Art Holiday Travel and Vacation information for Huntingdonshire

Huntingdonshire, Huntingdon, or Hunts, inland county, South Midland District, England; is bounded W. and N. by Northamptonshire, E. by Cambridgeshire, and S. by Bedfordshire; greatest length, N. and S., 30 miles; greatest breadth, E. and W., 23 miles; 229,515 acres; population 59,491. About a fourth of the county (in the NE.) forms a portion of the great "fen" district, the remainder consisting of a succession of gentle hills and dales. Huntingdonshire is almost wholly devoid of trees, and may be described as an agricultural and pastoral county. Scientific farming has of late greatly stimulated the productiveness of the soil, and the arable farms of the upland districts are peculiarly noted for superior grain. Green crops, also of excellent quality, are obtained, while market gardening and cattle rearing form profitable employments. Willows are the chief product of the fen district. The Nene, in the N. and NW., and the Ouse, in the interior, are the chief rivers; both are navigable for barges. The geology of Huntingdonshire belongs to the Oolite system: many fossils are found, and the hills on the W. abound with stone brash, or forest marble. With the exception of papermaking and the preparation of parchment, there are no manufactures of more than local importance." [Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles, 1887]