Chatteris, Cambridgeshire

Historical Description

Chatteris, a small market-town and parish in Cambridgeshire. The town stands on the west border of the Isle of Ely, near the Wisbech and St Ives branch of the G.E.R., 10½ miles NNE of St Ives, and has a station on the railway, a post, money order, and telegraph office, two banks, a weekly market on Friday, and two fairs, one on the last Friday in April, and one on the Friday before October 11. It was known at Domesday as Ceterig or Caterig, and has ever since possessed some local importance, but was not made a market-town till 1834. It is governed by a Local Board of nine members, and its industries include brewing, malting, engineering, and horse-clothing, rope, and mat making. The parish is well drained and highly cultivated, a small part being common; 48 acres are devoted to the poor. Acreage, 13,719; population, 4587. British relics were found in 1757 in a barrow, and many Roman coins have been ploughed up. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely; net yearly value, £1150 with residence. The church is a handsome and ancient building of stone in mixed styles, and consists of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch, and an embattled western tower with a spire. There are Congregational, General and Particular Baptists, Primitive Methodist, and Wesleyan chapels, and a Friends' meeting-house.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Chatteris from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Chatteris (St. Peter and St. Paul))

Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Cambridgeshire is available to browse.

Maps

Online maps of Chatteris are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Cambridgeshire papers online:

• Cambridge Independent Press
• Cambridge Chronicle and Journal
• Huntingdon, Bedford & Peterborough Gazette

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitations of Cambridgeshire 1575 and 1619 is available online.