CAMBRIDGESHIRE, England, an inland eastern county of England; greatest length, about 48 miles; breadth, 33 miles; area, 858 square miles. Arable land, meadow and pas ture constitute about three-fourths of the county, the rest being fens. The surface is marshy, flat and thinly wooded, except in the southern portion, which is somewhat elevated and on the chalk formation. The northern section forms part of the Bedford Level. The principal watercourses are the Lark River, the Nene, which borders the county on the north, and the Ouse, which crosses the middle of the county from west to east, with its tributary, the Cam. All of these are navigable for some distance. For parliamentary purposes the county is divided into three divisions (northern or Wisbech, western or Chesterton, and eastern or Newmarket) and embraces also the par liamentary borough of Cambridge, each of which returns one member. Cambridge Uni versity also returns two members. In the higher sections beans and wheat are produced; the black, spongy soil of the lens, when drained and burned, in dry years, produces large crops of wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, cole-seed, hemp, hay and flax; fine butter and cream cheese are produced on the meadows of the Cam; and the Isle of Ely, a part of the fen tract and within the Bedford Level, is noted for its garden vegetables. Cattle and sheep are
reared on the thin chalky soils, and horses, cattle, sheep and pigeons on the fens. The manufactures are mostly confined to articles used in the agricultural industry; apart from that, brewing and making are the chief in dustries, and there are paper and parchment mills, and coarse earthenware and needles are manufactured. Cambridgeshire was anciently the seat of a powerful tribe, the Iceni. There are interesting Roman remains, and the county is specially rich in ecclesiastical buildings re plete with architectural, historic interest. Pop. 198,0'74.