In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Ramsey like this:
RAMSEY, a town, a parish, and a sub-district, in the district and county of Huntingdon. The town stands at the foot of a hill, on Bury brook, on the borders of thefens, at the terminus of the Ramsey railway, 10 miles N N E of Huntingdon; took its name from an "eye" or island in a quondam mere or lake; originated and flourished round an ancient Benedictine abbey; suffered devastation by plague in 1666, and by fire in 1731; is now a seat of petty sessions and of manorial courts; comprises one long street called the Great Whyte, and another street called High-street, the two making a figurelike the letter T; and has a post office‡ under Huntingdon, a railway station with telegraph, two banking offices, several inns, a police station, a public hall, a church, six dissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic school, two endowed schools, with £245 and £47 a year, alms-houses with £12, and other charities about £50. ...
The railway is a branch, 5½ miles long, from the Great Northern at Holme; was authorised in 1861, on a capital of £30,000 in shares and £10,000 in loans; and was opened in July 1863. The abbey was founded in 969, by Duke Ailwin; was a mitred one, and the head or seat of abarony; had a famous Hebrew library and school; was given, at the dissolution, to the Cromwells; gave placeto a modern mansion, now the seat of E. Fellowes, Esq.; and is now represented mainly by portions of the parishchurch and by a ruined gateway. The church is spacious and interesting; includes Norman and early Englishportions; has a W embattled tower; was restored in 1844; and contains a fine lectern, with a black lettercopy of Erasmus' " Paraphrase of the Gospels." The Roman Catholic school was built in 1863, and is in the pointed style. The abbey school was built in 1848; and is a large and handsome edifice in the Tudor style. Anew cemetery is near the town, at Wood-lane; and contams two chapels under one roof. Pop. of the town in 1851, 2, 641; in 1861, 2, 354. Houses, 553. The parish comprises 16, 196 acres. Real property, £32, 633. Pop.in 1851, 4, 645; in 1861, 4, 500. Houses, 971. The manor belongs to E. Fellowes, Esq. Ramsey and Ugg meres, the former covering about 400 acres, and both famous for fish and wild fowl, have been drained. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Ely. Value, £200.* Patron, E. Fellowes, Esq. The p. curacy of Ramsey, St. Mary is a separate benefice. The sub-district comprises three other parishes. Acres, 20, 805. Pop. in 1851, 5, 448; in 1861, 5, 266. Houses, 1, 138.
Ramsey through time
Ramsey is now part of Huntingdonshire district. Click here for graphs and data of how Huntingdonshire has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Ramsey itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Ramsey in Huntingdonshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/890
Date accessed: 05th November 2024
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