OS grid reference TL463800 Country England EU Parliament East of England Shire county Cambridgeshire Dialling code 01353 Population 429 (2011) | Region East Sovereign state United Kingdom Postcode district CB6 Local time Tuesday 8:42 PM Post town Ely, Cambridgeshire | |
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Weather 9°C, Wind N at 8 km/h, 86% Humidity | ||
Witcham is a small village near Ely in Cambridgeshire, England.
Map of Witcham, Ely, UK
The village is surrounded by fenland farms and has a village hall and a 13th-century church dedicated to St Martin. It has a pub called the White Horse, which was the winner of the Ely and District CAMRA Rural Pub of the Year Award 2006, 2010, 2011 and Overall Pub of the Year Award 2011. It also has a fine village green.
The village hosts the World Pea Shooting Championships on the second Saturday in July every year and has staged the competition annually since 1971.
Witcham is built around a cross-roads in the centre of the village with each of the four roads having housing on each side for 50-200m. The north-bound street is called "Martins Lane", the east-bound street is "High Street", south-bound is "The Slade", and west-bound is "Silver Street", which leads to the more recent housing developments of "Westway Place" and "The Orchards".
The name of the village derives from "Wycham", meaning "place of the wych elms", after the trees that used to grow there in significant numbers. A Roman cavalry helmet dating from AD 14 was found in the village gravel pit, and now resides in the British Museum.