Wicken, Cambridgeshire

Historical Description

Wicken, a parish, with a village, in Cambridgeshire, 4 miles SSW of Soham station on the G.E.R., and 7 NW of Newmarket. It has a post office under Soham; money order and telegraph office, Soham. Acreage, 3934 of land and of water; population, 716. There is a parish council consisting of nine members. The village is much frequented in summer by entomologists on account of the rare specimens of moths and butterflies, some of which are not met with anywhere else. There is also an ancient abbey, once occupied by various members of the Cromwell family, some of whom are buried in the old church. Ancient coins and other antiquities have been found. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely; net value, £175 with residence. Patron, the Church Patronage Society. The church is an ancient building of stone in the Gothic style, and has been restored. There are Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels, a church mission hall, and three almshouses.

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 Wicken from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Wicken (St. Lawrence))

Land and Property

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

Maps

Online maps of Wicken 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.