112 Villages 



1000 acres — all in the southern part of the County; while ten parishes 

 cover more than 10,000 acres each — all on the Fenland. This latter fact 

 arises from the scarcity of sites in the fens. Thus, just below the northern- 

 most part of the County, Whittlesea and March together stretch 15 miles 

 across a part of the County whose total width is only 17 miles. Whittlesea 

 and March stand 26 ft. and 20 ft. respectively above sea-level, and in this 

 district there is now no other spot more than 10 ft. above sea-level. 



The parish boundaries are partly natural and partly artificial. The Cam 

 itself is a good example of the former. It is used as a boundary for almost 

 its entire length from its source to where it joins the Old West River (i.e. 

 the Ouse) in the Fenland. Its tributary, the Bourn Brook, coming from 

 the south-western plateau, also forms the boundary between many parishes, 

 despite the fact that it is of no great width; on the other hand, the wider 

 River Bourn, coming from the south-east, flows right through the middle 

 of several parishes. In the Fenland, many parish boundaries are so straight 

 because they follow artificial watercourses ; and in some cases, apparently, 

 adjustments were made when the drains were cut. 



In a county of low relief, there cannot be many boundaries fixed by a 

 crest-line, but there is one well marked in the south-west, and lettered 

 A-B on Fig. 26. It runs along the ridge separating Bourn Brook from the 

 upper Cam Valley. This is also the line of an old trackway, the Mare Way, 

 leading from Ermine Street to the Cam Valley at Harston. The line C-D 

 is not exactly along the crest of the ridge to the north of Bourn Brook, 

 but it is very nearly so. In any case, it runs along the Cambridge-St Neots 

 Road, and although tliis is not usually claimed to be an ancient way, still 

 it does seem to date from the time when boundaries were being established. 

 The Via Devana also formed parish boundaries during a great portion of 

 its length (line E-F). It is part of the Roman road from Colchester to the 

 Midlands. From where it enters the County at E, for a distance of 1 1 miles, 

 it separates parishes; and it continues this function to the north-west of 

 Cambridge along the line G-H, which here forms the main road from 

 Cambridge to Huntingdon. Ermine Street, also, helped to define boun- 

 daries (line K-L). Probably the oldest track in the County is the Icknield 

 Way,' which is represented to-day by a section of the London-Newmarket 

 road (hne M-N). The parish boundaries, it is true, do not strictly follow 

 the road, but that does not indicate that the way was not in existence 

 when the boundaries were estabhshed.^ Another straight boimdary that 

 attracts attention on Fig. 26 is the line P-Q. This is not a road, but the 

 Devil's Dyke, that is a parish boundary for 10 miles. 



' See p. 84 above. 

 * See Fig. 19. 



