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- the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia
Wicken is a small village on the edge of the fens near Soham in the East Cambridgeshire District, ten miles northeast of Cambridge and five miles south of Ely.
Wicken parish consists principally of fenland covering 1,604 hectares (3,964 acres) in eastern Cambridgeshire. Its western border largely follows the course of the River Cam, and its southern border separating it from Burwell follows the winding Wicken Lode, which flows into Reach Lode just before the latter meets the Cam. A fenland waterway forms its eastern border with Soham parish. The parish also contains the hamlet of Upware in its isolated southwest corner on the Cam.
Wicken's relative isolation and poverty has meant that several of the late medieval and early modern timber-framed houses survive. The medieval limestone cross which formerly stood on Cross Green was unburied and reinstated there in 1973.
Wicken was listed as "Wicha" in the Domesday Book and "Wiken" in around 1200. The name comes from an Old-English dative plural wícum meaning "the dwellings" or "the trading settlement".
Wicken also has the last 12-sided smock windmill of its type still working in England, restored to full working order by an enthusiastic team of volunteers. The mill produces wholemeal flour, white flour, "finest" white flour, wholemeal and white Spelt and rye, all grown without the use of fertilisers and milled using only windpower driving two sets of burr crystal mill stones.
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- Original historical documents relating to Cambridgeshire are now held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies at Shire Hall, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 4GS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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