Sovereign state United Kingdom Region East of England Admin HQ Ely | Constituent country England Non-metropolitan county Cambridgeshire Area 651.3 km² | |
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Status Non-metropolitan district Points of interest Anglesey Abbey, Ely Cathedral, Burwell Museum, Wicken Fen, Oliver Cromwell's House Destinations Ely - Cambridgeshire, Newmarket - Suffolk, Lode, Wicken, Little Downham | ||
East Cambridgeshire (locally known as East Cambs) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in Ely. The population of the District Council at the 2011 Census was 83,818.
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Map of East Cambridgeshire District, UK
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 with the merger of Ely Urban District, Ely Rural District and Newmarket Rural District.
According to a report by the Halifax bank in 2004, East Cambridgeshire has the fastest population growth rate of any British local authority other than the City of London.
Archaeology
The recent Fenland survey of archaeological finds mentions an enumeration of findings made between 1884 and 1994 in the region to the north of Devil's Dyke and Cambridge, from the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age (the region south of Devil's Dyke is not yet included in the survey). By far the greatest quantities of bronze objects found in England were discovered in East Cambridgeshire.
The most important Bronze Age finds were discovered in Isleham (more than 6500 pieces), Stuntney, Soham, Wicken, Chippenham, Coveney, Mepal and Wilburton. These findings include swords, spear-heads, arrows, axes, palstaves, knives, daggers, rapiers, armour, decorative equipment (in particular for horses) and many fragments of sheet bronze. The greater part of these objects have been entrusted to the Moyse's Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds while other items are in the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge. Other finds include traces of cremations and barrows, golden torques, an extensive ditch system and a wooden track-way between Fordey Farm (Barway) and Little Thetford. Bronze razors have also been found and it is well known that Celts shaved their cheeks.