Godmanchester

History

The town is on the site of the Roman town of Durovigutum. There is archaeological evidence of Celtic and earlier habitation prior to the establishment of a key Roman town and a Mansio (inn), so the area has probably been continuously occupied for more than 2000 years. The settlement was at a crossroads of Roman roads, with Ermine Street, the Via Devana (from Cambridge, between Colchester and Chester) and a military road from Sandy, Bedfordshire, all passing through. The Roman settlement was sacked by Anglo-Saxons in the third century. In contrast to Huntingdon, there have been vast amounts of archaeological finds in the centre of Godmanchester, which has two conservation areas with a large number of timber-framed Tudor houses, the largest being Tudor Farm, dating from 1600 and restored in 1995.

The mansio is mentioned in Godmanchester's name, which comes from Anglo-Saxon Godmundceaster, meaning a "town or Roman buildings associated with a man called Godmund". The location is likely to have been originally settled due to the gravel beds providing a ford across the River Great Ouse.

Godmanchester was listed as Godmundcestre in the Domesday Book of 1086 in the Hundred of Leightonstone in Huntingdonshire. The survey records that there were 26 ploughlands, with capacity for a further 31 and, in addition to the arable land, there was 160 acres (65 hectares) of meadows, 50 acres (20 hectares) of woodland and three water mills. By 1086 there was already a church and a priest at Godmanchester.

It was first chartered by King John in 1212, though it had been a market town and royal manor for some years.

In 2003 it had a population of about 5500 in 3500 homes, with the largest increase in population occurring between 1981 and 1991 (81%) and more modest growth since.

A former pronunciation, a contraction of Godmundceaster, is Gunecestre. It is also pronounced as Gumster.

Government

Godmanchester was in the historic and administrative county of Huntingdonshire until 1965. From 1965, the village was part of the new administrative county of Huntingdon and Peterborough. Then in 1974, following the Local Government Act 1972, Godmanchester became a part of the county of Cambridgeshire.

For Godmanchester the highest tier of local government is Cambridgeshire County Council. Godmanchester is part of the electoral division of Godmanchester and Huntingdon East and is represented on the county council by two councillors. The second tier of local government is Huntingdonshire District Council, a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire. Godmanchester is a district ward and is represented on the district council by two councillors. Godmanchester is a town and has a town council. The town council in Godmanchester has sixteen councillors including a mayor and a deputy-mayor.

At Westminster Godmanchester is in the parliamentary constituency of Huntingdon, and has been represented in the House of Commons since 2001 by Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative). For the European Parliament Godmanchester is part of the East of England constituency.

Population

In the period 1801 to 1901 the population of Godmanchester was recorded every ten years by the UK census. During this time the population was in the range of 1573 (the lowest was in 1801) and 2438 (the highest was in 1861).

From 1901, a census was taken every ten years with the exception of 1941 (due to the Second World War).

All population census figures from report Historic Census figures Cambridgeshire to 2011 by Cambridgeshire Insight.

In 2011, the parish covered an area of 4,900 acres (1,983 hectares) and so the population density for Godmanchester in 2011 was 876.5 persons per square mile (338.4 per square kilometre).

Culture and community

There are several bridges across the Great Ouse to Huntingdon, but until 1975 Old Bridge, Huntingdon, a medieval bridge, was the only one. It is now used only for light traffic, and a parallel footbridge has been built for pedestrians. Construction of the A14 bypass means that heavy traffic now flows over a modern bridge.

Between Godmanchester, Huntingdon and Brampton lies England's largest meadow, Portholme, which remains an important flood plain but which has served as an equestrian racecourse and centre for early aviation.

About a mile south of the town centre, on the A1198 road at grid reference TL260683 is the headquarters of the Wood Green Animal Shelters - a charity dedicated to re-homing unwanted pets.

Original historical documents relating to Godmanchester, including the original church parish registers, local government records, maps, photographs and the surviving borough charters, are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at the County Record Office Huntingdon.

In October 2003 BBC1's Songs Of Praise was hosted by the parish church of St Mary the Virgin and featured the new hymn tune Godmanchester written by the vicar, Peter Moger.

Chinese Bridge

One of the town's best-known features is its Chinese Bridge which connects the town with a water meadow. Local legend has it that the bridge was built without the use of nails or any other fixings. An architect later applied to the council for permission to deconstruct the bridge to discover how exactly this had been accomplished. This being done, however, reconstruction proved impossible, as the bridge would no longer support its own weight. Today the Chinese Bridge is held together by nails. The claims are of course all false. Indeed, a bridge in Queens' College, Cambridge has the same urban myth. More likely the original nails corroded away, giving the appearance that no nails existed. With maintenance work carried out in the latter part of the 20th century, nails would have been applied to strengthen the structure.

The bridge was removed by crane on 9 February 2010. A new replica was built off-site in two parts and was installed on 15–16 February 2010.

Sport and leisure

The non-League football club Godmanchester Rovers F.C. play at Bearscroft Lane.