CHAPTER NINE 



CAMBRIDGESHIRE IN THE NINETEENTH 



CENTURY 



By H. C. Darby, m.a., ph.d. 



A PICTURE OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE ABOUT THE YEAR 180O CAN 



L,\ be gained from two reports made to the Board of Agriculture. 

 JL JL Both have the same tide— the General View of the Agriculture of the 

 County of Cambridge. The first was written by Charles Vancouver, and was 

 pubhshed in 1794. The second was written by W. Gooch, and, although 

 its Preface is dated 1807, the book itself was not pubhshed until 18 13. 

 Taken together, these two surveys supplement one another to provide an 

 outhne of the main features of the geography of the County in 1800. 



Both reports are accompanied by what is substantially the same map of 

 land utihsation (Fig. 28). Comparison with the geological map of the 

 County (Fig. 29) provides an explanation. The outstanding contrast was 

 between the northern Fenland and the southern upland. Conditions in the 

 upland area reflected direcdy the geological division. Between the "close 

 heavy, compact Clay" in east and west, the belt of chalk country stood out, 

 ruiming south-west — north-east. Where the chalk outcrop was almost 

 waterless, there was "heath"; while the "valley through wliich the 

 river Cam flows to Walton, is chiefly laid out into dairy farms, and hence 

 it has its name, i.e. the Dairies".^ In. the Fenland, to the north, die islands 

 stood out. Of the peat fens around, some were "under cultivation", 

 others were "drowned or waste". Finally, the silt area of the extreme 

 north maintained its reputation as "rich pastures". 



One of the main objects in the making of these reports was an enquiry 

 into measures necessary for improvement. In Cambridgeshire, there were 

 two agricultural controversies that reflected the geograpliical circumstances 

 of the time. One was associated with the need for an improved drainage; 

 the other with the need for an increased enclosure of the common open- 

 fields. 



Vancouver estimated^ the total acreage of the County as 443,300, 

 divided as shown in the following table. The correct area of Cam- 

 bridgeshire is 553,555 acres; but, even so, the proportion between the 



' C. Vancouver, p. 87. Walton, on the north bank of the river, and lying to the 

 south-east of Orvv^ell, is marked on John Gary's map of 1818. 

 ' Ibid. p. 193. 



