resulting in a flat, damp, low-lying agricultural region....
, the town was effectively an island in the marshy fens. It was formed from two settlements, Merche and Mercheford, separated by a canal. The town probably owes its origin to the ford on the old course of the Nene, where the road between 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 Wisbech
Wisbech
Wisbech is a market town, inland port and civil parish with a population of 20,200 in the Fens of Cambridgeshire. The tidal River Nene runs through the centre of the town and is spanned by two bridges...
, the two chief towns of the Isle of Ely, crossed the river. At one time shipping on the River Nene provided the basis of the town's trade, but this declined with coming of the railways in the 19th century.
A bridge of one arch was erected over the River Nene towards the north end of the town in 1850. High Street, which is the chief thoroughfare, is continued over the bridge to Broad Street on the north side of the Nene, and the High Causeway is lined with a fine avenue of elm and other trees.
A Local Board of Health was formed in 1851, under the Act, 14 and 15 Vict. c. 103 (1851), but under the provisions of the Local Government Act, 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), the town became governed by an Urban District Council of 12 members, and was gaslit from the worka of the March Gas and Coke Co. Limited. The Wisbech Water Works Company, by a provisional order obtained in 1884, supplied the town with water, which was brought through mains from Wisbech, a distance of 10 miles (16 km).
The town was divided into four ecclesiastical parishes which, with three others, were formed out of the parish of Doddington
Doddington, Cambridgeshire
Doddington is a village in Cambridgeshire, between Chatteris and March. Historically, Doddington was one of the largest parishes in England. Under the Doddington Rectory Division Act of 1856 it was divided into seven rectories, Benwick, Doddington, Wimblington, March Old Town, March St Peter,...
subsequently to 1863, according to the provisions of the Doddington Rectory Division Acts, 10 and 11 Vict. c. 3 (1847) and 19 and 20 Vict. c. 1 (1856)."
"The area of the entire civil parish is 19669 acres (79.6 km²) of land and 108 of water; rateable value, £47,414; the area of the ecclesiastical parishes is:- St. Mary, 7,143; St John 3,485; St. Peter, 4,072.
The population of the civil parish and urban district in 1891 was 6,988; and the ecclesiastical parishes, viz.
St. John, 3,685; St. Mary, 634; St. Peter, 1,697 and St. Wendreda, 972."
March is also home to HM Prison
Her Majesty's Prison Service
Her Majesty's Prison Service is a part of the National Offender Management Service of the Government of the United Kingdom tasked with managing most of the prisons within England and Wales...
Whitemoor
Whitemoor (HM Prison)
HM Prison Whitemoor is a Category A men's prison, located near the town of March in Cambridgeshire, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.-History:...
, first opened in 1992. It houses around 500 of the most dangerous prisoners in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Market
With a long history of trading, in the reign of Elizabeth IElizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, March was a minor port. In 1566 eight boats, capable of carrying one, one and a half, or two cartloads, were used in the coal and grain trades. A certain amount of traffic - in coal and other commodities, carried in barges, was observed by Dugdale
William Dugdale
Sir William Dugdale was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject.-Life:...
in 1657. Local tradesmen’s tokens of 1669, and a silver shilling token of 1811, have been noted.
Originally a market appears to have been held near the original town (then village) centre, on land beside The Causeway. A Market Cross (now called The Stone Cross) points towards the existence of an early market and this cross was erected in the early 16th century. This site was very near to St Wendreda’s Church.
In 1669 the people of the town successfully petitioned King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
and in 1670 he granted the Lord of the Manor of Doddington
Doddington, Cambridgeshire
Doddington is a village in Cambridgeshire, between Chatteris and March. Historically, Doddington was one of the largest parishes in England. Under the Doddington Rectory Division Act of 1856 it was divided into seven rectories, Benwick, Doddington, Wimblington, March Old Town, March St Peter,...
a Royal Charter endowing the right to hold a market with two annual fairs, in spite of the opposition of Wisbech Corporation. This market was held on Fridays. The Lord of the Manor of Doddington, who owned a large part of March, gave special permission to the townspeople to sell their goods on some of his land in the town centre. This site, now called the Market Place, was then known as Bridge Green Common and later named Market Hill.
In 1785 the tolls were assessed at £6 per year. Soon after this the market appears to have lapsed, though the fairs continued at this period to be prosperous. The development of the market was impeded by the absence of a covered hall and by the fact that market day in March and several neighbouring towns fell on the same day (Friday).
In 1807 the Vestry decided that it was not hygienic for goods to be loaded or unloaded in the vicinity of the market and ordered all saw pits, timber and other encroachments around the Market Place to be removed. The market was struggling during this time and an attempt to revive it in 1821 was not very successful. A Butter Cross, also known as a market house, was erected in 1831. This building also housed the town fire engine and had an upstairs room that for a time housed the ‘Clock House School’ and later the Town Surveyor’s Office. This office was covered by a turret which housed the Town Clock (purchased by public subscription about 1750) and the Fire Bell. During later refurbishments this clock was re-housed in St Peter’s Church Tower. The Town Stocks were also placed in the Market Place and local offenders (and those who refused to go to church) were placed in them.
The want of a market house was remedied, in a make-shift fashion, by Sir Henry Peyton (who was the Lord of the Manor of Doddington). His building, however, was only 40 ft (12.2 m) by 17 ft (5.2 m), and provided only 14 stalls under cover.
After the opening of the railway in 1847 another attempt was made to increase the market. In 1851 the market had been stated to be ‘making progress’; and £150 was subscribed to give a treat to the poor at its re-opening. The difficulty of the clashing with other market days was solved in December 1856 by changing the day from Friday to Wednesday ‘by private arrangement and without any formalities’. The tolls were, however, collected in an arbitrary and haphazard way; they were assessed for poor rate purposes at £10.
In 1872 the Board of Health bought a Shand and Mason fire engine that was the town’s first steam appliance that was to be housed in the Market House. During the same year the vestry agreed to erect a urinal at the back of the Butter Cross for use by boys attending the Clock House School, but would not erect a water closet (toilet).
The market toll-keeper in 1888, though he had no fixed scale of charges and kept no record of receipts, was said to be taking about £50 a year. The success and prosperity of the market fluctuated over the years and an attempt by the Local Board to purchase the market rights to mark Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee
A Golden Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 50th anniversary.- In Thailand :King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, celebrated his Golden Jubilee on 9 June 1996.- In the Commonwealth Realms :...
of 1887 was a failure. However in 1897 Sir Algernon Peyton agreed to sell the market rights, the Market Place and Market House to March Urban District Council for the sum of £800. At that time the market was leased to F. B. Phillips who agreed to surrender his lease in 1898 subject to receiving the market tolls for one year without charge.
The market rights passed to Fenland District Council following the Local Government Re-organisation in 1974.
St Wendreda's Church
St Wendreda, to whom the church is dedicated, is the town’s own saint and the only known church dedication to this saint is here.She was a 7th century Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
who is supposed to be a daughter of King Anna of East Anglia
Anna of East Anglia
Anna was King of East Anglia from the early 640s until his death. Anna was a member of the Wuffingas family, the ruling dynasty of the East Angles. He was one of the three sons of Eni who ruled East Anglia, succeeding some time after Ecgric was killed in battle by Penda of Mercia...
(killed 654) one of the first Christian Kings of the kingdom of East Anglia. Two of her sisters, Etheldreda
Æthelthryth
Æthelthryth is the proper name for the popular Anglo-Saxon saint often known, particularly in a religious context, as Etheldreda or by the pet form of Audrey...
and Sexburgha
Seaxburh of Ely
Seaxburh ; also Saint Sexburga of Ely, was the queen of King Eorcenberht of Kent, as well as an abbess and a saint of the Christian Church....
, who were the abbesses 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 Minster-in-Sheppey
Minster-in-Sheppey
Minster is a small town on the north coast of the Isle of Sheppey and in the Swale district of Kent, England.-Toponymy:The name of the town derives from the monastery founded in the area...
respectively, are better known saints. She is also associated with Exning
Exning
Exning is a village in Suffolk, England.It lies just off the A14 trunk road, roughly east-northeast of Cambridge, and south-south-east of Ely...
, Suffolk.
The saint’s relics were enshrined in gold, in Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral is the principal church of the Diocese of Ely, in Cambridgeshire, England, and is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and a suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon...
, until in 1016 they were carried off to battle in the hope they would bring victory to Edmund Ironside
Edmund Ironside
Edmund Ironside or Edmund II was king of England from 23 April to 30 November 1016. His cognomen "Ironside" is not recorded until 1057, but may have been contemporary. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, it was given to him "because of his valour" in resisting the Danish invasion led by Cnut...
the son of King Ethelred. But at the Battle of Ashingdon
Battle of Ashingdon
The Battle of Assandun was fought on 18 October 1016. There is dispute over whether Assandun may actually be today's Ashdon, or the long supposed Ashingdon, in southeast Essex, England....
the army of King Canute
Canute the Great
Cnut the Great , also known as Canute, was a king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden. Though after the death of his heirs within a decade of his own and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history, historian Norman F...
captured the relics and he presented them to Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....
. In 1343 the relics were returned to March but their final resting place is unknown.
The church is world famous for its magnificent double-hammer beam roof and together with 120 carved angels it is regarded as one of the best of its kind.
John Betjeman
John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman, CBE was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture...
described the church as "worth cycling 40 miles (64.4 km) in a head wind to see".
In Victorian times, other Anglican churches were built in March, nearer to where the majority of the inhabitants now lived.
March Museum
March has its own museum, located down the High Street. It is in the building that was originally the South District Girls school, constructed in the 1850s, it went from school to school, until 1976 when the building was purchased by the Town Council. The Museum was opened in 1977.It is open every Saturday and Wednesday from 10:30 - 15:30 and contains a vast amount of local memorabilia, both from March, and its surrounding villages. Such artefacts include the clock face from the Church of St Mary, Benwick
Benwick
Benwick is a village and civil parish in the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, England. It is approximately from Peterborough and from Cambridge...
and a large collection of cameras.
Whitemoor marshalling yards
Whitemoor marshalling yards, built in the 1920s and 30s, were once the second largest in Europe, and the largest in Britain. They were gradually phased out during the 1960s and shut down in 1990. Whitemoor prison was built on part of the site. The natural regeneration of the remaining 44 hectares resulted in its classification as a potential country park. In addition, a new housing development was constructed adjacent to the site. However, in 2002, Network RailNetwork Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
identified a need for a supply depot and redeveloped part of the site.
March March march
The March March march is a walk from March to Cambridge, which has been performed annually in the month of March by students and academics from Cambridge UniversityUniversity of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
since 1979. It is unusual for the homophonous
Homonym
In linguistics, a homonym is, in the strict sense, one of a group of words that often but not necessarily share the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings...
phrase of the walk's name.
Economy
March has a thriving town centre with independent shops and several multiple retailers such as WH Smith, Boots, Sainsburys, M&Co and Superdrug. In recent times out-of-town development has taken place due to the lack of available larger units within the town centre. In 2008 Meadowland retail park opened with an Argos Superstore, Mattressman, Carpetright, Halfords and The Original Factory Shop. Tesco have also rebuilt a significantly larger store nearby, next to Focus DIY.The town has several bars and restaurants. In 2008, the Barracuda group transformed the landmark Griffin hotel into a "Smith & Jones" branded pub, and in March 2011 Wetherpoons opened in the former Hippodrome bingo hall.
The towns major employers are Whitemoor prison, Tesco and Sainbury supermarkets and the many food processing factories in the area.
People connected with March
- William BarkerWilliam Barker (prospector)William Billy Barker was a prospector who was famous for being one of the first to find a large amount of gold in the Cariboo of British Columbia. He also founded Barkerville which is preserved as a historic town....
, gold prospector - Benjamin GimbertBenjamin GimbertBenjamin Gimbert GC , an engine driver with the LNER was awarded the George Cross, as was his fireman James Nightall, whose award was posthumous, for saving an ammunition train from a fire on 2 June 1944 during the Soham rail disaster.The citation for the awards read:As an ammunition train was...
, George Cross winner - Louise HazelLouise HazelLouise Victoria Hazel is an English athlete from March, Cambridgeshire, who specialises in the multi-event heptathlon. She has competed in four major international championships. The first was in 2006 when she came 17th at the European Championships and the second was three years later when she...
, heptathlete - Kevin PainterKevin PainterKevin Painter is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments, where he is known as "The Artist"...
, darts player - Martin PeersonMartin PeersonMartin Peerson was an English composer, organist and virginalist...
, seventeenth century composer - Rex TuckerRex TuckerRex Tucker was a British television director in the 1950s and 1960s.He was born in March in the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire. Amongst his work, he was a driving force during the formative stages of Doctor Who in 1963, acting as a caretaker producer prior to the arrival of Verity Lambert...
, TV director - Eric Sherbrooke WalkerEric Sherbrooke WalkerMajor Eric George Sherbrooke Walker, MC was hotelier and founder of the Outspan Hotel and Treetops Hotel in Kenya, as well as a decorated military officer...
, owner of Treetops HotelTreetops HotelTreetops Hotel is a hotel in Aberdare National Park in Kenya near the township of Nyeri, 1,966 m above sea level on the Aberdare Range and in sight of Mount Kenya...
External links
- 2001 Census
- Cambs Times Web site of local newspaper
- Fenland Citizen Web site of local newspaper
- Fenland District Council District councils web site
- St Wendreda's church
- March Museum
- Neale Wade Community College Local College web site
- Fenland Community Church Fenland Community Church