Whittlesey

Whittlesey, a market town in the Wisbech parliamentary division of Cambridgeshire, England, 54 m. E. of Peterborough, between that city and March, on the Great Eastern railway. Pop. of urban district (r901) 3909. It lies on a gentle eminence in the flat fen country, and the fine Perpendicular tower and spire of the church of St Mary are a landmark from far. A little to the north is the great artificial cut carrying the waters of the river Nene; and the neighbourhood is intersected with many other navigable "drains." To the south-west is the tract known as Whittlesey Mere, 6 m. distant from the town, in Huntingdonshire. It was a lake until modern times, when it was included in a scheme of drainage. The so-called Whittlesey Wash, in the neighbourhood of the town, is among several tracts in the fens which are perennially flooded. St Mary's church is principally Perpendicular, but has Norman and Decorated portions; the church of St Andrew is also Decorated and Perpendicular. The town has manufactures of bricks and tiles, and a considerable agricultural trade.