A map of Somersham with a list of local places of interest and a little history of the town.
"A Tribute to Hattie -
Harriet Skeggs (known as Hattie to many) was a well known local figure whose affection and devotion for the good of Somersham was renowned. Hattie served on Somersham Parish Council from May 1964 until May 2003 and during that period she only missed 20 meetings. However many of those missed meeting were because she was attending Huntingdonshire District Council as Hattie was a District Councillor between 1987 and 1995
On Saturday 6 August David Bonnett unveiled the long awaited historic map of Somersham branded affectionately by the working group as ‘Hattie’s map’. The idea came about as a tribute to Miss Hattie Skeggs and her in-depth knowledge of Somersham and its historic names in case they should be lost forever. The map incorporates the village as it is today together with the old names and places plus photographs. Hattie easily put names to faces in the old pictures shown on the map which brought it all to life.
David Bonnett, Steve Criswell and Penny Bryant met with Hattie on a number of occasions to insert and confirm all the information on a draft map. This information was then translated further by Richard Elen onto a map of the parish as it is today. Special thanks go to the volunteer working party Mary Baker, David Cornwell, Andy Lee, Eric Parsons, Graham Siggs and Jennet Smith who reviewed the various draft maps dur-ing the lengthy process. Following last minute hitches and intensive email conversations between Richard, Andy (for the historical detail) and Penny, the final version of the map was presented to and approved by Hattie earlier this year. Finally thanks go to Michael Murray for the superb sign writing carried out this week which completed the project as our tribute to a staunch Somersham champion."
SOURCE - (
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"Sumeresham (I 1th cent.), Sumresham, Summersham (12th cent.), Summersum (17th cent.).
The ancient parish of Somersham straddles the Greenwich Meridian line. The parish is split into two distinct areas by the line of the BI086 entering the village from St Ives and exiting as the BI050 in the direction of Earith.
To the North and East of the road lie lands that were originally salt marsh and moors used for summer pasture and full of wild fowl and fish, notably eels. This “fenny land” was drained in the 17th century and is now largely given over to arable farming. This land is therefore at sea level — and in some areas, where the peat soil has dried out and contracted — falls below it.
To the South and West of the line of the road, the land rises from the old shoreline of the marshes to around 100 ft above sea level. Here the land was covered by dense deciduous forest since the time of earliest human activity. The woods have been cleared back over the centuries, and now the landscape is dominated by pasture and orchards with only the occasional copse to remind us of how the land would have looked to our ancestors.
The village of Somersham is an ancient community with traces of an Anglo-Roman villa and of iron age huts. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book and first entered the written record in the 10th century as a gift to the Abbot of Ely from the Saxon alderman Britnoth en route to the Battle of Maldon.
The mediaeval community was dominated by the manor, owned initially by the Abbot and later the Bishop of Ely. The bishops built a palace within the moated enclosure at the bottom of Church Street, which stood until the middle of the 18th century. As several bishops of Ely were also Lord Chancellors, a number of monarchs including Edward III and Henry VII visited the village as the guest of the bishop. In 1601 the manor passed to the crown. The oldest surviving building in the village is the church, which dates from the 13th century — although the nave and aisles are predominantly 14th century.
Amongst the former incumbents are Simon Langham, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Cardinal Adam Easton.
The original village was strung out along the High Street, with its centre at the Market Cross.A charter granted Somersham the right to hold a market in 1190 (although it had ceased to function by the 19th century) and the right to hold an annual fair was granted by Edward II in 1320.
In the 18th century, Somersham Spa (or Spaw) was developed just outside the Parish on the St Ives Road, capitalising on the chalybeate water from the spring at Bathe Hill. The elegiac poet James Hammond was born in the village and, although he died in 1742 aged just 32, his work enjoyed considerable success, being reprinted throughout the |8th and 19th centuries.
Somersham was an early beneficiary of the railway age with the station opening in 1848 on the Cambridge to Wisbech line and becoming a junction with the opening of the branch line to Ramsey in 1889.The last trains ran from Somersham in 1967.
The modern village has grown rapidly, with much development in the last quarter of the 20th century to the North and South of the High Street, but retains much of the rural feel and charm that has characterised it through more than two millennia of contifuous human habitation."
SOURCE - info board