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| Name | Fen Ditton |
| Alt names | Fen-Ditton | source: Family History Library Catalog | | Ditton Fen | source: alternate name | | Ditton-Fen | source: hyphenated |
| Type | Ancient parish, Civil parish |
| Coordinates | 52.22°N 0.17°E |
| Located in | Cambridgeshire, England ( - 1965) |
| Also located in | Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely, England (1965 - 1974) | | Cambridgeshire, England (1974 - ) |
| See also | Flendish Hundred, Cambridgeshire, England | hundred in which it was located | | Chesterton Rural, Cambridgeshire, England | rural district 1894-1974 | | South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England | district municipality covering the area since 1974 |
| NOTE: Fen Ditton (with and without hyphen) is the historical name of the parish, but Ditton Fen is the name on maps in the 21st century. All forms are redirected here.
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- the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia
Fen Ditton is a village and civil parish on the northeast edge of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England. The parish covers an area of 5.99 square kilometres (2 sq mi). The population in the UK census of 2011 was 760.
Ditton Fen lies on the east bank of the River Cam, on the road from Cambridge to the hamlet of Clayhithe, and close to the A14 major road. The nearest railway station is Cambridge North; Waterbeach station is several kilometres north of the village.
The site has been occupied since at least neolithic times, and stone tools have been found on the meadows between the village and the river. The name was first recorded in around 950 as "Dittone", meaning "the village by the ditch", derived from the Fleam Dyke, the prehistoric ditch that passed through the village from the river to the edge of the fens at Stow cum Quy.
The village's history is closely connected to its position on the River Cam, which provided trade throughout the medieval period and its principal connection to other settlements. A large wharf at the western end of the High Street allowed goods to be delivered for the annual Stourbridge Fair between the 12th and 14th centuries, but trade declined in later centuries. The wharf was still in use in 1845, but the opening of the London-Cambridge railway line removed its commercial purpose and it closed. More recently the river has been used primarily for leisure purposes.
A paper mill was opened in the parish in around 1550, only the second recorded in England. It had fallen out of use by the early 19th century.
Research Tips
- Original historical documents relating to Cambridgeshire are now held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at Shire Hall, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 4GS
- The Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Family History Society has transcribed the parish registers for many if not all the ancient parishes of Cambridgeshire and these can be purchased from the Society as separate pdfs.
- A History of the County of Cambridge. Seven volumes from British History Online (Victoria County Histories). This is by far the most complete history of the parishes of the county to be found online. From the numbering it would appear that some parts of the county are yet to be published online, but the first two volumes for any county are of little interest to the genealogist. The chapters are ordered by the divisions of the county called hundreds, but each parish is listed in the volume's content page.
- A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 3, the City (Cambridge) and University of Cambridge (published 1959)
- A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 4, City of Ely; North Ely and South Ely, Witchford and Wisbech Hundreds (the cathedral city and liberty of Ely and the rural areas to the west and northwest, including the port of Wisbech) (published 2002)
- A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 5, the Hundreds of Longstowe and Wetherley, west of Cambridge (published 1973)
- A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 6, the three Hundreds of Chilford, Radfield and Whittlesford (in the south of the county, on the border with Essex) (published 1978)
- A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 8, Armingford and Thriplow Hundreds (south and west of Cambridge) (published 1982)
- A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 9, Chesterton, Northstowe, and Papworth Hundreds (the suburban and rural areas to the north and northwest of Cambridge) (published 1989)
- A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 10, Cheveley, Flendish, Staine and Staploe Hundreds (northeastern Cambridgeshire) (published 2002)
- GENUKI has a page on Cambridgeshire and pages for each of the ecclesiastical or ancient parishes in the county. These give references to other organizations who hold genealogical information for the local area. Each parish page includes a map of the parish provided by Open Street Maps.
- The FamilyTree Wiki has a series of pages similar to those provided by GENUKI which may have been prepared at a later date.
- A Vision of Britain through Time, section "Units and Statistics" for each parish and borough leads to analyses of population and organization of the county from about 1800 through 1974.
- Map of Cambridgeshire divisions in 1888 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
- Map of Cambridge divisions in 1944 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
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