CAMBRIDGESHIRE, an inland co. of England, in lat. 52° 1' to 52° 45' n., long. 0° 31' e., and 0° 10' west. Its greatest length, from n. to s., is about 50 m., and its breadth 30 in., with an area of 820 sq. miles. Pop. '71, 186,900. About three fourths of the co. consists of arable land, meadow, and pasture, the rest being fens. The surface of C., except in the s., which is somewhat elevated and on the chalk formations, is marshy and flat, thinly wooded, and with villages and churches here and there on slight elevations, called " eys" or islands. The upper greensand, which in some places near Cambridge comes to the surface, yields in rich abundance the curious fossils miscalled coprolites (q.v.), which are of great value as an artificial manure. Their value is in some places equal to that of the land itself. The northern part of C. forms part of the Bedford level. The chief rivers are the Ouse, which crosses the middle of the county from w. to e., with its tributary the Cam; the Nene, which borders the co. on the n.; and the Lark. These are all navigable to a certain extent. C. is an agricultural county. In the higher parts, the land produces fine crops of beans and wheat. Many cattle and sheep are now supported on the thin, chalky soils. The black spongy soil of the fens consists of mud mixed with decayed vegetable matter, and, when drained and burned, produces, in dry years, heavy crops of cole-seed, wheat, oats, barley, hay, potatoes, hemp, and flax. Horses, cattle, sheep, and pigeons are also reared in the fens.
The isle of Ely, part of the fen-tract, and within the Bedford level, is famed for garden vegetables; and the meadows of the Cam yield fine butter and cream-cheese. The chief towns of C. are Cambridge, the co. town; Ely, Wisbeach, March, Thorney, Linton, Soham, Newmarket, and Royston. The manufactures of C. are mostly such as belong to an is county. There are paper and parchment mills, and coarse earthen ware s manufactured. leed]eanaking is also carried on to some extent. C. returns 3 members to parliament. This co. was anciently the seat of a powerful tribe—the Iceni. It was crossed by several British and Roman roads, in some parts now covered by several feet of peat-soil. Remains of Roman camps, sea-embankments, and villas, occur, and Roman antiquities, as coins and urns, have been found. There are seine ancient—supposed pre-Roman—ditches miles in length. One of these, the Devil's ditch, with an elevated valium, having a slope of 52 ft. on one side and 26 ft. on the other, is about 100 ft. broad. In the 9th and 10th c., C. was the scene of severe contests between the Danes and Saxons. The isle of Ely and its monks withstood William the conqueror for 8 years. C., and especially the isle of Ely, suffered much iii the civil wars of Stephen, John, Henry III., and Charles I. There formerly existed 36 religious houses in Cam bridgeshire. Since Charles L's time, much fen-land has been reclaimed by embanking rivers and cutting new channels.