Hamerton

History

In 1085 William the Conqueror ordered that a survey should be carried out across his kingdom to discover who owned which parts and what it was worth. The survey took place in 1086 and the results were recorded in what, since the 12th century, has become known as the Domesday Book. Starting with the king himself, for each landholder within a county there is a list of their estates or manors; and, for each manor, there is a summary of the resources of the manor, the amount of annual rent that was collected by the lord of the manor both in 1066 and in 1086, together with the taxable value.

Hamerton was listed in the Domesday Book in the Hundred of Leightonstone in Huntingdonshire; the name of the settlement was written as Hambertune in the Domesday Book. In 1086 there was just one manor at Hamerton; the annual rent paid to the lord of the manor in 1066 had been £12 and the rent was the same in 1086.

The Domesday Book does not explicitly detail the population of a place but it records that there were 26 households at Hamerton. There is no consensus about the average size of a household at that time; estimates range from 3. 5 to 5. 0 people per household. Using these figures then an estimate of the population of Hamerton in 1086 is that it was within the range of 91 and 130 people.

The Domesday Book uses a number of units of measure for areas of land that are now unfamiliar terms, such as hides and ploughlands. In different parts of the country, these were terms for the area of land that a team of eight oxen could plough in a single season and are equivalent to 120 acres (49 hectares); this was the amount of land that was considered to be sufficient to support a single family. By 1086, the hide had become a unit of tax assessment rather than an actual land area; a hide was the amount of land that could be assessed as £1 for tax purposes. The survey records that there were twelve ploughlands at Hamerton in 1086. In addition to the arable land, there was 60 acres (24 hectares) of meadows and 10 acres (4 hectares) of woodland at Hamerton.

The tax assessment in the Domesday Book was known as geld or danegeld and was a type of land-tax based on the hide or ploughland. It was originally a way of collecting a tribute to pay off the Danes when they attacked England, and was only levied when necessary. Following the Norman Conquest, the geld was used to raise money for the King and to pay for continental wars; by 1130, the geld was being collected annually. Having determined the value of a manor's land and other assets, a tax of so many shillings and pence per pound of value would be levied on the land holder. While this was typically two shillings in the pound the amount did vary; for example, in 1084 it was as high as six shillings in the pound. For the manor at Hamerton the total tax assessed was 15 geld.

Steeple Gidding was listed in the Domesday Book in the Hundred of Leightonstone in Huntingdonshire; the name of the settlement was written as Redinges in the Domesday Book. In 1086 there was just one manor at Steeple Gidding; the annual rent paid to the lord of the manor in 1066 had been £5 and the rent was the same in 1086. The Domesday Book does not explicitly detail the population of a place but it records that there was 18 households at Steeple Gidding. The estimate of the population of Steeple Gidding in 1086 is that it was within the range of 63 and 90 people. The survey records that there were eight ploughlands at Steeple Gidding in 1086. In addition to the arable land, there was 20 acres (8 hectares) of meadows and 40 acres (16 hectares) of woodland at Steeple Gidding. For the manor at Steeple Gidding the total tax assessed was 7 geld.

In 1086 there was no church at Hamerton or at Steeple Gidding.

Government

Hamerton is part of the civil parish of Hamerton and Steeple Gidding; it does not have a parish council but just holds an annual parish meeting.

Hamerton 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, Hamerton became a part of the county of Cambridgeshire.

The second tier of local government is Huntingdonshire District Council which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and has its headquarters in Huntingdon. Huntingdonshire District Council has 52 councillors representing 29 district wards. Huntingdonshire District Council collects the council tax, and provides services such as building regulations, local planning, environmental health, leisure and tourism. Hamerton is a part of the district ward of Sawtry and is represented on the district council by two councillors. District councillors serve for four-year terms following elections to Huntingdonshire District Council.

For Hamerton the highest tier of local government is Cambridgeshire County Council which has administration buildings in Cambridge. The county council provides county-wide services such as major road infrastructure, fire and rescue, education, social services, libraries and heritage services. Cambridgeshire County Council consists of 69 councillors representing 60 electoral divisions. Hamerton is part of the electoral division of Sawtry and Ellington and is represented on the county council by one councillor.

At Westminster Hamerton is in the parliamentary constituency of North West Cambridgeshire, and elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. Hamerton is represented in the House of Commons by Shailesh Vara (Conservative). Shailesh Vara has represented the constituency since 2005. The previous member of parliament was Brian Mawhinney (Conservative) who represented the constituency between 1997 and 2005. For the European Parliament Hamerton is part of the East of England constituency which elects seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.

Population

In the period 1801 to 1901 the population of Hamerton was recorded every ten years by the UK census. During this time the population was in the range of 129 (the lowest was in 1801) and 187 (the highest was in 1871).

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 3,284 acres (1,329 hectares) and the population density for Hamerton and Steeple Gidding in 2011 was 21.8 persons per square mile (8.4 per square kilometre).