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Wikipedia

Wisbech

March 08, 2023

Wisbech (/ˈwɪzbiːtʃ/ WIZ-beech) is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bordering Norfolk and only 5 miles (8 km) south of Lincolnshire. The tidal River Nene running through the town is spanned by two road bridges. Wisbech is in the Isle of Ely (a former administrative county) and has been described as 'the Capital of The Fens".[1]

Wisbech

The North Brink
Wisbech
Location within Cambridgeshire
Population31,573 (2011)
OS grid referenceTF4609
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townWISBECH
Postcode districtPE13, PE14
Dialling code01945
PoliceCambridgeshire
FireCambridgeshire
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Cambridgeshire
52°39′50″N 0°09′36″E / 52.664°N 0.160°E / 52.664; 0.160Coordinates: 52°39′50″N 0°09′36″E / 52.664°N 0.160°E / 52.664; 0.160

Wisbech is noteworthy for its fine examples of Georgian architecture, particularly the parade of houses along the North Brink, which includes the National Trust property of Peckover House and the circus surrounding Wisbech Castle.

History

Etymology

The place name 'Wisbech' is first attested in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 656, where it appears as Wisbeach. It is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as Wisbeach. The name Wisbech is popularly believed to mean "on the back of the (River) Ouse", Ouse being a common Celtic word relating to water and the name of a river that once flowed through the town. A more scholarly opinion is that the first element derives from the River Wissey, which used to run to Wisbech, and that the name means 'the valley of the river Wissey'.[2] A wide range of spellings is found on trade tokens in the Wisbech & Fenland Museum and in newspapers, books, maps and other documents, e.g. Wisbece, Wisebece, Wisbbece, Wysbeche, Wisbeche, Wissebeche, Wysebeche, Wysbech, Wyxbech, Wyssebeche, Wisbidge, Wisbich and Wisbitch,[3][4] until the spelling of the name of the town was fixed by the local council in the 19th century.[5]

Pre-Roman

During the Iron Age, the area where Wisbech would develop lay in the west of the Brythonic Iceni tribe's territory. Icenian coins have been found in both March and Wisbech.[6]

Anglo-Saxon

Like the rest of Cambridgeshire, Wisbech was part of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of East Anglia. It served as a port on The Wash.[7]

One of the first authentic references to Wisbech occurs in a charter dated 664 granting the Abbey at Medeshamstede (now Peterborough) land in Wisbech[8] and in 1000, when Oswy and Leoflede, on the admission of their son Aelfwin as a monk, gave the vill to the monastery of Ely.[9]

Norman

The folktale of Tom Hickathrift or Wisbech Giant is sometimes set about the time of the Norman Invasion. In 1086, when Wisbech was held by the abbot, there may have been some 65 to 70 families, or about 300 to 350 persons, in Wisbech manor. However, Wisbech (which is the only one of the Marshland vills of the Isle to be mentioned in the Domesday Book) probably comprised the whole area from Tydd Gote down to the far end of Upwell at Welney.[10]

A castle was built by William I to fortify the site. At the time of Domesday (1086) the population was that of a large village. Some were farmers and others fishermen.[11]

Richard I gave Wisbech a charter. King John of England visited the castle on 12 October 1216 as he came from Bishop's Lynn. Tradition has it that his baggage train was lost to the incoming tide of The Wash. Treasure hunters still seek the lost royal treasure.[12]

On 12 November 1236 the Village of Wisbech was inundated by the sea. Hundreds were drowned, entire flocks of sheep and herds of cattle were destroyed, trees felled and ships lost.[13] The castle was 'utterly destroyed' but was rebuilt by 1246 when the constable or keeper was Wm Justice. King Edward II visited Wisbech in 1292, 1298, 1300 and 1305.[14] The register of Bishop John Fordham of Ely appoints a Master of the Grammar Scholars in 1407 (Wisbech Grammar School dates back to 1379 or earlier).

Early Modern

Edward IV visited Wisbech in 1469.[15]

The Charter of Edward VI, 1 June 1549, raised the town to a corporation. In the same year Wm. Bellman gave a plot of land for the Wisbech Grammar School school-house.[16] In 1333–4 the kiln in the town was producing 120,000 bricks. There were several fisheries belonging to the manor of Wisbech and in the 1350s the reeves of Walton and Leverington each sent a porpoise to Wisbech Castle, and the reeve of Terrington a swordfish.[17]

During the reigns of Elizabeth I, James I, and Charles I, there was a state ecclesiastical prison in Wisbech for Catholics, many of whom died there owing to the insanitary conditions.[18] A dispute arising amongst the Catholic prisoners was widely known as the Wisbech Stirs. In 1588 it is claimed that Robert Catesby and Francis Tresham were committed to Wisbeach Castle on the approach of the Spanish Armada.[19] Among those held there was John Feckenham, the last Abbot of Westminster. The palace was demolished and replaced with John Thurloe's mansion in the mid-17th century, and Thurloe's mansion demolished in 1816 by Joseph Medworth, who also developed The Circus comprising The Crescent, Union Place and Ely Place with Museum Square and Castle Square familiar as the settings in numerous costume dramas.

In 1620 former Wisbech residents William White and Dorothea Bradford (née May) sailed on the Mayflower to the New World with her husband William Bradford later to be Governor Bradford.[20]

English Civil War and Commonwealth

Across the Eastern Counties, Oliver Cromwell's powerful Eastern Association was eventually dominant. However, to begin with, there had been an element of Royalist sympathy within Wisbech. Bishop Matthew Wren was a staunch supporter of Charles I but even in 1640 was unpopular in Wisbech, after discovering his absence from a 'Commission of Sewers' meeting at the Castle, a crowd of soldiers plundered shops of some of his supporters. The town was near the frontier of the Parliamentary and Royalist forces in 1643. The Castle and town were put into a state of readiness and reinforced. A troop of horse was raised. Locally based troops took part in the Siege of Crowland in 1642. The town controlled the route from Lincolnshire to Norfolk particularly during the Siege of King's Lynn in 1643 as it prevented reinforcements by land of the Royalists holding the Norfolk port.[21]

A town library was founded c. 1653.[22]

In 1656 the bishop's palace was replaced by Thurloe's mansion however after the Restoration the property reverted to the See of the bishop of Ely.[23]

Eighteenth century

Soap was taxed and manufacturers such as the Wisbech Soap Company required a licence. Based in an Old Market property facing the river, they were able to receive oil from the blubber yards of King's Lynn as well as coal, wood for casks and olive oil used in making the coarse, sweet and grey (speckled) soaps they produced from 1716 to about 1770.[24]

Wisbech's first workhouse located in Albion Place opened in 1722, it could accommodate three hundred inmates and cost £2,000.[25]

 
Peckover House on North Brink by the Nene

Bank House, with its walled garden, was built in 1722 and purchased by the Quaker Peckover banking family in the 1790s. It is now owned by the National Trust (NT). Now known as Peckover House, the house was renamed in honour of the Peckover family by the NT. The Peckover Bank became part of Barclays Bank.

In the 17th century, the inhabitants of the Fens became known as the "Fen Tigers" for their resistance to the draining of the common marshes.[26] But the farmland created by drainage transformed Wisbech into a wealthy port handling agricultural produce. It was from this period that much of the town's architectural richness originates.

Wisbech sat on the estuary of the River Great Ouse, but silting caused the coastline to move north, and the River Nene was diverted to serve the town.

In 1781 Wisbech Literary Society was formed at the house of Jonathan Peckover.[27]

Theatres in both Pickard's Lane (a barn) and North End and a third (temporary structure) in the High Street are referred to. A new theatre (now part of the Angles Theatre had been built in Deadman's Lane (later Great Church Street, now Alexandra Road) now Angles Theatre c1790. It was used to hold the auction of the contents of the castle, part of the estate of Edward Southwell on 8 November 1791.[28]

One of the earliest Female Friendly Societies was the Wisbech Female Friendly Society instituted on 1 February 1796.[29]

Nineteenth century

Wisbech and Ely shared the Isle of Ely Assizes, as a result the 1819 trial of Israel Garner and James Colbank, two local men, took place in Ely and sentence of hanging took place in Wisbech.[30] Wisbech Regatta was first held in 1850.[31]

June 1858 The Russian Gun. —During the past week a brass plate has been added to the Russian Gun, bearing the inscription:— "This trophy of the late Russian War, presented by Queen Victoria to the Burgesses of Wisbech. Thomas Steed Watson, Mayor, 1858.[32]

The Isle of Ely and Wisbech Advertiser was founded in 1845.[33]

The new Wisbech & Fenland Museum building opened in 1847 and continues to collect, care for and interpret the natural and cultural heritage of Wisbech and the surrounding area.[34]

On 1 March 1848 Eastern Counties Railway opened Wisbeach (sic) station (later renamed Wisbech East railway station). It closed on 9 September 1968.

In the 1853–54 cholera epidemic 176 deaths were reported in the town in 1854.[35] The Wisbech death rate (49 per 10,000) was the fourth highest in the country. The following year saw £8,000 expenditure on sewerage works and £13,400 on water supplies.[36]

New public buildings such as the Exchange Hall and Public Hall (1851) provided modern larger venues for theatrical and other events. When Fanny Kemble gave her Shakespearean readings in 1855, it was at the Public Hall, not the old Georgian theatre.[37]

On Sunday 29 June 1857 a mob entered the town and broke the Corn Merchants windows and seized corn and demanded money from shopkeepers. On July the gentry and traders by beat of drum recruited about 500 men and went to Upwell and took 60 and placed them in irons. On 4 September a Report was made to the Lords Justices of 14 malefactors condemned at Wisbech for a riot, when 2 were ordered for execution the following Saturday and twelve for transportation.[38] The Wisbech Working Men's Club and Institute was formed as a result of an inaugural meeting in 1864. It was once considered one of the most financially successful of its type in England. It remains as one of the oldest [39]

In 1864 the Castle estate was purchased by Alexander Peckover. In 1932 his descendant Alexandrina Peckover gave to the Borough council a piece of land to be laid out as an ornamental garden adjoining the War memorial.[40] The town hosted the British Archaeological Association's prestigious annual Congress in 1878.[41]

In August 1883 Wisbech and Upwell Tramway opened. It eventually closed in 1966 (passenger services finished in 1927). The steam trams were replaced by diesels in 1952.

The Wisbech Standard newspaper was founded in 1888 and ceased printing in 2022.[42][43]

Twentieth century

In April 1904 the borough council contracted with the National Electric Construction Company Ltd for the installation of electric street lighting.[44]

On 30 October 1913 the Riot Act was read by the mayor in response to civil unrest in response to the death of the popular surgeon Doctor Horace Dimock. He had been arrested on charges of criminal libel on the information of Dr Meacock. On hearing that Dimock had taken his own life a crowd formed and smashed the windows of Meacock's residence on the North Brink. The police charged the crowds and cleared the streets.[45]

The Wisbech Canal joining the River Nene at Wisbech was subsequently filled in and became the dual carriageway leading into the town from the east (now crossing the bypass).[46]

Wisbech War Memorial was unveiled on 24 July 1921.[47]

In 1929 The Wisbech Pageant was held at Sibalds Holme Park on 4–5 September. The Pageant Master was Sir Arthur Bryant who had experience with the Cambridgeshire Pageant 1924, Oxfordshire Pageant 1926 and London Empire Pageants of 1928 and 1929. The Wisbech total attendance was estimated in excess of 25,000 people.[48]

In 1934 part of Walsoken parish, Norfolk was merged with Wisbech, bringing with it the schools, shops and public houses but leaving the church and much of the rural part in Norfolk.[49] The suburb of New Walsoken is now largely built up. A boundary marker in Wisbech Park was erected to record the event.[50] Ring's End was transferred from Wisbech to Elm.[51]

In 1939 Wisbech Society and Preservation Trust was founded to safeguard the history and heritage of Wisbech.[52]

In 1949 the borough celebrated the 400th anniversary of receiving its charter. The Pageant in Sibalds Holme Park, Barton Road featured over 600 performers.[53][54]

The first Wisbech Rose Fair was held in 1963 when local rose growers sold rose buds in the parish church in aid of its restoration.[55]

The first purpose-built council-run Caravan Site that accommodates travellers in the UK was built in 1975.[56]

On 21 September 1979, two Harrier jump jets on a training exercise collided over Wisbech; one landed in a field and the other in a residential area. Two houses and a bungalow were demolished on Ramnoth Road, causing the death of Bob Bowers, his two-year-old son Jonathan Bowers, and former town mayor Bill Trumpess.[57]

The 5-mile (8 km), £6 million A47 Wisbech/West Walton bypass opened in spring 1982. The Horsefair shopping centre opened by Noel Edmunds in 1988 is on part of Hill street and the site of the old Horse Fair.[58]

In 1990 further county boundary changes brought a small area of Walsoken, Norfolk into Wisbech.[59]

Contemporary

In 2009 Oxford Archaeology East (OAE) organised a dig at Wisbech Castle to search for remains of the Bishop's Palace.[60] Large numbers of local volunteers took part and hundreds of children visited the dig site. Later in the year a group of volunteers formed Fenland Archaeological Society (FenArch). The Society has carried out a number of digs including the Manea Colony dig organised by Cambridge Archaeology Unit (CAU).[61]

An initiative to deal with the issues of derelict buildings in the town was initiated in 2013. This led to the £1.9M Wisbech High Street four year project. As of 2022, a number of sites in the high street are covered in scaffolding whilst work is in progress. The Wisbech & Fenland Museum currently was closed whilst scaffolding supported the roof replacement, it reopened in February 2022.[62] Following the publication of the Friends of Wisbech & Fenland Museums series of booklets Images of Wisbech contains images taken by Geoff Hastings, research uncovered an archive of images from the Wisbech Borough council, some of these were incorporated in Lost Images of Wisbech published in 2020.[63]

The town is well known for horticulture, in 2018 the town won the business improvement district (BID) category gold award at the Royal Horticultural Society's (RHS) annual Britain in Bloom awards ceremony.[64] In 2019 the town received Gold Award in the large town category in the RHS Anglia in Bloom completion. Waterlees was 'Best in Group' and Gold Award in Urban category and St Peters Gardens a Gold Award in the Small Parks category.[65] The town mayor for 2020-2021, a licence holder of Elgood's Angel Inn breached Covid19 regulations in December 2020. A meeting of the Fenland District Council licensing committee removed the licence.[66]

Governance

Wisbech was a municipal borough before the Local Government Act 1972 came into force in 1974. Wisbech Town Council, based at Wisbech Town Hall, is the civil parish council for Wisbech. On 1 April 1974 the parish was renamed from "Wisbech St. Peter" to "Wisbech".[67] The 18 councillors are elected every four years and they elect a town Mayor each year. The council is responsible for allotments and the market place.[68] In 2018 the council took a lease on Wisbech Castle.[69] In the May 2019 elections, twelve councillors were returned without a vote to Fenland District Council, which topped the Electoral Reform Society's list of 'rotten boroughs'.[70] The town also elects councillors to Cambridgeshire County Council.

Wisbech is within the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.[71]

Transport

Waterways

See also: Port of Wisbech

Wisbech sits on either side of the River Nene,[72] and its port is Cambridgeshire's only gateway to the sea.[73] Schemes to connect the River Nene and the River Welland are proposed, allowing boats a fresh water connection.[74] In the past, the Port of Wisbech could accommodate sailing ships of 400 tons, but its prosperity declined after 1852 when extensive river works impeded navigation.[75] In the previous decade it had been described as England's most important port for the export of wheat.[76] It had in its day been referred to as 'the Milch cow of the corporation'.[77] Now, a river-side yacht harbour provides 128 berths for vessels, and Crab Marshboat yard operates a 75-tonne boat lift. Following the 1978 flood, in which one resident drowned, flood walls and flood gates were erected and in later years built higher.[78] In December 2013, the town's river flood defences were tested when an unusually high tide threatened to top the recently improved walls and flood gates.[79]

Roads

In 1831 the construction of a lifting bridge at Sutton Bridge finally provided a means to travel directly between Norfolk and Lincolnshire.[80] The town stood at the crossing of two Class A roads: from Peterborough to King's Lynn (A47) and from Ely to Long Sutton (A1101). The A1101 now crosses the river at the newer 'Freedom bridge' taking some traffic away from the older 'Town Bridge'. The A47 now bypasses the town. The former part of the A47 inside the town (Lynn Rd and Cromwell Rd) is now the B198.

Railways

Wisbech once had three passenger railway lines,served by Wisbech East railway station, Wisbech North railway station and Wisbech and Upwell Tramway but they all closed between 1959 and 1968. There is an active campaign to reopen the March–Wisbech Bramley Line as part of the national rail network, with direct services to Cambridge and possibly Peterborough. It is supported by Wisbech Town Council and subject to reports commissioned by the county council in 2013.[81] The line is currently Wisbech East railway station(2019) at GRIP 3 study stage.[82] A report published in 2009 by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) indicated that this was viable.[83] The line has been identified as a priority for reopening by Campaign for Better Transport.[84]

Demography

Parish population 1981
 1991
 2001
 2011
 2016
Wisbech 22,932 24,981 26,536 31,573 33,933

[85]

As of 2016 the population of Wisbech was 33,933, of whom 16,800 were male and 17,133 female. 6,748 were aged under 18 and 7,156 over 65. [86]

Several official places (libraries, surgeries, local council) provide translations into Lithuanian, as well as Polish, Latvian, Russian and Portuguese.[87]

Economy

Historical

Before the draining of the Fens was completed, livestock was grazed on the common land and were marked to identify their owners; this was also the case with swans, which were usually marked on their bills.[88] The riverside location and fertile soils surrounding Wisbech allowed the town to flourish.

A thriving pipe-making business was being carried out in the town by Amy White in the 1740s.[89] Soap-making was also taking place in the 1740s[90]

A number of breweries existed in the town; the last one remaining is Elgood's on the North Brink. Established in 1795 and remaining a family owned business, the brewery and gardens are a popular location for tourists to visit.[91]

The first half of the 19th century was a very prosperous time for the town and an annual average of 40,000 tons of goods passed through the port, consisting mainly of coal, corn, timber and wine. The surrounding land produced large quantities of sheep and oxen as well as wool, hemp and flax.[92] Such was the trade with Denmark that a consul was based in North Terrace in a Queen Anne house sometimes called the Danish House.[93] In 1851 the population was 9,594. It decreased to 9,276 in 1861 and picked up to 9,395 in 1891. A National Provincial Bank, on the North Brink and a Savings Bank was built in Hill street in 1851 (it later became a Liberal Club, it is currently the Horsefair Tavern)[94] In 1853 the Wisbech and Isle of Ely Permanent Building Society was established.[95]

Rope-making took place at the Ropewalk and tent-making also took place in the town at W. Poppleton's, Nene Parade. Customers included the visiting J.W. Myers circus in 1881.[96]

The Wisbech Fruit Preserving Company Ltd was wound up in 1894 and the site put up for sale.[97]

In October 1906 the first of the annual mustard markets of the year took place where the harvest of 'brown' and 'white' seed took place. Regular annual Buyers included Messrs Colman's of Norwich.[98][99]

The Wisbech Mustard market held on four Saturdays in October was claimed to be unique, in 1911 it had been running for over forty years. Buyers from the major mills and producers attended and traded in and near the Rose and Crown.[100]

Large numbers of workers were needed to pick fruit, in 1913 due to the great influx of pickers, the police had to find accommodation for 500 'homeless' workers each night. Until 1920 the train companies provided special rail fares for fruit pickers coming to the area.[101]

Liptons had one of their jam factories in the town in the 1920s.[102]

Samuel Wallace Smedley (1877-1958) bought the old Crosse and Blackwell jam making factory. Wisbech Produce Canners (formed in 1925), on Lynn Rd, was the first in England to produce frozen asparagus, peas and strawberries. The Wisbech Producer canners in 1931 became part of the National Canning Company. It was renamed Smedley's Ltd in 1947, later Smedley HP Foods Ltd and later taken over by Hillsdown Foods. It is presently (2021) owned by Princes Group.[103]

Contemporary

The Metal Box company established their largest manufacturing unit at Weasenham Lane in 1953. The site provides processed food cans for fruit, vegetables, soups, milk and pet foods. The workforce grew to over 1,000 before reducing as a result of automation and redundancies. Steel was brought from Welsh steelworks and also from overseas. The site had its own rail yard before the Wisbech to March line closed. The site is now part of Crown Cork.[104]

English Brothers Ltd, another long-established company in Wisbech, are importers of timber brought in at Wisbech port.[105] In 1900 they manufactured wooden troop hits for the war in South Africa.[106] During World War II they produced wooden munitions boxes.[107] Shire Garden Building Ltd based in Wisbech and Sutton Bridge have been manufacturing wooden buildings since the 1980s.[108]

In 2010 Dutch based Partner Logistics opened a £12m frozen food warehouse on Boleness Rd, employing over 50 staff. The 77,000 pallet, fully automated 'freezer' centre had contracts with Lamb Weston, Bird's Eye and Pinguin Foods.

In recent decades the closure of the Clarkson Geriatric hospital (1983), Bowthorpe maternity hospital (c. 1983), Balding & Mansell (printers) (c. 1992), Budgens store[109] (formerly Coop) (2017) and horticultural college (2012),[110] Bridge Street post office (2014), as well as gradual reductions in workforce by CMB, indicate a decline in the economy.

Small family businesses such as Bodgers (2013),[111] Franks butchers (2015)[112] and local bakeries have given way to the supermarkets.

The larger employers in Wisbech include Nestle Purina petcare, Cromwell Rd[113] and Princes, Lynn Rd.[114]

In April 2018 plans for an £8m redevelopment of the North Cambridgeshire Hospital were announced.[115]

Tourism

National Trust property Peckover House and Garden attracts tourists and locals. The Wisbech & Fenland Museum draws in visitors to see the Charles Dickens manuscript, Thomas Clarkson memorabilia and other exhibits. The Octavia Hill Birthplace House also attracts those interested in the National Trust, army cadet force or social housing. The Angles Theatre, The Light and The Luxe Cinema also attract audiences from outside the town. The port of Wisbech and marina attract boating enthusiasts. Wisbech Castle has started to attract visitors to its programme of events and activities.[116]

Religious sites

The Anglican Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul dates back in part to the 12th century. The tower contains the third oldest full peal of 10 bells in the world, cast by William Dobson in 1821; the bells are still in use.[117] St Augustine's church on Lynn Rd was erected in 1868–9 and consecrated on 11 May 1869. An associated school building is now the Robert Hall scouting hall. In 1997 a new parish centre was created when the church was linked to its nearby hall.[118]

Catholic Our Lady & Saint Charles Borromeo Church has been the site of worship for Roman Catholics since 1854. Wisbech Castle the site of the Wisbech Stirs has also been a minor site of pilgrimage.

Other places of worship are: Baptist, Hill St; United Reformed, Castle Square; King's Church, Queens Rd; Jehovahs Witnesses, Tinkers Drove; Trinity Methodist, Church Terrace; and Spiritualist, Alexandra Rd.[119] The Society of Friends meeting-house, North Brink has a burial ground which contains the remains of Jane Stuart (Quaker).[120]

A Chapel of Ease (Octagon Church) was built in 1827, completed in 1830 and controversially demolished in 1952.[121] The large lantern was based on that of Ely Cathedral. The church yard remains and has been opened up for public access.[122]

Education

 
Wisbech Grammar School on North Brink.

An infant school for two to six-year olds was established in the great hall of the workhouse in 1839.[123] Primary schools in Wisbech include: Clarkson Infant and Nursery School, St Peters Church of England Junior School, Orchards Church of England Academy, Peckover Primary School, The Nene Infant School, Ramnoth Junior School and Elm Road Primary School. There are also specialist schools, Meadowgate Academy, Cambian Wisbech School, The County School & Trinity School. Wisbech has two secondary schools: the private Wisbech Grammar School, which was founded in 1379, making it one of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, and the state-funded Thomas Clarkson Academy. There is also a further education centre: the College of West Anglia formerly the Isle College.[124]

Sport

As the River Nene, and other waterways are located in the area, water sports are popular. The rivers and canal provide opportunities for canoeing and kayaking. As an example of organised water sport, in 1955, the Wisbech Yacht Club opened their new clubhouse at Lattersley Pit, Whittlesey.[125] Football was played in the town even before Wisbech Park was opened in 1869. The nearby St. Augustine's club evolving into Wisbech Town F.C.[126]

Culture

Georgian Angles Theatre

The Georgian theatre, Deadman's Lane (now the Angles Theatre on Alexandra Rd) was built c1790 as part of the Lincoln circuit. This is now used by community theatre groups and touring companies. The theatre is run by the Wisbech Angles Theatre Council a registered Charity. The Wisbech Players, (now The Wisbech Theatre Players) formed in 1953, are now an integral part of the theatre.[127]

Museums

Wisbech & Fenland Museum, Museum Square opened on its current site in 1847. The Friends of Wisbech and Fenland Museum supports the museum with Grants for acquisitions, and assists with research programmes, conservation, publishing and new technologies throughout the Museum.[128] The Castle was donated to the Isle of Ely County Council by the family of the former education director and is now run by the town council. It is used as a community asset and hosts educational and other activities. The contents include furnishings, books and other items of interest. Octavia Hill Birthplace House opened with the purpose of housing items linked to the various philanthropic activities of Octavia Hill and her family. The Wisbech Working Men's Institute and Social club's origins date to 1864.[27]

Inns, taverns, beer-houses, breweries and beer festivals

The town's licensed premises have a long history of providing leisure facilities from bowling greens, cock-fighting pits and skittle alleys to darts, cards, chess and other board games as well as social events. In 1853 the 'Wisbech Brewery' (Phillips, Tidbits and Phillips) on the riverside owned 20 pubs and hotels in the town and about 30 outside.[129] Elgood's brewery located on the North Brink supplies its tied-houses the Angel Hotel, King's Head, Hare and Hounds hotel, Red Lion and Three Tuns Inn in the town and others in the surrounding area.[130] Others include the Black Bear, Globe, Locomotive, Rose Tavern and White Lion. In 1950 Arthur Artis Oldham researched and produced in very limited numbers Pubs and Taverns of Wisbech.[131] Last reprinted in 1979 by Cambridgeshire Libraries as Inns and Taverns of Wisbech and now (2021) superseded by the series Wisbech Inns, Taverns and Beer-houses: Past and Present by ABN Ketley.[132] The Rose and Crown hotel on the market place is one of the oldest buildings in the town and featured in The Hotel Inspector TV series in 2009.[133] Underneath there are brick-barrel vaults dating from Tudor times.[134]

Annual festivals and events

March. The annual Showmen's Guild fair known as the Wisbech Mart is held in the town.[135][136]

June. Wis-Beach day is held on the market place. The seaside comes to the town for the Sunday and donkey rides, Punch and Judy shows, sand, beach chairs and amusement rides fill the centre of the town. On Armed Forces Day the market place is taken over by military vehicles and units and veterans associations. A Sunday service is held with a parade and march past.

July.

  • Wisbech Rose Fair is held.[137] It originated in 1963 as a flower festival when local rose growers sold rose buds in the Parish Church of SS Peter and Paul in aid of its restoration fund. The church used this annual occasion to raise funds for the upkeep of the ancient building, and over the years, the Rose Fair grew into a Town Festival. It developed into an event that encompasses many of the charities and other organisations in the town and district running stalls and events including two parades of floats starting from Queens Road.[138][139][140][141]
  • The Arles Festival celebrates the twinning of the two towns.
  • The Annual Concert run by The Friends of Wisbech & Fenland Museum at Wisbech Castle raises funds for the museum.[142]

August. Wisbech Rock Festival is a Free Festival held in Wisbech Park and is run by the Town Council.[143] Friends of Wisbech Park Bandstand host a series of musical events at the bandstand on Sunday afternoons throughout the summer and winter.[144] Many local gardens are open to the public as part of the National Garden Scheme Open Days.

September. The town participates in Heritage Weekend when many buildings are open to the public for tours. The Showmen's Guild Wisbech Statute Fair is held in the town. The Elgoods Beer Festival takes place when musical events accompany the wide range of drinks on offer.

October. Wisbech Castle and the Horse Fair stage Halloween events.[145]

November. Christmas Lights Switch On takes place on the market place.

December, Wisbech Christmas Fayre takes place.[146]

Literature

Local nonfiction authors include William Godwin, Thomas Clarkson, William Ellis (missionary), William Watson, FJ Gardiner, N Walker & Prof. T Craddock, Arthur Artis Oldham, Andrew C Ingram, Robert Bell, George Anniss, Roger Powell, Bridgett Holmes, Kevin Rodgers, Andrew Ketley, Peter Clayton OBE and William P Smith and fiction writers John Muriel, John Gordon Rev. Wilbert Awdry OBE and Diane Calton Smith.[147]

Poetry

The town nearly added the poet John Clare to its residents when he visited for a job interview. Fen speak ran a series of events funded by the Arts Council, Metal Culture and John Clare Cottage. The town hosted Fenland Poet Laureate awards (2012 – Elaine Ewerton; 2013 – Leanne Moden; 2014 – Poppy Kleiser; 2015 – Jonathan Totman; 2016 – Mary Livingstone; 2017 – Kate Caoimhe). The Fenland Poet Laureate Awards were relaunched with funding from the Arts Council in 2019.[148] Charlotte Beck, 13 and CJ Atkinson were announced as the 2019–2020 Young Fenland Poet Laureate and Fenland Poet Laureate.[149] 'Stanza' poetry group holds regular events at The Castle.

Art

Wisbech Art Club was formed in 1933 and holds exhibitions at venues in the town including Wisbech & Fenland Museum. Regular meetings are now (2023) held at the St Raphael club.

Photography

Wisbech & District Camera Club was formed in 1950 and meets in Wisbech St.Mary. Early and well known photographers in the town included William Ellis (missionary), Samuel Smith (photographer),[150] Lilian Ream, Valentine Blanchard[151] and Geoff Hastings.[152]

Music

The Corn Exchange (now closed temporarily ) provides a venue for musical events. Big names that appeared include the iconic Rolling Stones, Jerry Lee Lewis, Adam Faith and Gene Vincent.[153] Contemporary local rock bands include The Brink.[154] The Bandstand in the park is a venue for summer concerts and the park also stages the annual Wisbech Rock Festival.[155]

Embroidery

Mia Hansson, from Skanör, Sweden, now living in the town, started a Bayeux Tapestry reproduction on 13 July 2016. As of July 2022 she had completed 37 metres, saying that she expected to finish in some 5 years. Hansson takes part of her replica out for talk and display events. In September 2020 she published Mia's Bayeux Tapestry Colouring Book, with hand-drawn images from the tapestry.[156][157]

Architecture

Notable buildings and monuments

 
27-30 Old Market

Wisbech is particularly noted for its fine examples of Georgian architecture. It has over 250 listed buildings and monuments, concentrated mainly along the river and known as The Brinks (North and South Brinks), and around the Old Market and new Market places and the circus around Wisbech Castle known as The Crescent.[158] These include:

Georgian

  • Peckover House (1722), North Brink, owned by the National Trust; in its grounds are the remains of the white cross.[159]
  • Octavia Hill Birthplace House (formerly Bank House), South Brink.[160]
  • Wisbech Castle - a Regency villa (1816) built on the site of a Norman castle.
  • Former New Inn, Union St dating to about 1500.[161][162]
  • Rose and Crown hotel, located on the market place, is an early 17th century coaching inn. A date of 1601 and trumpet and pheasant are visible on the exterior of the building. It is listed grade II* by Historic England.
  • Elgood's Brewery, The brewery was founded in 1795 and bought soon afterwards by the Elgood family.
     
    Elgoods Brewery on North Brink in Wisbech
  • Ely House, an early 18th century farmhouse. A grade II listed building.[163]
  • The Angles Theatre, a typical Georgian playhouse built c1790 owned by Thomas Shaftoe Robinson. Grade II listed.[164] Acknowledged as the eighth oldest working theatre in England.[165]
  • Mill Tower formerly known as Leach's Mill, located on Lynn Road, is remarkable on account of its height and age. Built on a mound and eight storeys in height, it had eight sails. It dates to at least 1778, although the initials SH and 1643 are reputed to have been on a beam inside the mill. The last miller used it in the 1930s. The adjoining flour and provender roller mill suffered a fire in the 1970s. The mill minus the sails is now used as a residence. None of the other dozen or so mills survive.[166]
 
The Clarkson Memorial in Wisbech in 2013, in memory of the abolitionist Thomas Clarkson

Victorian

Church Architecture

Wisbech and its surrounding villages also boast some interesting church architecture.

 
The Octagon Chapel in Wisbech Old Market, demolished in 1952

Notable residents

Deceased

Royalty, Nobility and Public Office

  • John of Wisbech (died 1349) was in charge of the erection of the Lady Chapel at Ely Cathedral in the first half of the fourteenth century.[172]
  • Thomas Parke (c1543-1630), Town Bailiff and High Sheriff of the county of Cambridge and Huntingdon. Married 1. Jean Coulson, 2 or 3. Audrey Cross. Died on 1 January and a monument is inside St. Peter's church, Wisbech.
  • John Thurloe, MP (1616–1668), Solicitor-general, Lord Chief Justice, Secretary of State and lawyer. Cromwell' spymaster. He replaced the bishop's palace at Wisbech with a mansion (later demolished by Joseph Medworth).
  • Mathias Taylor JP, linen draper, Capital Burgess and appointed Constable of the Castle in 1631.
  • Jane Stuart (c1654-1742), a daughter of James II joined the Society of Friends on the North Brink and lived on the Old Market, she died aged 88 in Wisbech on 12 July and is buried in the Friends' graveyard.[27]
  • Sir Philip Vavasour, High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire. Knighted in 1761. Lived on South Brink, Wisbech.
  • Sir Charles Wale KCB (1765–1845), General and Governor of Martinique, attended Wisbech Grammar School.
  • James Crowden CVO (1927–2016). Chartered surveyor, Olympian, Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely. Wisbech J.P. Born 14 November in Tilney All Saints, died 24 September 2016.

Church and Religion

Writers

  • Richard Huloet, lexicographer and author.
  • William Godwin the elder, (born in Wisbech, 3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) father of Mary Shelley, was an English political writer and novelist.[176]
  • Lt Col William Watson, DL FAS (1770–1834) died on 31 March 1834. Lawyer, brewer, banker, soldier, magistrate, town bailiff, chief bailiff of the Isle of Ely and author of A history of Wisbech. He is buried in Wisbech.
  • Arthur Artis Oldham (1886–1980), historian and writer was born in Wisbech. Titles included A History of Wisbech River (1933), Wisbech Bridges, Inns and Taverns of Wisbech (1950), Wisbech Windmills, Windmills around Wisbech, The Inns & Taverns of Wisbech (1979) and Windmills in and around Wisbech (1994). He married Ellen (Nellie) Fewster and had two children. He retired to Norwich where he died in 1980.[177]
  • John Muriel (1909–1975), born in Hadleigh, Suffolk, aka as John St Clair Muriel, John Lindsey or Simon Dewes, was an author who taught at Wisbech Grammar School. His father was John Muriel (1859–1946) a[178] Novels, autobiographies and short stories include: Molten Ember (1930), Voice of One, Still Eastward Bound (1940), Suffolk Childhood (1959), Essex Days (1960) and When All the World was Young (1961). One of his pupils was John Gordon.
  • Rev. W. Awdry OBE (15 June 1911 – 21 March 1997), creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, was Vicar of Emneth in 1953–65.Toby the Tram Engine, one of Awdry's characters, was similar to the small steam trams that ran farm produce on the Strawberry Line between Upwell and Wisbech.
  • John Gordon (1925–2017), attended Wisbech Grammar School. The town and the surrounding fens inspired many of his novels, including The House on the Brink (Peckover House) and Fen Runners.
  • Mick Walker (1942–2012), born 30 November 1942, Wretton, Norfolk. Following 10 years in the RAF he became a dealer, importer and race sponsor. After running his motorcycle business he became assistant editor of Motorcycle Enthusiast magazine and an author of over 100 books. He died on 8 March 2012 and was survived by his wife Susan and son Steven.

Visual Arts

  • Algernon Peckover (1803–1893), Painter, Quaker a son born in Wisbech on 25 November to Jonathan and Susanah Peckover. A collection of his drawings and watercolours from 1859 to 1865 are at Peckover House & Garden. He married Priscilla Alexander. A son Alexander was created 1st Baron Peckover of Wisbech. Died on 10 December.
  • Alfred Balding (1858–1915), Painter, photographer and lithographer. His paintings are now in collections at the Wisbech & Fenland Museum and the Science Museum.[179] Partner in the firm of Balding & Mansell, printers.[180]

Music

Performing Arts

  • Fanny Robertson aka Frances Mary Robertson (1768–1855), actor and theatre manager and lessee of Wisbech theatre (now the Angles Theatre). Born Frances Mary Ross. Married Thomas Shaftoe Robertson (1765–1831). Retired to live in Norfolk street and died on 18 December 1855.
  • Henry Herbert aka Master Herbert (born in Wisbech 22 December 1829), child actor known as 'The Infant Roscius'. Son of John Herbert.
  • Fanny Maria Robertson (1831–1909) actress, elder sister of Dame Madge Kendal.
  • Anton Rodgers (1933–2007), actor, was born in London on 10 January 1933 and moved to Wisbech during the war. He was president of the Georgian Angles Theatre.

Social Reform and Campaign

Politics and Government

  • Alderman John Minnet Mason (1807–1886), bonesetter and local politician. The son of a GP also a bonesetter, the skills were passed on to his sons Frederick and George.[182]
  • Alderman Richard Young (MP) JP DL (1809–1871) for Cambridgeshire was a ship owner, five times Mayor of Wisbech (1858–62), JP for the Isle of Ely and Norfolk and a sheriff of the city of London & Middlesex in 1871.[27] He was born on 22 March in Scarning, Norfolk, the son of John and Mary Younge. He owned more than 40 ships at different times. He died on 15 October, only two days after being made Sheriff.[183]
  • Sir Thomas George Fardell BA, MP (1833–1917), English politician and lawyer, born on 26 October 1833 he was the youngest son of Rev Henry Fardell, vicar of Wisbech. He dies 12 March 1917
  • William Digby CIE, (born in Wisbech, 1 May 1849 – 29 September 1904) was an English writer, journalist and liberal politician, and first secretary of the National Liberal Club.
  • John Humphrey (1838-1914) American politician born in Wisbech.
  • Alderman John William Payne JP (1888-1959), liberal politician and parliamentary candidate, Chairman of Isle of Ely Education Committee (1928-1959), chief campaigner for the foundation of Isle College, Wisbech.

The Academy

  • Professor Thomas Craddock (1812–1893), photographer, writer and academic. Coauthor of a History of Wisbech, later professor of Literature, Queen's College, Liverpool. Died 9 April 1893 in Liverpool.[184]

Medicine and the Sciences

  • William Skrimshire, (born in Wisbech, 1766–1829) was a surgeon and botanist. A walkway 'Skrimshires Passage' off Hill Street is named after him.
  • Fenwick Skrimshire, (born in Wisbech, 1774 – 11 June 1855) was an English naturalist and physician to John Clare.
  • Richard Middleton Massey MD, FRS, FSA (1678–1743), Doctor and antiquarian. Born in Cheshire, after studying at Oxford he became deputy keeper at the Ashmolean Museum he later obtained a licence to practice medicine in Wisbech. He was appointed Keeper of the town library and was a founder member of Spalding Gentlemen's Society. He retired to his family estates in Rostherene and died in 1743 on 29 March 1743.[185]
  • Professor Sir Harry Kroto FRS (1939–2016), born in Wisbech 7 October 1939 son of Heinz Fritz Kroton and Edith Kathe Dora Kroto was the 1996 Nobel Laureate in chemistry, for the discovery of fullerenes.

Photography

  • Rev. William Ellis (29 August 1794 – 9 June 1872) and pioneer photographer, was brought up and went to elementary school in Wisbech. He later went to Homerton college (then in London) and became a missionary, this coupled with his writing and photographic skills led him to become the author of History of Madagascar (1838), Polynesian Researches and History of the London Missionary Society and other publications.
  • Samuel Smith aka 'Philosopher Smith' (1802–1892), merchant and pioneer photographer. A director of Wisbech Gas Light and Coke company and a member of the Palaeontographical Society of London. His photos taken in the 1850s and 1860s record the development of the town. Collections can be seen in the Science Museum, London and Wisbech & Fenland Museum.[186]
  • William Peckover F.S.A., (1790–1877) philanthropist son of Jonathan Peckover. President of Wisbech & Fenland Museum. Died 12 May.[27]
  • Edward Johnson (1822–1907), photographer. His photographs of local churches were published in three volumes by Leach & Son.[187]
  • Lilian Ream (1877–1961) photographer. Lilian was born in West Walton, Norfolk. Aged 17 she became photographic assistant to William Drysdale and went on to dominate the local photographic business. After her retirement her son Roland took the studio and it continued until it eventually closed in 1971. Over 10,000 negatives have survived to form the 'Lilian Ream collection'. This may be the most comprehensive record of its kind in England. In April 2013 the Wisbech Society erected a blue plaque at 4 The Crescent in her honour.[188][189]
  • Geoff Hastings (1926-2005) photographer and artist. He used a camera to record the changes in the town during the 1950s and 1960s. Also a journalistic photographer and artist. Many of his large collection of images are held at the Wisbech & Fenland Museum and reproduced in the Images of Wisbech booklets and other publications.[190]

Sport

Diplomacy

  • Brian Hitch (1932–2004), born Wisbech, Ambassador to Malta and academic.

The Peckover Family

Over many generations the Peckover family rose from humble Quaker origins to become bankers and peers, and the first family of Wisbech. They were notable for their philanthropic works.

  • Alexander Peckover 1st Baron Peckover LL.D., FRGS., FSA., FRGS., FLS. (1830–1919) British Quaker banker and philanthropist. Born in Wisbech 16 August 1830. Died 21 October 1919.
  • Jonathan Peckover (1835–1882), Quaker and philanthropist. Born 16 June and died 8 February. Son of Algernon and Priscilla Peckover. He founded the Wisbech Working Men's Institute in 1864.[192]
  • Algerina Peckover (1841–1927), Quaker, philanthropist and plant collector who donated a collection of Madagascan ferns to Wisbech Herbarium in 1904.[193]
  • Alexandrina Peckover (1860-1948). Philanthropist. Born 10 July 1860 in Wisbech. A daughter of Baron Peckover and Eliza (nee Sharples). She donated land for the Barton road recreation ground and later £5,000 for the youth movement. After her death on 16 April 1948 her home, Bank House on the North Brink, Wisbech, was given to the National Trust, it was later renamed Peckover House.[194]
  • Priscilla Hannah Peckover (1834-1931). Quaker and Peace campaigner. Third child of Eliza and Alexander Peckover. Secretary of Wisbech Peace Association, author of Peace & Goodwill. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1903, 1905, 1911 and 1913.[195]
  • (see also Algernon Peckover, painter)

Other

  • Jane Southwell, (aka Lady Jane Trafford) (1732–1809), heiress of Wisbech Castle, married Sir Clement Trafford (aka Clement Boehm), they had three children Clement (1761–1768) Sigismund & Jane. Separated by 1764. She changed her name back to Southwell by an Act of Parliament in 1791 in order to inherit from her brother Edward. Buried at Orsett, Essex the home of her daughter Jane who married Richard Baker. In her will she expressed a wish to be buried in Wisbech.
  • Joseph Medworth, (born in Wisbech, 1752–1827) was a builder who developed the castle estate into a circus including "The Crescent" in Wisbech and redeveloped "Thurloe's Mansion" into the current Regency villa on the castle site. He died on 17 October 1827.
  • Richard Kelham Whitelamb, baptised 1765 in Wisbech was 2' 10" tall. His portrait by Samuel Ireland (1744–1800) is in the Royal Collection. He was an exhibit at fairs and a handbill dated 23 August 1787 states "he is now in the 22nd year, 34 inches high and weighs 42lbs."[196]
  • Charles Boucher (died 1866), Brewer lived at 'The Castle' and owned the Union Brewery and 44 public houses.
  • Rev. Chauncy Hare Townshend M.A.(1798–1868), philanthropist and owner of property in Wisbech. He was a friend of Charles Dickens and the author's manuscript of Great Expectations given him by Dickens was left to Wisbech & Fenland Museum.[27]
  • Lt Robert Pate, Jr (25 December 1819 – February 1895) son of corn merchant Robert Francis Pate DL, was a British Army officer, remembered for his assault on Queen Victoria on 27 June 1850. He was transported to Australia for seven years, where he married and later returned to England.
  • Philip Vassar Hunter CBE (1883–1956) engineer was born in Wisbech.
  • Sir Frank Arthur Stockdale, GCMG, CBE, FLS (24 June 1883 – 3 August 1949) a pupil at Wisbech Grammar School became an agriculturist and colonial agricultural administrator.

Living

Names in birth order:

  • Ray DaSilva, born Ray Palmer in 1933 in Wisbech, magician and puppeteer, founded the DaSilva Puppet Company.:[197] After touring overseas the company moved from its base in Cambridgeshire to Norfolk, opening Norwich Puppet Theatre in 1980. As well as being a puppeteer (both making and performing), he was a director, producer and dealer in Puppet books.[198] He was a founder member of the Puppet Centre Trust, chair of British UNIMA and a co-founder of Puppeteers East.[199]
  • Mia Hansson, born 1974, a former teacher and embroiderer. In 2022 halfway through making a full size replica of the Bayeux Tapestry.[200][201]
  • Malcolm Douglas Moss MA, (born 1943, Lancashire) politician, was a Wisbech Town councillor and later conservative MP for North East Cambridgeshire from 1987 until retirement at the 2010 general election. Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office) 25 October 1994 – 2 May 1997. Made an Honorary Freeman of Wisbech.
  • Victoria Gillick (born 1946 Hendon), activist and campaigner.
  • Mike Stevens (born 1957) is a musical director, session musician and record producer.
  • Joe Perry (born 13 August 1974 in Wisbech) is a professional snooker player.
  • Jody Cundy CBE, (born 14 October 1978 in Wisbech) is a Paralympian.
  • Ellen Falkner MBE (née Alexander; born 12 June 1979 in Wisbech) is an English international lawn and indoor bowler[202]
  • George Russell (born 15 February 1998) current Mercedes Formula One Driver, grew up in Wisbech and attended Wisbech Grammar School.

Radio, film and television

 
The North Brink by the River Nene in Wisbech
 
The Brinks, depicted in 1851

A 1924 film recorded a day at the North Cambridgeshire Hospital in the East Anglian Film Archive (EAFA).[203] 1926 street scenes filmed to be shown at the local Electric Theatre. EAFA.[204] North Cambridgeshire Hospital in the 1930s. EAFA.[205] Approaching Wisbech an amateur film of a simulated road traffic accident made in the late 1930s. EAFA.[206]

1932 The 'Capital of the Fens' is brought to a standstill as crowds fill the streets to catch a glimpse of Prince George as he receives the Loyal Address from the Mayor.[207]

In 1957 the BBC Radio show Have A Go was recorded in the town by Wilfred Pickles with guest Sheila Chesters, founder of the Little Theatre group.[208] The same year the BBC filmed Mrs Chester's Little Theatre Group performing in the grounds of Grammar school house, South Brink.[209] It was broadcast as part of ‘'Maypole and Melody'’ on 26 April 1958.

1961 The Wisbech to Upwell Tramway. EAFA.[210] In 1963 Anglia TV recorded a film report on Wisbech Castle. This is also available to download on the East Anglian Film Archive.[211] The Flood a 1963 drama filmed using boats from Wisbech.[212]

1975 Anglia TV report about the first purpose-built traveller site in GB. EAFA.[213]

'A Passage to Wisbech' (1986) a BBC documentary on the coaster ships which work around the shores of Britain, followed the voyages of the Carrick, a 30-year-old ship owned and skippered by Rick Waters.[214]

A 'Wisbech Rock Festival' appears in the 1998 British comedy film Still Crazy starring Stephen Rea, Jimmy Nail, Billy Connolly and Timothy Spall, Bill Nighy, Juliet Aubrey, Helena Bergstrom and Bruce Robinson.[215] Wisbech is noted for its unspoilt Georgian architecture, particularly along North Brink and The Crescent. It has been used in BBC One's 1999 adaptation of Charles Dickens' 'David Copperfield'[216] and ITV1's 2001 adaptation of 'Micawber', starring David Jason.[217]

In 2000 BBC One's Antiques Roadshow was hosted and recorded at the Hudson Leisure centre.[218] The 2008 feature film Dean Spanley starring Peter O'Toole was largely filmed in Wisbech.[219] 2009 Channel 5's reality TV series ‘The Hotel Inspector’ starring Alex Polizzi featured The Rose and Crown hotel.[220]

In February 2010 the effect of immigration on the town was featured in the BBC documentary 'The Day the Immigrants Left', presented by Evan Davis. The programme looked at jobs in the town reported to have been "taken over by migrants". In the programme, several local unemployed persons were given the chance to try such jobs.[221][222][223] 2018 'Celebrating Nestle Communities – Wisbech' was released in September 2018. This is one of a series of films showcasing communities around the UK and Ireland where Nestle operate.[224] In December 2018 the American TV program‘The Late Late Show’ with British star James Cordon featured a giant inflatable Santa blocking Cromwell Road. This Father Christmas had broken free from its fixings in a garden and it took several hours to catch.[225] Wisbech 2019 Made in Minecraft: A different point of view was released. It shows parts of the town in a Minecraft format.[226]

Other media

In More English Fairy Tales collected and edited by Joseph Jacobs the tale of Tom Hickathrift and his battle with the Wisbeach (Wisbech) Giant is retold.[227] In other versions the protagonist is described as The Wisbech/Wisbeach Ogre.[228]

Isaac Casaubon recorded in his diary his visit to Wisbech on 17 August 1611. He accompanied Lancelot Andrewes, bishop of Ely, from the episcopal palace at Downham.[229]

Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary his trip to Parson Drove on 17 September 1663 to accompany his uncle and cousin to Wisbech in connection with another uncle Day's estate. He visited the church and library at Wisbech on 18 September.[229]

Daniel Defoe (c.1660–1731) toured the eastern counties of England in 1723 and commented about Wisbech as a seaport. He had visited the Isle of Ely in 1722 and observed: "That there are some wonderful engines for throwing up water, and such as are not to be seen any where else, whereof one in particular threw up, (as they assur'd us) twelve hundred ton of water in half an hour, and goes by wind-sails, 12 wings or sails to a mill".

"Here are the greatest improvements by planting of hemp, that, I think, is to be seen in England; particularly on the Norfolk and Cambridge side of the Fens, as about Wisbech, Well, and several other places, where we saw many hundred acres of ground bearing great crops of hemp ".[230]

William Cole (antiquary) (1714–1782), the Cambridge antiquary, who passed through in 1772, mentions that "the buildings were in general handsome, the inn we stopped at [the Rose and Crown] uncommonly so...". "But the Bridge," he added "stretching Rialto-like over this straight and considerable stream, with a good row of houses extending from it, and fronting the water, to a considerable distance, beats all, and exhibits something of a Venetian appearance."

John Howard (prison reformer) came to Wisbech to visit the 'Wisbeach Bridewell' on 3 February 1776 and found two prisoners locked up in it. He described it as having two or three rooms. No courtyard. No water. Allowance a penny a day; and straw twenty shillings a year. Keeper's salary £16: no Fees – This prison might be improved on the Keeper's Garden.[231]

In 1778/1779 Italian author and poet Giuseppe Marc'Antonio Baretti (also known as Joseph Baretti; 1718–1789) took up residence with a family living at the castle for about a fortnight. Afterwards he published a series of letters Lettere Familiari de Giuseppe Baretti including a description of his Wisbech visit. He attended horse races, the theatre, public balls, public suppers and assemblies.[232]

William Cobbett (1763–1835), who 'speechified' to about 220 people in the Playhouse Angles Theatre in April 1830, called it "a good solid town, though not handsome" and re marked the export of corn.

William Macready arrived in Wisbech on 13 June 1836 and performed in Hamlet' and Macbeth in what is now the Angles Theatre. He recorded his visit which was later published in 1875 in Diaries and Letters.[27]

Charles Kingsley's 1850 novel Alton Locke has a character Bob Porter referring to the gibbeting of two Irish reapers at Wisbech River after trial for murder. Wisbech and Fenland Museum has a headpiece that was used with the gibbet in a similar case in the 18th century.[233]

Wisbeach and its river Nene (or Nen), wooden piling and riverport, two stations are mentioned by Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953) who dined at the Whyte Harte hotel, North Brink.[234]

Wisbech was one of eight towns featured in Old Towns Revisited published by Country Life Ltd in 1952.[235]

Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald describes his experience of visiting Wisbech in May 1964.[236]

Travel writer Nicholas Wollaston's (1927–2007) visit to the town produced a chapter in his 1965 book.[237]

Wisbech features in John Gordon's 1992 autobiography.[238]

There are two free newspapers distributed within the town and online, the Wisbech Standard (owned by Archant)[239] and the' Fenland Citizen (owned by Iliffe Media).[240]

Several free local magazines are published online and distributed: The fens (monthly),[241] Discovering Wisbech (monthly),[242] The Wisbech Post (quarterly),[243] and the Fenland Resident (quarterly).[244]

According to a study looking into immigration patterns, Wisbech was once identified as the seventh "most English" town in Britain by Sky News. However, on 16 February 2008 a report in the Daily Express titled "Death of a Country Idyll" wrote about how the influx of Eastern European immigrants may have caused an increase in crime. Then on 20 February 2008 The Fenland Citizen contained an article opposing the Daily Express article.[245]

On 14 May 2011 Wisbech featured in The Guardian "Let's Move to..." column: Tom Dyckhoff highlighted the Georgian streets, cinemas, local community groups and poor rail links.

In June 2018 Country Life magazine ran a feature on Wisbech.[246]

In November 2018 Wisbech featured in an article in the Daily Telegraph by Jack Rear entitled "The spirited English town with some of Britain's best forgotten history".[247]

Wisbech Merchants' Trail was updated and released as a map and booklet and as a free mobile app in August 2019. There are 17 brass plaques at historical sites around the town.[248]

The town council produces an annual Official Town Guide and Map published by Local Authority Publishing Co Ltd. There is also an online version.[249]

Climate

Like the rest of the United Kingdom, Wisbech experiences an oceanic climate, but Cambridgeshire is one of the driest counties in the British Isles along with Essex. February is the driest month, whilst October is the wettest. In temperature terms, both January and December are the coldest months, whilst August is the warmest.

Climate data for Wisbech
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 7
(45) 		8
(46) 		11
(52) 		13
(55) 		16
(61) 		19
(66) 		21
(70) 		22
(72) 		19
(66) 		15
(59) 		10
(50) 		7
(45) 		14
(57)
Daily mean °C (°F) 4.5
(40.1) 		5
(41) 		7
(45) 		9
(48) 		12
(54) 		14.5
(58.1) 		16.5
(61.7) 		17
(63) 		14.5
(58.1) 		11
(52) 		7
(45) 		4.5
(40.1) 		10.2
(50.5)
Average low °C (°F) 2
(36) 		2
(36) 		3
(37) 		5
(41) 		8
(46) 		10
(50) 		12
(54) 		12
(54) 		10
(50) 		7
(45) 		4
(39) 		2
(36) 		6
(44)
Average precipitation cm (inches) 4.5
(1.8) 		3
(1.2) 		3.3
(1.3) 		4
(1.6) 		4.6
(1.8) 		4.4
(1.7) 		4.8
(1.9) 		5.2
(2.0) 		5.3
(2.1) 		5.6
(2.2) 		5
(2.0) 		4.4
(1.7) 		54.1
(21.3)
Average precipitation days 18 15 15 14 13 12 12 12 13 16 17 17 174
Source: World Weather Online[250]

Twin town

See also

References

  1. ^ "Wisbech". National Trust. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  2. ^ Eilert Ekwall, The Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, p.526.
  3. ^ Devenish, David (1992). "Trade Tokens of Wisbech". Annual Report. Wisbech Society. 53: 28–33.
  4. ^ "To the Editor". Stamford Mercury. 9 September 1881.
  5. ^ "Numismatics". www.wisbechmuseum.org.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  6. ^ Wilkes, J.J.; Elrington, C.R., eds. (1978). A History of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely. Vol. VII. Oxford University Press.
  7. ^ Michael Chisholm (2021). Anglo-Saxon Hydraulic Engineering in The Fens. Shaun Tyas. p. 27.
  8. ^ Bridget Holmes (2010). Cemeteries, Graveyards And Memorials. The Wisbech Society and Preservation Trust Ltd.
  9. ^ J. Bentham, Hist. Ely, 87.[full citation needed]
  10. ^ Wisbech: Manors', A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 4: City of Ely; Ely, N. and S. Witchford and Wisbech Hundreds (2002), pp. 243–245.
  11. ^ "Wisbech". Local Histories. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  12. ^ Shirley Carter (2018). The mystery of King John's treasure.
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Further reading

  • Arthur, Jane; et al. (1996). Medicine in Wisbech. Seagull Press. ISBN 0-948147-00-8.
  • Bell, Robert (2001). Wisbech: A photographic history of your town. Black Horse Books.
  • Bevis, Trevor (1990). Wisbech 657-1987. T.A. Bevis. ISBN 0-901680-33-8.
  • Bevis, Trevor (1987). A Pocket Guide to The Fenland. T.A. Bevis. ISBN 0-901680-27-3.
  • Bowden Kim; Rayner, David, eds. (2004). Wisbech. Images of England. The History Press. ISBN 9780752407401 – via AbeBooks.com.
  • Brown, Raymond (1992). The story of Balding & Mansell. Balding & Mansell.
  • Bevis, Trevor (2011). Cromwell: Lord of the Fens. TA Bevis. ISBN 978-0-901680-85-3.
  • Clayton, Peter (1993). Octavia Hill 1838–1912 Born in Wisbech. The Wisbech Society and Preservation Trust Ltd. ISBN 0-9519220-1-7.
  • Craddock, Thomas, & Walker, Neil (1849). The History of Wisbech and the Fens. Richard Walker.
  • A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 4: City of Ely N. and S. Witchford and Wisbech Hundreds. 2002.
  • Dugdale, Sir William (1651). History of Imbanking and Draining of the divers Fens and Marshes both of Foreign Parts and this Kingdom.
  • Dunlop, George (2007). Wisbech Fire Brigade 1845–1949. G Dunlop. ISBN 978-0955598418.
  • Dunlop, George (2008). Wisbech Fire Brigade 1950–1979. G Dunlop. ISBN 978-0955598432.
  • Ellis, John (2011). To Walk in the Dark. the History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-6023-9.
  • Gadsden, E.J.S. (1966). The Wisbech and Upwell tramway. Branch Line Handbooks.
  • Gardiner, Frederic John (1898). History of Wisbech and Neighborhood, During the Last Fifty Years – 1848–1898. Gardiner & Co. Retrieved 3 October 2019 – via archive.org.
  • Gordon, John (1992). Ordinary Seaman. Walker Books. ISBN 0-7445-2106-8.
  • Gordon, John (1970). The House on the Brink. Childrens Book Club. ISBN 0060220287.
  • Gordon, John (2009). Fen Runners. Orion Childrens. ISBN 978-1-84255-684-9.
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  • Ketley, Andrew BN (2021). Wisbech Inns, Taverns and Beer-Houses: Past and Present. Vol. 1. Friends of Wisbech & Fenland Museum.
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  • Mahoney, Charlotte (1970). A short history of Wisbech High School. Miss M Whitlock.
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External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wisbech.
 
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Wisbech".
  • Wisbech High Street

March 08, 2023
wisbech, beech, market, town, inland, port, civil, parish, fenland, district, cambridgeshire, england, 2011, population, town, lies, north, east, cambridgeshire, bordering, norfolk, only, miles, south, lincolnshire, tidal, river, nene, running, through, town, . Wisbech ˈ w ɪ z b iː tʃ WIZ beech is a market town inland port and civil parish in the Fenland district in Cambridgeshire England In 2011 it had a population of 31 573 The town lies in the far north east of Cambridgeshire bordering Norfolk and only 5 miles 8 km south of Lincolnshire The tidal River Nene running through the town is spanned by two road bridges Wisbech is in the Isle of Ely a former administrative county and has been described as the Capital of The Fens 1 WisbechThe North BrinkWisbechLocation within CambridgeshirePopulation31 573 2011 OS grid referenceTF4609Civil parishWisbechDistrictFenlandShire countyCambridgeshireRegionEastCountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townWISBECHPostcode districtPE13 PE14Dialling code01945PoliceCambridgeshireFireCambridgeshireAmbulanceEast of EnglandUK ParliamentNorth East CambridgeshireList of places UK England Cambridgeshire 52 39 50 N 0 09 36 E 52 664 N 0 160 E 52 664 0 160 Coordinates 52 39 50 N 0 09 36 E 52 664 N 0 160 E 52 664 0 160Wisbech is noteworthy for its fine examples of Georgian architecture particularly the parade of houses along the North Brink which includes the National Trust property of Peckover House and the circus surrounding Wisbech Castle Contents 1 History 1 1 Etymology 1 2 Pre Roman 1 3 Anglo Saxon 1 4 Norman 1 5 Early Modern 1 6 English Civil War and Commonwealth 1 7 Eighteenth century 1 8 Nineteenth century 1 9 Twentieth century 1 10 Contemporary 2 Governance 3 Transport 3 1 Waterways 3 2 Roads 3 3 Railways 4 Demography 5 Economy 5 1 Historical 5 2 Contemporary 5 3 Tourism 6 Religious sites 7 Education 8 Sport 9 Culture 9 1 Georgian Angles Theatre 9 2 Museums 9 3 Inns taverns beer houses breweries and beer festivals 9 4 Annual festivals and events 9 5 Literature 9 6 Poetry 9 7 Art 9 8 Photography 9 9 Music 9 10 Embroidery 10 Architecture 10 1 Notable buildings and monuments 10 1 1 Georgian 10 1 2 Victorian 10 1 3 Church Architecture 11 Notable residents 11 1 Deceased 11 1 1 Royalty Nobility and Public Office 11 1 2 Church and Religion 11 1 3 Writers 11 1 4 Visual Arts 11 1 5 Music 11 1 6 Performing Arts 11 1 7 Social Reform and Campaign 11 1 8 Politics and Government 11 1 9 The Academy 11 1 10 Medicine and the Sciences 11 1 11 Photography 11 1 12 Sport 11 1 13 Diplomacy 11 1 14 The Peckover Family 11 1 15 Other 11 2 Living 12 Radio film and television 13 Other media 14 Climate 15 Twin town 16 See also 17 References 18 Further reading 19 External linksHistory EditEtymology Edit The place name Wisbech is first attested in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle for the year 656 where it appears as Wisbeach It is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as Wisbeach The name Wisbech is popularly believed to mean on the back of the River Ouse Ouse being a common Celtic word relating to water and the name of a river that once flowed through the town A more scholarly opinion is that the first element derives from the River Wissey which used to run to Wisbech and that the name means the valley of the river Wissey 2 A wide range of spellings is found on trade tokens in the Wisbech amp Fenland Museum and in newspapers books maps and other documents e g Wisbece Wisebece Wisbbece Wysbeche Wisbeche Wissebeche Wysebeche Wysbech Wyxbech Wyssebeche Wisbidge Wisbich and Wisbitch 3 4 until the spelling of the name of the town was fixed by the local council in the 19th century 5 Pre Roman Edit During the Iron Age the area where Wisbech would develop lay in the west of the Brythonic Iceni tribe s territory Icenian coins have been found in both March and Wisbech 6 Anglo Saxon Edit Like the rest of Cambridgeshire Wisbech was part of the Anglo Saxon Kingdom of East Anglia It served as a port on The Wash 7 One of the first authentic references to Wisbech occurs in a charter dated 664 granting the Abbey at Medeshamstede now Peterborough land in Wisbech 8 and in 1000 when Oswy and Leoflede on the admission of their son Aelfwin as a monk gave the vill to the monastery of Ely 9 Norman Edit The folktale of Tom Hickathrift or Wisbech Giant is sometimes set about the time of the Norman Invasion In 1086 when Wisbech was held by the abbot there may have been some 65 to 70 families or about 300 to 350 persons in Wisbech manor However Wisbech which is the only one of the Marshland vills of the Isle to be mentioned in the Domesday Book probably comprised the whole area from Tydd Gote down to the far end of Upwell at Welney 10 A castle was built by William I to fortify the site At the time of Domesday 1086 the population was that of a large village Some were farmers and others fishermen 11 Richard I gave Wisbech a charter King John of England visited the castle on 12 October 1216 as he came from Bishop s Lynn Tradition has it that his baggage train was lost to the incoming tide of The Wash Treasure hunters still seek the lost royal treasure 12 On 12 November 1236 the Village of Wisbech was inundated by the sea Hundreds were drowned entire flocks of sheep and herds of cattle were destroyed trees felled and ships lost 13 The castle was utterly destroyed but was rebuilt by 1246 when the constable or keeper was Wm Justice King Edward II visited Wisbech in 1292 1298 1300 and 1305 14 The register of Bishop John Fordham of Ely appoints a Master of the Grammar Scholars in 1407 Wisbech Grammar School dates back to 1379 or earlier Early Modern Edit Edward IV visited Wisbech in 1469 15 The Charter of Edward VI 1 June 1549 raised the town to a corporation In the same year Wm Bellman gave a plot of land for the Wisbech Grammar School school house 16 In 1333 4 the kiln in the town was producing 120 000 bricks There were several fisheries belonging to the manor of Wisbech and in the 1350s the reeves of Walton and Leverington each sent a porpoise to Wisbech Castle and the reeve of Terrington a swordfish 17 During the reigns of Elizabeth I James I and Charles I there was a state ecclesiastical prison in Wisbech for Catholics many of whom died there owing to the insanitary conditions 18 A dispute arising amongst the Catholic prisoners was widely known as the Wisbech Stirs In 1588 it is claimed that Robert Catesby and Francis Tresham were committed to Wisbeach Castle on the approach of the Spanish Armada 19 Among those held there was John Feckenham the last Abbot of Westminster The palace was demolished and replaced with John Thurloe s mansion in the mid 17th century and Thurloe s mansion demolished in 1816 by Joseph Medworth who also developed The Circus comprising The Crescent Union Place and Ely Place with Museum Square and Castle Square familiar as the settings in numerous costume dramas In 1620 former Wisbech residents William White and Dorothea Bradford nee May sailed on the Mayflower to the New World with her husband William Bradford later to be Governor Bradford 20 English Civil War and Commonwealth Edit Across the Eastern Counties Oliver Cromwell s powerful Eastern Association was eventually dominant However to begin with there had been an element of Royalist sympathy within Wisbech Bishop Matthew Wren was a staunch supporter of Charles I but even in 1640 was unpopular in Wisbech after discovering his absence from a Commission of Sewers meeting at the Castle a crowd of soldiers plundered shops of some of his supporters The town was near the frontier of the Parliamentary and Royalist forces in 1643 The Castle and town were put into a state of readiness and reinforced A troop of horse was raised Locally based troops took part in the Siege of Crowland in 1642 The town controlled the route from Lincolnshire to Norfolk particularly during the Siege of King s Lynn in 1643 as it prevented reinforcements by land of the Royalists holding the Norfolk port 21 A town library was founded c 1653 22 In 1656 the bishop s palace was replaced by Thurloe s mansion however after the Restoration the property reverted to the See of the bishop of Ely 23 Eighteenth century Edit Soap was taxed and manufacturers such as the Wisbech Soap Company required a licence Based in an Old Market property facing the river they were able to receive oil from the blubber yards of King s Lynn as well as coal wood for casks and olive oil used in making the coarse sweet and grey speckled soaps they produced from 1716 to about 1770 24 Wisbech s first workhouse located in Albion Place opened in 1722 it could accommodate three hundred inmates and cost 2 000 25 Peckover House on North Brink by the Nene Bank House with its walled garden was built in 1722 and purchased by the Quaker Peckover banking family in the 1790s It is now owned by the National Trust NT Now known as Peckover House the house was renamed in honour of the Peckover family by the NT The Peckover Bank became part of Barclays Bank In the 17th century the inhabitants of the Fens became known as the Fen Tigers for their resistance to the draining of the common marshes 26 But the farmland created by drainage transformed Wisbech into a wealthy port handling agricultural produce It was from this period that much of the town s architectural richness originates Wisbech sat on the estuary of the River Great Ouse but silting caused the coastline to move north and the River Nene was diverted to serve the town In 1781 Wisbech Literary Society was formed at the house of Jonathan Peckover 27 Theatres in both Pickard s Lane a barn and North End and a third temporary structure in the High Street are referred to A new theatre now part of the Angles Theatre had been built in Deadman s Lane later Great Church Street now Alexandra Road now Angles Theatre c1790 It was used to hold the auction of the contents of the castle part of the estate of Edward Southwell on 8 November 1791 28 One of the earliest Female Friendly Societies was the Wisbech Female Friendly Society instituted on 1 February 1796 29 Nineteenth century Edit Wisbech and Ely shared the Isle of Ely Assizes as a result the 1819 trial of Israel Garner and James Colbank two local men took place in Ely and sentence of hanging took place in Wisbech 30 Wisbech Regatta was first held in 1850 31 June 1858 The Russian Gun During the past week a brass plate has been added to the Russian Gun bearing the inscription This trophy of the late Russian War presented by Queen Victoria to the Burgesses of Wisbech Thomas Steed Watson Mayor 1858 32 The Isle of Ely and Wisbech Advertiser was founded in 1845 33 The new Wisbech amp Fenland Museum building opened in 1847 and continues to collect care for and interpret the natural and cultural heritage of Wisbech and the surrounding area 34 On 1 March 1848 Eastern Counties Railway opened Wisbeach sic station later renamed Wisbech East railway station It closed on 9 September 1968 In the 1853 54 cholera epidemic 176 deaths were reported in the town in 1854 35 The Wisbech death rate 49 per 10 000 was the fourth highest in the country The following year saw 8 000 expenditure on sewerage works and 13 400 on water supplies 36 New public buildings such as the Exchange Hall and Public Hall 1851 provided modern larger venues for theatrical and other events When Fanny Kemble gave her Shakespearean readings in 1855 it was at the Public Hall not the old Georgian theatre 37 On Sunday 29 June 1857 a mob entered the town and broke the Corn Merchants windows and seized corn and demanded money from shopkeepers On July the gentry and traders by beat of drum recruited about 500 men and went to Upwell and took 60 and placed them in irons On 4 September a Report was made to the Lords Justices of 14 malefactors condemned at Wisbech for a riot when 2 were ordered for execution the following Saturday and twelve for transportation 38 The Wisbech Working Men s Club and Institute was formed as a result of an inaugural meeting in 1864 It was once considered one of the most financially successful of its type in England It remains as one of the oldest 39 In 1864 the Castle estate was purchased by Alexander Peckover In 1932 his descendant Alexandrina Peckover gave to the Borough council a piece of land to be laid out as an ornamental garden adjoining the War memorial 40 The town hosted the British Archaeological Association s prestigious annual Congress in 1878 41 In August 1883 Wisbech and Upwell Tramway opened It eventually closed in 1966 passenger services finished in 1927 The steam trams were replaced by diesels in 1952 The Wisbech Standard newspaper was founded in 1888 and ceased printing in 2022 42 43 Twentieth century Edit In April 1904 the borough council contracted with the National Electric Construction Company Ltd for the installation of electric street lighting 44 On 30 October 1913 the Riot Act was read by the mayor in response to civil unrest in response to the death of the popular surgeon Doctor Horace Dimock He had been arrested on charges of criminal libel on the information of Dr Meacock On hearing that Dimock had taken his own life a crowd formed and smashed the windows of Meacock s residence on the North Brink The police charged the crowds and cleared the streets 45 The Wisbech Canal joining the River Nene at Wisbech was subsequently filled in and became the dual carriageway leading into the town from the east now crossing the bypass 46 Wisbech War Memorial was unveiled on 24 July 1921 47 In 1929 The Wisbech Pageant was held at Sibalds Holme Park on 4 5 September The Pageant Master was Sir Arthur Bryant who had experience with the Cambridgeshire Pageant 1924 Oxfordshire Pageant 1926 and London Empire Pageants of 1928 and 1929 The Wisbech total attendance was estimated in excess of 25 000 people 48 In 1934 part of Walsoken parish Norfolk was merged with Wisbech bringing with it the schools shops and public houses but leaving the church and much of the rural part in Norfolk 49 The suburb of New Walsoken is now largely built up A boundary marker in Wisbech Park was erected to record the event 50 Ring s End was transferred from Wisbech to Elm 51 In 1939 Wisbech Society and Preservation Trust was founded to safeguard the history and heritage of Wisbech 52 In 1949 the borough celebrated the 400th anniversary of receiving its charter The Pageant in Sibalds Holme Park Barton Road featured over 600 performers 53 54 The first Wisbech Rose Fair was held in 1963 when local rose growers sold rose buds in the parish church in aid of its restoration 55 The first purpose built council run Caravan Site that accommodates travellers in the UK was built in 1975 56 On 21 September 1979 two Harrier jump jets on a training exercise collided over Wisbech one landed in a field and the other in a residential area Two houses and a bungalow were demolished on Ramnoth Road causing the death of Bob Bowers his two year old son Jonathan Bowers and former town mayor Bill Trumpess 57 The 5 mile 8 km 6 million A47 Wisbech West Walton bypass opened in spring 1982 The Horsefair shopping centre opened by Noel Edmunds in 1988 is on part of Hill street and the site of the old Horse Fair 58 In 1990 further county boundary changes brought a small area of Walsoken Norfolk into Wisbech 59 Contemporary Edit In 2009 Oxford Archaeology East OAE organised a dig at Wisbech Castle to search for remains of the Bishop s Palace 60 Large numbers of local volunteers took part and hundreds of children visited the dig site Later in the year a group of volunteers formed Fenland Archaeological Society FenArch The Society has carried out a number of digs including the Manea Colony dig organised by Cambridge Archaeology Unit CAU 61 An initiative to deal with the issues of derelict buildings in the town was initiated in 2013 This led to the 1 9M Wisbech High Street four year project As of 2022 update a number of sites in the high street are covered in scaffolding whilst work is in progress The Wisbech amp Fenland Museum currently was closed whilst scaffolding supported the roof replacement it reopened in February 2022 62 Following the publication of the Friends of Wisbech amp Fenland Museums series of booklets Images of Wisbech contains images taken by Geoff Hastings research uncovered an archive of images from the Wisbech Borough council some of these were incorporated in Lost Images of Wisbech published in 2020 63 The town is well known for horticulture in 2018 the town won the business improvement district BID category gold award at the Royal Horticultural Society s RHS annual Britain in Bloom awards ceremony 64 In 2019 the town received Gold Award in the large town category in the RHS Anglia in Bloom completion Waterlees was Best in Group and Gold Award in Urban category and St Peters Gardens a Gold Award in the Small Parks category 65 The town mayor for 2020 2021 a licence holder of Elgood s Angel Inn breached Covid19 regulations in December 2020 A meeting of the Fenland District Council licensing committee removed the licence 66 Governance Edit Wisbech Council Chamber on the first floor of the Corn Exchange Wisbech was a municipal borough before the Local Government Act 1972 came into force in 1974 Wisbech Town Council based at Wisbech Town Hall is the civil parish council for Wisbech On 1 April 1974 the parish was renamed from Wisbech St Peter to Wisbech 67 The 18 councillors are elected every four years and they elect a town Mayor each year The council is responsible for allotments and the market place 68 In 2018 the council took a lease on Wisbech Castle 69 In the May 2019 elections twelve councillors were returned without a vote to Fenland District Council which topped the Electoral Reform Society s list of rotten boroughs 70 The town also elects councillors to Cambridgeshire County Council Wisbech is within the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority 71 Transport EditWaterways Edit See also Port of Wisbech Wisbech sits on either side of the River Nene 72 and its port is Cambridgeshire s only gateway to the sea 73 Schemes to connect the River Nene and the River Welland are proposed allowing boats a fresh water connection 74 In the past the Port of Wisbech could accommodate sailing ships of 400 tons but its prosperity declined after 1852 when extensive river works impeded navigation 75 In the previous decade it had been described as England s most important port for the export of wheat 76 It had in its day been referred to as the Milch cow of the corporation 77 Now a river side yacht harbour provides 128 berths for vessels and Crab Marshboat yard operates a 75 tonne boat lift Following the 1978 flood in which one resident drowned flood walls and flood gates were erected and in later years built higher 78 In December 2013 the town s river flood defences were tested when an unusually high tide threatened to top the recently improved walls and flood gates 79 Roads Edit In 1831 the construction of a lifting bridge at Sutton Bridge finally provided a means to travel directly between Norfolk and Lincolnshire 80 The town stood at the crossing of two Class A roads from Peterborough to King s Lynn A47 and from Ely to Long Sutton A1101 The A1101 now crosses the river at the newer Freedom bridge taking some traffic away from the older Town Bridge The A47 now bypasses the town The former part of the A47 inside the town Lynn Rd and Cromwell Rd is now the B198 Railways Edit Wisbech once had three passenger railway lines served by Wisbech East railway station Wisbech North railway station and Wisbech and Upwell Tramway but they all closed between 1959 and 1968 There is an active campaign to reopen the March Wisbech Bramley Line as part of the national rail network with direct services to Cambridge and possibly Peterborough It is supported by Wisbech Town Council and subject to reports commissioned by the county council in 2013 81 The line is currently Wisbech East railway station 2019 at GRIP 3 study stage 82 A report published in 2009 by the Association of Train Operating Companies ATOC indicated that this was viable 83 The line has been identified as a priority for reopening by Campaign for Better Transport 84 Demography EditParish population 1981 1991 2001 2011 2016Wisbech 22 932 24 981 26 536 31 573 33 933 85 As of 2016 update the population of Wisbech was 33 933 of whom 16 800 were male and 17 133 female 6 748 were aged under 18 and 7 156 over 65 86 Several official places libraries surgeries local council provide translations into Lithuanian as well as Polish Latvian Russian and Portuguese 87 Economy EditHistorical Edit Before the draining of the Fens was completed livestock was grazed on the common land and were marked to identify their owners this was also the case with swans which were usually marked on their bills 88 The riverside location and fertile soils surrounding Wisbech allowed the town to flourish A thriving pipe making business was being carried out in the town by Amy White in the 1740s 89 Soap making was also taking place in the 1740s 90 A number of breweries existed in the town the last one remaining is Elgood s on the North Brink Established in 1795 and remaining a family owned business the brewery and gardens are a popular location for tourists to visit 91 The first half of the 19th century was a very prosperous time for the town and an annual average of 40 000 tons of goods passed through the port consisting mainly of coal corn timber and wine The surrounding land produced large quantities of sheep and oxen as well as wool hemp and flax 92 Such was the trade with Denmark that a consul was based in North Terrace in a Queen Anne house sometimes called the Danish House 93 In 1851 the population was 9 594 It decreased to 9 276 in 1861 and picked up to 9 395 in 1891 A National Provincial Bank on the North Brink and a Savings Bank was built in Hill street in 1851 it later became a Liberal Club it is currently the Horsefair Tavern 94 In 1853 the Wisbech and Isle of Ely Permanent Building Society was established 95 Rope making took place at the Ropewalk and tent making also took place in the town at W Poppleton s Nene Parade Customers included the visiting J W Myers circus in 1881 96 The Wisbech Fruit Preserving Company Ltd was wound up in 1894 and the site put up for sale 97 In October 1906 the first of the annual mustard markets of the year took place where the harvest of brown and white seed took place Regular annual Buyers included Messrs Colman s of Norwich 98 99 The Wisbech Mustard market held on four Saturdays in October was claimed to be unique in 1911 it had been running for over forty years Buyers from the major mills and producers attended and traded in and near the Rose and Crown 100 Large numbers of workers were needed to pick fruit in 1913 due to the great influx of pickers the police had to find accommodation for 500 homeless workers each night Until 1920 the train companies provided special rail fares for fruit pickers coming to the area 101 Liptons had one of their jam factories in the town in the 1920s 102 Samuel Wallace Smedley 1877 1958 bought the old Crosse and Blackwell jam making factory Wisbech Produce Canners formed in 1925 on Lynn Rd was the first in England to produce frozen asparagus peas and strawberries The Wisbech Producer canners in 1931 became part of the National Canning Company It was renamed Smedley s Ltd in 1947 later Smedley HP Foods Ltd and later taken over by Hillsdown Foods It is presently 2021 owned by Princes Group 103 Contemporary Edit The Metal Box company established their largest manufacturing unit at Weasenham Lane in 1953 The site provides processed food cans for fruit vegetables soups milk and pet foods The workforce grew to over 1 000 before reducing as a result of automation and redundancies Steel was brought from Welsh steelworks and also from overseas The site had its own rail yard before the Wisbech to March line closed The site is now part of Crown Cork 104 English Brothers Ltd another long established company in Wisbech are importers of timber brought in at Wisbech port 105 In 1900 they manufactured wooden troop hits for the war in South Africa 106 During World War II they produced wooden munitions boxes 107 Shire Garden Building Ltd based in Wisbech and Sutton Bridge have been manufacturing wooden buildings since the 1980s 108 In 2010 Dutch based Partner Logistics opened a 12m frozen food warehouse on Boleness Rd employing over 50 staff The 77 000 pallet fully automated freezer centre had contracts with Lamb Weston Bird s Eye and Pinguin Foods In recent decades the closure of the Clarkson Geriatric hospital 1983 Bowthorpe maternity hospital c 1983 Balding amp Mansell printers c 1992 Budgens store 109 formerly Coop 2017 and horticultural college 2012 110 Bridge Street post office 2014 as well as gradual reductions in workforce by CMB indicate a decline in the economy Small family businesses such as Bodgers 2013 111 Franks butchers 2015 112 and local bakeries have given way to the supermarkets The larger employers in Wisbech include Nestle Purina petcare Cromwell Rd 113 and Princes Lynn Rd 114 In April 2018 plans for an 8m redevelopment of the North Cambridgeshire Hospital were announced 115 Museum Square Wisbech Tourism Edit National Trust property Peckover House and Garden attracts tourists and locals The Wisbech amp Fenland Museum draws in visitors to see the Charles Dickens manuscript Thomas Clarkson memorabilia and other exhibits The Octavia Hill Birthplace House also attracts those interested in the National Trust army cadet force or social housing The Angles Theatre The Light and The Luxe Cinema also attract audiences from outside the town The port of Wisbech and marina attract boating enthusiasts Wisbech Castle has started to attract visitors to its programme of events and activities 116 Religious sites EditThe Anglican Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul dates back in part to the 12th century The tower contains the third oldest full peal of 10 bells in the world cast by William Dobson in 1821 the bells are still in use 117 St Augustine s church on Lynn Rd was erected in 1868 9 and consecrated on 11 May 1869 An associated school building is now the Robert Hall scouting hall In 1997 a new parish centre was created when the church was linked to its nearby hall 118 Catholic Our Lady amp Saint Charles Borromeo Church has been the site of worship for Roman Catholics since 1854 Wisbech Castle the site of the Wisbech Stirs has also been a minor site of pilgrimage Other places of worship are Baptist Hill St United Reformed Castle Square King s Church Queens Rd Jehovahs Witnesses Tinkers Drove Trinity Methodist Church Terrace and Spiritualist Alexandra Rd 119 The Society of Friends meeting house North Brink has a burial ground which contains the remains of Jane Stuart Quaker 120 A Chapel of Ease Octagon Church was built in 1827 completed in 1830 and controversially demolished in 1952 121 The large lantern was based on that of Ely Cathedral The church yard remains and has been opened up for public access 122 Education Edit Wisbech Grammar School on North Brink An infant school for two to six year olds was established in the great hall of the workhouse in 1839 123 Primary schools in Wisbech include Clarkson Infant and Nursery School St Peters Church of England Junior School Orchards Church of England Academy Peckover Primary School The Nene Infant School Ramnoth Junior School and Elm Road Primary School There are also specialist schools Meadowgate Academy Cambian Wisbech School The County School amp Trinity School Wisbech has two secondary schools the private Wisbech Grammar School which was founded in 1379 making it one of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom and the state funded Thomas Clarkson Academy There is also a further education centre the College of West Anglia formerly the Isle College 124 Sport EditAs the River Nene and other waterways are located in the area water sports are popular The rivers and canal provide opportunities for canoeing and kayaking As an example of organised water sport in 1955 the Wisbech Yacht Club opened their new clubhouse at Lattersley Pit Whittlesey 125 Football was played in the town even before Wisbech Park was opened in 1869 The nearby St Augustine s club evolving into Wisbech Town F C 126 Culture EditGeorgian Angles Theatre Edit The Georgian theatre Deadman s Lane now the Angles Theatre on Alexandra Rd was built c1790 as part of the Lincoln circuit This is now used by community theatre groups and touring companies The theatre is run by the Wisbech Angles Theatre Council a registered Charity The Wisbech Players now The Wisbech Theatre Players formed in 1953 are now an integral part of the theatre 127 Museums Edit Wisbech amp Fenland Museum Museum Square opened on its current site in 1847 The Friends of Wisbech and Fenland Museum supports the museum with Grants for acquisitions and assists with research programmes conservation publishing and new technologies throughout the Museum 128 The Castle was donated to the Isle of Ely County Council by the family of the former education director and is now run by the town council It is used as a community asset and hosts educational and other activities The contents include furnishings books and other items of interest Octavia Hill Birthplace House opened with the purpose of housing items linked to the various philanthropic activities of Octavia Hill and her family The Wisbech Working Men s Institute and Social club s origins date to 1864 27 Inns taverns beer houses breweries and beer festivals Edit The town s licensed premises have a long history of providing leisure facilities from bowling greens cock fighting pits and skittle alleys to darts cards chess and other board games as well as social events In 1853 the Wisbech Brewery Phillips Tidbits and Phillips on the riverside owned 20 pubs and hotels in the town and about 30 outside 129 Elgood s brewery located on the North Brink supplies its tied houses the Angel Hotel King s Head Hare and Hounds hotel Red Lion and Three Tuns Inn in the town and others in the surrounding area 130 Others include the Black Bear Globe Locomotive Rose Tavern and White Lion In 1950 Arthur Artis Oldham researched and produced in very limited numbers Pubs and Taverns of Wisbech 131 Last reprinted in 1979 by Cambridgeshire Libraries as Inns and Taverns of Wisbech and now 2021 superseded by the series Wisbech Inns Taverns and Beer houses Past and Present by ABN Ketley 132 The Rose and Crown hotel on the market place is one of the oldest buildings in the town and featured in The Hotel Inspector TV series in 2009 133 Underneath there are brick barrel vaults dating from Tudor times 134 Annual festivals and events Edit March The annual Showmen s Guild fair known as the Wisbech Mart is held in the town 135 136 June Wis Beach day is held on the market place The seaside comes to the town for the Sunday and donkey rides Punch and Judy shows sand beach chairs and amusement rides fill the centre of the town On Armed Forces Day the market place is taken over by military vehicles and units and veterans associations A Sunday service is held with a parade and march past July Wisbech Rose Fair is held 137 It originated in 1963 as a flower festival when local rose growers sold rose buds in the Parish Church of SS Peter and Paul in aid of its restoration fund The church used this annual occasion to raise funds for the upkeep of the ancient building and over the years the Rose Fair grew into a Town Festival It developed into an event that encompasses many of the charities and other organisations in the town and district running stalls and events including two parades of floats starting from Queens Road 138 139 140 141 The Arles Festival celebrates the twinning of the two towns The Annual Concert run by The Friends of Wisbech amp Fenland Museum at Wisbech Castle raises funds for the museum 142 August Wisbech Rock Festival is a Free Festival held in Wisbech Park and is run by the Town Council 143 Friends of Wisbech Park Bandstand host a series of musical events at the bandstand on Sunday afternoons throughout the summer and winter 144 Many local gardens are open to the public as part of the National Garden Scheme Open Days September The town participates in Heritage Weekend when many buildings are open to the public for tours The Showmen s Guild Wisbech Statute Fair is held in the town The Elgoods Beer Festival takes place when musical events accompany the wide range of drinks on offer October Wisbech Castle and the Horse Fair stage Halloween events 145 November Christmas Lights Switch On takes place on the market place December Wisbech Christmas Fayre takes place 146 Literature Edit Local nonfiction authors include William Godwin Thomas Clarkson William Ellis missionary William Watson FJ Gardiner N Walker amp Prof T Craddock Arthur Artis Oldham Andrew C Ingram Robert Bell George Anniss Roger Powell Bridgett Holmes Kevin Rodgers Andrew Ketley Peter Clayton OBE and William P Smith and fiction writers John Muriel John Gordon Rev Wilbert Awdry OBE and Diane Calton Smith 147 Poetry Edit The town nearly added the poet John Clare to its residents when he visited for a job interview Fen speak ran a series of events funded by the Arts Council Metal Culture and John Clare Cottage The town hosted Fenland Poet Laureate awards 2012 Elaine Ewerton 2013 Leanne Moden 2014 Poppy Kleiser 2015 Jonathan Totman 2016 Mary Livingstone 2017 Kate Caoimhe The Fenland Poet Laureate Awards were relaunched with funding from the Arts Council in 2019 148 Charlotte Beck 13 and CJ Atkinson were announced as the 2019 2020 Young Fenland Poet Laureate and Fenland Poet Laureate 149 Stanza poetry group holds regular events at The Castle Art Edit Wisbech Art Club was formed in 1933 and holds exhibitions at venues in the town including Wisbech amp Fenland Museum Regular meetings are now 2023 held at the St Raphael club Photography Edit Wisbech amp District Camera Club was formed in 1950 and meets in Wisbech St Mary Early and well known photographers in the town included William Ellis missionary Samuel Smith photographer 150 Lilian Ream Valentine Blanchard 151 and Geoff Hastings 152 Music Edit The Corn Exchange now closed temporarily provides a venue for musical events Big names that appeared include the iconic Rolling Stones Jerry Lee Lewis Adam Faith and Gene Vincent 153 Contemporary local rock bands include The Brink 154 The Bandstand in the park is a venue for summer concerts and the park also stages the annual Wisbech Rock Festival 155 Embroidery Edit Mia Hansson from Skanor Sweden now living in the town started a Bayeux Tapestry reproduction on 13 July 2016 As of July 2022 update she had completed 37 metres saying that she expected to finish in some 5 years Hansson takes part of her replica out for talk and display events In September 2020 she published Mia s Bayeux Tapestry Colouring Book with hand drawn images from the tapestry 156 157 Architecture EditNotable buildings and monuments Edit 27 30 Old Market Wisbech is particularly noted for its fine examples of Georgian architecture It has over 250 listed buildings and monuments concentrated mainly along the river and known as The Brinks North and South Brinks and around the Old Market and new Market places and the circus around Wisbech Castle known as The Crescent 158 These include Georgian Edit Peckover House 1722 North Brink owned by the National Trust in its grounds are the remains of the white cross 159 Octavia Hill Birthplace House formerly Bank House South Brink 160 Wisbech Castle a Regency villa 1816 built on the site of a Norman castle Former New Inn Union St dating to about 1500 161 162 Rose and Crown hotel located on the market place is an early 17th century coaching inn A date of 1601 and trumpet and pheasant are visible on the exterior of the building It is listed grade II by Historic England Elgood s Brewery The brewery was founded in 1795 and bought soon afterwards by the Elgood family Elgoods Brewery on North Brink in Wisbech Ely House an early 18th century farmhouse A grade II listed building 163 The Angles Theatre a typical Georgian playhouse built c1790 owned by Thomas Shaftoe Robinson Grade II listed 164 Acknowledged as the eighth oldest working theatre in England 165 Mill Tower formerly known as Leach s Mill located on Lynn Road is remarkable on account of its height and age Built on a mound and eight storeys in height it had eight sails It dates to at least 1778 although the initials SH and 1643 are reputed to have been on a beam inside the mill The last miller used it in the 1930s The adjoining flour and provender roller mill suffered a fire in the 1970s The mill minus the sails is now used as a residence None of the other dozen or so mills survive 166 The Clarkson Memorial in Wisbech in 2013 in memory of the abolitionist Thomas Clarkson Victorian Edit Wisbech amp Fenland Museum 1847 extensive collections of local records and other items Notable artefacts include Napoleon s Sevres breakfast service said to have been captured at the Battle of Waterloo Thomas Clarkson s chest containing examples of 18th century African textiles seeds and leatherwork which he used to illustrate his case for direct trade with Africa and the original manuscript of Charles Dickens Great Expectations 167 Thomas Clarkson Memorial Bridge St 1881 Richard Young MP Memorial 1871 sited in Wisbech Park 1870 168 Drinking fountain erected to the memory of Mr amp Mrs G D Collins in the Old Market in 1897 Relocated to Lynn Road 27 former Grammar School for boys South Brink opened in January 1898 to replace the old Grammar School for boys in the ancient town hall in Hill Street Our Lady amp Saint Charles Borromeo Church 1854 Church Architecture Edit Wisbech and its surrounding villages also boast some interesting church architecture Parish Church of St Peter and Paul Restored in 1858 and a clock added in 1866 There are some pictures and a description of the church at the Cambridgeshire Churches website 169 Guyhirn Chapel of Ease Wisbech St Mary s Parish church 170 also on the Cambridgeshire Churches website 171 The Octagon Chapel in Wisbech Old Market demolished in 1952Notable residents EditDeceased Edit Royalty Nobility and Public Office Edit John of Wisbech died 1349 was in charge of the erection of the Lady Chapel at Ely Cathedral in the first half of the fourteenth century 172 Thomas Parke c1543 1630 Town Bailiff and High Sheriff of the county of Cambridge and Huntingdon Married 1 Jean Coulson 2 or 3 Audrey Cross Died on 1 January and a monument is inside St Peter s church Wisbech John Thurloe MP 1616 1668 Solicitor general Lord Chief Justice Secretary of State and lawyer Cromwell spymaster He replaced the bishop s palace at Wisbech with a mansion later demolished by Joseph Medworth Mathias Taylor JP linen draper Capital Burgess and appointed Constable of the Castle in 1631 Jane Stuart c1654 1742 a daughter of James II joined the Society of Friends on the North Brink and lived on the Old Market she died aged 88 in Wisbech on 12 July and is buried in the Friends graveyard 27 Sir Philip Vavasour High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire Knighted in 1761 Lived on South Brink Wisbech Sir Charles Wale KCB 1765 1845 General and Governor of Martinique attended Wisbech Grammar School James Crowden CVO 1927 2016 Chartered surveyor Olympian Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Wisbech J P Born 14 November in Tilney All Saints died 24 September 2016 Church and Religion Edit John de Wisbech Abbot of Croyland He was first Prior of Freiston He died on 19 November 1476 173 John Alcock bishop c1430 1500 appointed to the see of Ely on 6 October 1486 he died in The bishops palace in Wisbech and is buried in Ely Cathedral John Feckenham c1515 1584 Abbott of Westminster imprisoned in The Bishop s palace from 1580 until his death in October 1584 At his own cost he arranged the repairs of the road and erected a market cross in the town Theophilus Buckworth Bishop of Dromore Born and died in Wisbech 174 a Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge was an Irish Anglican priest 175 The Wisbech Martyrs Robert Pygot a painter from Wisbech and William Wolsey a constable of Welney Upwell amp Outwell were tried at Ely sessions for heresy and later burnt at the stake on 16 October 1555 Thomas Herring MA 1693 1757 Archbishop of Canterbury from 1747 was educated at Wisbech Grammar School Rev William Hazlitt 1737 1820 who was minister at the Presbyterian meeting house here in 1764 66 became an influential Unitarian minister He was father of the essayist William Hazlitt and the portrait painter John Hazlitt While resident at Wisbech he married Grace Loftus Writers Edit Richard Huloet lexicographer and author William Godwin the elder born in Wisbech 3 March 1756 7 April 1836 father of Mary Shelley was an English political writer and novelist 176 Lt Col William Watson DL FAS 1770 1834 died on 31 March 1834 Lawyer brewer banker soldier magistrate town bailiff chief bailiff of the Isle of Ely and author of A history of Wisbech He is buried in Wisbech Arthur Artis Oldham 1886 1980 historian and writer was born in Wisbech Titles included A History of Wisbech River 1933 Wisbech Bridges Inns and Taverns of Wisbech 1950 Wisbech Windmills Windmills around Wisbech The Inns amp Taverns of Wisbech 1979 and Windmills in and around Wisbech 1994 He married Ellen Nellie Fewster and had two children He retired to Norwich where he died in 1980 177 John Muriel 1909 1975 born in Hadleigh Suffolk aka as John St Clair Muriel John Lindsey or Simon Dewes was an author who taught at Wisbech Grammar School His father was John Muriel 1859 1946 a 178 Novels autobiographies and short stories include Molten Ember 1930 Voice of One Still Eastward Bound 1940 Suffolk Childhood 1959 Essex Days 1960 and When All the World was Young 1961 One of his pupils was John Gordon Rev W Awdry OBE 15 June 1911 21 March 1997 creator of Thomas the Tank Engine was Vicar of Emneth in 1953 65 Toby the Tram Engine one of Awdry s characters was similar to the small steam trams that ran farm produce on the Strawberry Line between Upwell and Wisbech John Gordon 1925 2017 attended Wisbech Grammar School The town and the surrounding fens inspired many of his novels including The House on the Brink Peckover House and Fen Runners Mick Walker 1942 2012 born 30 November 1942 Wretton Norfolk Following 10 years in the RAF he became a dealer importer and race sponsor After running his motorcycle business he became assistant editor of Motorcycle Enthusiast magazine and an author of over 100 books He died on 8 March 2012 and was survived by his wife Susan and son Steven Visual Arts Edit Algernon Peckover 1803 1893 Painter Quaker a son born in Wisbech on 25 November to Jonathan and Susanah Peckover A collection of his drawings and watercolours from 1859 to 1865 are at Peckover House amp Garden He married Priscilla Alexander A son Alexander was created 1st Baron Peckover of Wisbech Died on 10 December Alfred Balding 1858 1915 Painter photographer and lithographer His paintings are now in collections at the Wisbech amp Fenland Museum and the Science Museum 179 Partner in the firm of Balding amp Mansell printers 180 Music Edit W H Jude 1851 1922 composer and organist attended Wisbech Grammar School Russell Arthur Missin FRCO 1922 2002 was born at Gorefield near Wisbech was organist and master of choristers at Newcastle Cathedral Performing Arts Edit Fanny Robertson aka Frances Mary Robertson 1768 1855 actor and theatre manager and lessee of Wisbech theatre now the Angles Theatre Born Frances Mary Ross Married Thomas Shaftoe Robertson 1765 1831 Retired to live in Norfolk street and died on 18 December 1855 Henry Herbert aka Master Herbert born in Wisbech 22 December 1829 child actor known as The Infant Roscius Son of John Herbert Fanny Maria Robertson 1831 1909 actress elder sister of Dame Madge Kendal Anton Rodgers 1933 2007 actor was born in London on 10 January 1933 and moved to Wisbech during the war He was president of the Georgian Angles Theatre Social Reform and Campaign Edit Thomas Clarkson MA anti slavery campaigner was born in Wisbech in 1760 and educated at Wisbech Grammar School The Clarkson Memorial was built to commemorate his life s efforts to end slavery in the British Empire on 25 March 1833 Two local schools and a road are named after him Lieutenant John Clarkson RN 1764 1828 younger brother of Thomas was another key figure in the British abolitionist movement As governor of Sierra Leone he organised voluntary migration of former slaves freed by the British under a deal to reward their loyalty during the American War of Independence Elizabeth Dawbarn died 1839 was a religious pamphleteer who addressed children and adults James Hill banker c1800 1871 a Unitarian social reformer newspaper editor merchant ship owner owner of the Angles Theatre and banker His children included Octavia Hill and Miranda Hill Caroline Southwood Hill nee Smith 1809 1902 writer and educationalist Eldest daughter of Dr Thomas Southwood Smith Became third wife of James Hill banker on 21 July 1835 Mother of Octavia Hill Died aged 94 on 31 December 1902 181 Priscilla Hannah Peckover 1833 1931 Quaker pacifist and linguist she founded the Wisbech Local Peace Association which grew to have 6 000 members Miranda Hill 1836 1910 born in Wisbech founded the Kyrle Society a progenitor of the National Trust Octavia Hill 1838 1912 born at Wisbech was treasurer of the Kyrle Society a progenitor of the National Trust of which Octavia became co founder Politics and Government Edit Alderman John Minnet Mason 1807 1886 bonesetter and local politician The son of a GP also a bonesetter the skills were passed on to his sons Frederick and George 182 Alderman Richard Young MP JP DL 1809 1871 for Cambridgeshire was a ship owner five times Mayor of Wisbech 1858 62 JP for the Isle of Ely and Norfolk and a sheriff of the city of London amp Middlesex in 1871 27 He was born on 22 March in Scarning Norfolk the son of John and Mary Younge He owned more than 40 ships at different times He died on 15 October only two days after being made Sheriff 183 Sir Thomas George Fardell BA MP 1833 1917 English politician and lawyer born on 26 October 1833 he was the youngest son of Rev Henry Fardell vicar of Wisbech He dies 12 March 1917 William Digby CIE born in Wisbech 1 May 1849 29 September 1904 was an English writer journalist and liberal politician and first secretary of the National Liberal Club John Humphrey 1838 1914 American politician born in Wisbech Alderman John William Payne JP 1888 1959 liberal politician and parliamentary candidate Chairman of Isle of Ely Education Committee 1928 1959 chief campaigner for the foundation of Isle College Wisbech The Academy Edit Professor Thomas Craddock 1812 1893 photographer writer and academic Coauthor of a History of Wisbech later professor of Literature Queen s College Liverpool Died 9 April 1893 in Liverpool 184 Medicine and the Sciences Edit William Skrimshire born in Wisbech 1766 1829 was a surgeon and botanist A walkway Skrimshires Passage off Hill Street is named after him Fenwick Skrimshire born in Wisbech 1774 11 June 1855 was an English naturalist and physician to John Clare Richard Middleton Massey MD FRS FSA 1678 1743 Doctor and antiquarian Born in Cheshire after studying at Oxford he became deputy keeper at the Ashmolean Museum he later obtained a licence to practice medicine in Wisbech He was appointed Keeper of the town library and was a founder member of Spalding Gentlemen s Society He retired to his family estates in Rostherene and died in 1743 on 29 March 1743 185 Professor Sir Harry Kroto FRS 1939 2016 born in Wisbech 7 October 1939 son of Heinz Fritz Kroton and Edith Kathe Dora Kroto was the 1996 Nobel Laureate in chemistry for the discovery of fullerenes Photography Edit Rev William Ellis 29 August 1794 9 June 1872 and pioneer photographer was brought up and went to elementary school in Wisbech He later went to Homerton college then in London and became a missionary this coupled with his writing and photographic skills led him to become the author of History of Madagascar 1838 Polynesian Researches and History of the London Missionary Society and other publications Samuel Smith aka Philosopher Smith 1802 1892 merchant and pioneer photographer A director of Wisbech Gas Light and Coke company and a member of the Palaeontographical Society of London His photos taken in the 1850s and 1860s record the development of the town Collections can be seen in the Science Museum London and Wisbech amp Fenland Museum 186 William Peckover F S A 1790 1877 philanthropist son of Jonathan Peckover President of Wisbech amp Fenland Museum Died 12 May 27 Edward Johnson 1822 1907 photographer His photographs of local churches were published in three volumes by Leach amp Son 187 Lilian Ream 1877 1961 photographer Lilian was born in West Walton Norfolk Aged 17 she became photographic assistant to William Drysdale and went on to dominate the local photographic business After her retirement her son Roland took the studio and it continued until it eventually closed in 1971 Over 10 000 negatives have survived to form the Lilian Ream collection This may be the most comprehensive record of its kind in England In April 2013 the Wisbech Society erected a blue plaque at 4 The Crescent in her honour 188 189 Geoff Hastings 1926 2005 photographer and artist He used a camera to record the changes in the town during the 1950s and 1960s Also a journalistic photographer and artist Many of his large collection of images are held at the Wisbech amp Fenland Museum and reproduced in the Images of Wisbech booklets and other publications 190 Sport Edit Jesse Pye 1919 1984 professional footballer scored two goals in the 1949 FA Cup Final and played for England before becoming a player manager for Wisbech Town F C in 1960 66 John Barrie snooker player 1924 1996 snooker and champion billiards player Born William Barrie Smith on 30 June Wisbech and died 20 April aged 71 191 Diplomacy Edit Brian Hitch 1932 2004 born Wisbech Ambassador to Malta and academic The Peckover Family Edit Over many generations the Peckover family rose from humble Quaker origins to become bankers and peers and the first family of Wisbech They were notable for their philanthropic works Alexander Peckover 1st Baron Peckover LL D FRGS FSA FRGS FLS 1830 1919 British Quaker banker and philanthropist Born in Wisbech 16 August 1830 Died 21 October 1919 Jonathan Peckover 1835 1882 Quaker and philanthropist Born 16 June and died 8 February Son of Algernon and Priscilla Peckover He founded the Wisbech Working Men s Institute in 1864 192 Algerina Peckover 1841 1927 Quaker philanthropist and plant collector who donated a collection of Madagascan ferns to Wisbech Herbarium in 1904 193 Alexandrina Peckover 1860 1948 Philanthropist Born 10 July 1860 in Wisbech A daughter of Baron Peckover and Eliza nee Sharples She donated land for the Barton road recreation ground and later 5 000 for the youth movement After her death on 16 April 1948 her home Bank House on the North Brink Wisbech was given to the National Trust it was later renamed Peckover House 194 Priscilla Hannah Peckover 1834 1931 Quaker and Peace campaigner Third child of Eliza and Alexander Peckover Secretary of Wisbech Peace Association author of Peace amp Goodwill Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1903 1905 1911 and 1913 195 see also Algernon Peckover painter Other Edit Jane Southwell aka Lady Jane Trafford 1732 1809 heiress of Wisbech Castle married Sir Clement Trafford aka Clement Boehm they had three children Clement 1761 1768 Sigismund amp Jane Separated by 1764 She changed her name back to Southwell by an Act of Parliament in 1791 in order to inherit from her brother Edward Buried at Orsett Essex the home of her daughter Jane who married Richard Baker In her will she expressed a wish to be buried in Wisbech Joseph Medworth born in Wisbech 1752 1827 was a builder who developed the castle estate into a circus including The Crescent in Wisbech and redeveloped Thurloe s Mansion into the current Regency villa on the castle site He died on 17 October 1827 Richard Kelham Whitelamb baptised 1765 in Wisbech was 2 10 tall His portrait by Samuel Ireland 1744 1800 is in the Royal Collection He was an exhibit at fairs and a handbill dated 23 August 1787 states he is now in the 22nd year 34 inches high and weighs 42lbs 196 Charles Boucher died 1866 Brewer lived at The Castle and owned the Union Brewery and 44 public houses Rev Chauncy Hare Townshend M A 1798 1868 philanthropist and owner of property in Wisbech He was a friend of Charles Dickens and the author s manuscript of Great Expectations given him by Dickens was left to Wisbech amp Fenland Museum 27 Lt Robert Pate Jr 25 December 1819 February 1895 son of corn merchant Robert Francis Pate DL was a British Army officer remembered for his assault on Queen Victoria on 27 June 1850 He was transported to Australia for seven years where he married and later returned to England Philip Vassar Hunter CBE 1883 1956 engineer was born in Wisbech Sir Frank Arthur Stockdale GCMG CBE FLS 24 June 1883 3 August 1949 a pupil at Wisbech Grammar School became an agriculturist and colonial agricultural administrator Living Edit Names in birth order Ray DaSilva born Ray Palmer in 1933 in Wisbech magician and puppeteer founded the DaSilva Puppet Company 197 After touring overseas the company moved from its base in Cambridgeshire to Norfolk opening Norwich Puppet Theatre in 1980 As well as being a puppeteer both making and performing he was a director producer and dealer in Puppet books 198 He was a founder member of the Puppet Centre Trust chair of British UNIMA and a co founder of Puppeteers East 199 Mia Hansson born 1974 a former teacher and embroiderer In 2022 halfway through making a full size replica of the Bayeux Tapestry 200 201 Malcolm Douglas Moss MA born 1943 Lancashire politician was a Wisbech Town councillor and later conservative MP for North East Cambridgeshire from 1987 until retirement at the 2010 general election Parliamentary Under Secretary Northern Ireland Office 25 October 1994 2 May 1997 Made an Honorary Freeman of Wisbech Victoria Gillick born 1946 Hendon activist and campaigner Mike Stevens born 1957 is a musical director session musician and record producer Joe Perry born 13 August 1974 in Wisbech is a professional snooker player Jody Cundy CBE born 14 October 1978 in Wisbech is a Paralympian Ellen Falkner MBE nee Alexander born 12 June 1979 in Wisbech is an English international lawn and indoor bowler 202 George Russell born 15 February 1998 current Mercedes Formula One Driver grew up in Wisbech and attended Wisbech Grammar School Radio film and television Edit The North Brink by the River Nene in Wisbech The Brinks depicted in 1851 A 1924 film recorded a day at the North Cambridgeshire Hospital in the East Anglian Film Archive EAFA 203 1926 street scenes filmed to be shown at the local Electric Theatre EAFA 204 North Cambridgeshire Hospital in the 1930s EAFA 205 Approaching Wisbech an amateur film of a simulated road traffic accident made in the late 1930s EAFA 206 1932 The Capital of the Fens is brought to a standstill as crowds fill the streets to catch a glimpse of Prince George as he receives the Loyal Address from the Mayor 207 In 1957 the BBC Radio show Have A Go was recorded in the town by Wilfred Pickles with guest Sheila Chesters founder of the Little Theatre group 208 The same year the BBC filmed Mrs Chester s Little Theatre Group performing in the grounds of Grammar school house South Brink 209 It was broadcast as part of Maypole and Melody on 26 April 1958 1961 The Wisbech to Upwell Tramway EAFA 210 In 1963 Anglia TV recorded a film report on Wisbech Castle This is also available to download on the East Anglian Film Archive 211 The Flood a 1963 drama filmed using boats from Wisbech 212 1975 Anglia TV report about the first purpose built traveller site in GB EAFA 213 A Passage to Wisbech 1986 a BBC documentary on the coaster ships which work around the shores of Britain followed the voyages of the Carrick a 30 year old ship owned and skippered by Rick Waters 214 A Wisbech Rock Festival appears in the 1998 British comedy film Still Crazy starring Stephen Rea Jimmy Nail Billy Connolly and Timothy Spall Bill Nighy Juliet Aubrey Helena Bergstrom and Bruce Robinson 215 Wisbech is noted for its unspoilt Georgian architecture particularly along North Brink and The Crescent It has been used in BBC One s 1999 adaptation of Charles Dickens David Copperfield 216 and ITV1 s 2001 adaptation of Micawber starring David Jason 217 In 2000 BBC One s Antiques Roadshow was hosted and recorded at the Hudson Leisure centre 218 The 2008 feature film Dean Spanley starring Peter O Toole was largely filmed in Wisbech 219 2009 Channel 5 s reality TV series The Hotel Inspector starring Alex Polizzi featured The Rose and Crown hotel 220 In February 2010 the effect of immigration on the town was featured in the BBC documentary The Day the Immigrants Left presented by Evan Davis The programme looked at jobs in the town reported to have been taken over by migrants In the programme several local unemployed persons were given the chance to try such jobs 221 222 223 2018 Celebrating Nestle Communities Wisbech was released in September 2018 This is one of a series of films showcasing communities around the UK and Ireland where Nestle operate 224 In December 2018 the American TV program The Late Late Show with British star James Cordon featured a giant inflatable Santa blocking Cromwell Road This Father Christmas had broken free from its fixings in a garden and it took several hours to catch 225 Wisbech 2019 Made in Minecraft A different point of view was released It shows parts of the town in a Minecraft format 226 Other media EditIn More English Fairy Tales collected and edited by Joseph Jacobs the tale of Tom Hickathrift and his battle with the Wisbeach Wisbech Giant is retold 227 In other versions the protagonist is described as The Wisbech Wisbeach Ogre 228 Isaac Casaubon recorded in his diary his visit to Wisbech on 17 August 1611 He accompanied Lancelot Andrewes bishop of Ely from the episcopal palace at Downham 229 Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary his trip to Parson Drove on 17 September 1663 to accompany his uncle and cousin to Wisbech in connection with another uncle Day s estate He visited the church and library at Wisbech on 18 September 229 Daniel Defoe c 1660 1731 toured the eastern counties of England in 1723 and commented about Wisbech as a seaport He had visited the Isle of Ely in 1722 and observed That there are some wonderful engines for throwing up water and such as are not to be seen any where else whereof one in particular threw up as they assur d us twelve hundred ton of water in half an hour and goes by wind sails 12 wings or sails to a mill Here are the greatest improvements by planting of hemp that I think is to be seen in England particularly on the Norfolk and Cambridge side of the Fens as about Wisbech Well and several other places where we saw many hundred acres of ground bearing great crops of hemp 230 William Cole antiquary 1714 1782 the Cambridge antiquary who passed through in 1772 mentions that the buildings were in general handsome the inn we stopped at the Rose and Crown uncommonly so But the Bridge he added stretching Rialto like over this straight and considerable stream with a good row of houses extending from it and fronting the water to a considerable distance beats all and exhibits something of a Venetian appearance John Howard prison reformer came to Wisbech to visit the Wisbeach Bridewell on 3 February 1776 and found two prisoners locked up in it He described it as having two or three rooms No courtyard No water Allowance a penny a day and straw twenty shillings a year Keeper s salary 16 no Fees This prison might be improved on the Keeper s Garden 231 In 1778 1779 Italian author and poet Giuseppe Marc Antonio Baretti also known as Joseph Baretti 1718 1789 took up residence with a family living at the castle for about a fortnight Afterwards he published a series of letters Lettere Familiari de Giuseppe Baretti including a description of his Wisbech visit He attended horse races the theatre public balls public suppers and assemblies 232 William Cobbett 1763 1835 who speechified to about 220 people in the Playhouse Angles Theatre in April 1830 called it a good solid town though not handsome and re marked the export of corn William Macready arrived in Wisbech on 13 June 1836 and performed in Hamlet andMacbethin what is now the Angles Theatre He recorded his visit which was later published in 1875 inDiaries and Letters 27 Charles Kingsley s 1850 novel Alton Locke has a character Bob Porter referring to the gibbeting of two Irish reapers at Wisbech River after trial for murder Wisbech and Fenland Museum has a headpiece that was used with the gibbet in a similar case in the 18th century 233 Wisbeach and its river Nene or Nen wooden piling and riverport two stations are mentioned by Hilaire Belloc 1870 1953 who dined at the Whyte Harte hotel North Brink 234 Wisbech was one of eight towns featured in Old Towns Revisited published by Country Life Ltd in 1952 235 Brian Vesey Fitzgerald describes his experience of visiting Wisbech in May 1964 236 Travel writer Nicholas Wollaston s 1927 2007 visit to the town produced a chapter in his 1965 book 237 Wisbech features in John Gordon s 1992 autobiography 238 There are two free newspapers distributed within the town and online the Wisbech Standard owned by Archant 239 and the Fenland Citizen owned by Iliffe Media 240 Several free local magazines are published online and distributed The fens monthly 241 Discovering Wisbech monthly 242 The Wisbech Post quarterly 243 and the Fenland Resident quarterly 244 According to a study looking into immigration patterns Wisbech was once identified as the seventh most English town in Britain by Sky News However on 16 February 2008 a report in the Daily Express titled Death of a Country Idyll wrote about how the influx of Eastern European immigrants may have caused an increase in crime Then on 20 February 2008 The Fenland Citizen contained an article opposing the Daily Express article 245 On 14 May 2011 Wisbech featured in The Guardian Let s Move to column Tom Dyckhoff highlighted the Georgian streets cinemas local community groups and poor rail links In June 2018 Country Life magazine ran a feature on Wisbech 246 In November 2018 Wisbech featured in an article in the Daily Telegraph by Jack Rear entitled The spirited English town with some of Britain s best forgotten history 247 Wisbech Merchants Trail was updated and released as a map and booklet and as a free mobile app in August 2019 There are 17 brass plaques at historical sites around the town 248 The town council produces an annual Official Town Guide and Map published by Local Authority Publishing Co Ltd There is also an online version 249 Climate EditLike the rest of the United Kingdom Wisbech experiences an oceanic climate but Cambridgeshire is one of the driest counties in the British Isles along with Essex February is the driest month whilst October is the wettest In temperature terms both January and December are the coldest months whilst August is the warmest Climate data for WisbechMonth Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YearAverage high C F 7 45 8 46 11 52 13 55 16 61 19 66 21 70 22 72 19 66 15 59 10 50 7 45 14 57 Daily mean C F 4 5 40 1 5 41 7 45 9 48 12 54 14 5 58 1 16 5 61 7 17 63 14 5 58 1 11 52 7 45 4 5 40 1 10 2 50 5 Average low C F 2 36 2 36 3 37 5 41 8 46 10 50 12 54 12 54 10 50 7 45 4 39 2 36 6 44 Average precipitation cm inches 4 5 1 8 3 1 2 3 3 1 3 4 1 6 4 6 1 8 4 4 1 7 4 8 1 9 5 2 2 0 5 3 2 1 5 6 2 2 5 2 0 4 4 1 7 54 1 21 3 Average precipitation days 18 15 15 14 13 12 12 12 13 16 17 17 174Source World Weather Online 250 Twin town Edit Arles France 1964 See also EditList of places in Cambridgeshire Elm CambridgeshireReferences Edit Wisbech National Trust Retrieved 5 November 2021 Eilert Ekwall The Oxford Dictionary of English Place names p 526 Devenish David 1992 Trade Tokens of Wisbech Annual Report Wisbech Society 53 28 33 To the Editor Stamford Mercury 9 September 1881 Numismatics www wisbechmuseum org uk Retrieved 3 April 2021 Wilkes J J Elrington C R eds 1978 A History of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely Vol VII Oxford University Press Michael Chisholm 2021 Anglo Saxon Hydraulic Engineering in The Fens Shaun Tyas p 27 Bridget Holmes 2010 Cemeteries Graveyards And Memorials The Wisbech Society and Preservation Trust Ltd J Bentham Hist Ely 87 full citation needed Wisbech Manors A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely Volume 4 City of Ely Ely N and S Witchford and Wisbech Hundreds 2002 pp 243 245 Wisbech Local Histories Retrieved 24 August 2019 Shirley Carter 2018 The mystery of King John s treasure 1236 11 12 SurgeWatch Retrieved 28 March 2022 A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely Vol 4 City of Ely N and S Witchford and Wisbech Hundreds Victoria County History 2002 pp 251 252 Lysons Samuel 18 August 2018 Magna Britannia Being a Concise Topographical Account of the Several Counties of Great Britain T Cadell and W Davies Retrieved 18 August 2018 via Google Books Salzman LF 1967 The Victoria History of the count is of England Cambridge and the isle of Ely vol II Dawson s of Pall Mall Stone David 29 September 2005 Decision making in Mediaeval Agriculture google co uk ISBN 9780199247769 Retrieved 1 November 2019 The Wisbech Society amp Preservation Trust The Castle Wisbech society co uk Retrieved 18 August 2018 Lucy Aikin 1822 Memoirs of the court of James I Longman Mayflower passenger list www mayflower400uk org Retrieved 25 August 2019 George Anniss 1977 A history of Wisbech Castle EARO Special Collections Cambridge University Library Retrieved 23 August 2019 George Anniss 1977 A history of Wisbech Castle EARO anonymous 1976 37th Annual Report The Wisbech Society page needed Somerville Eric The Poor Laws and Poor Relief in Wisbech Discovering Wisbech Discovering Magazines 13 26 Boyce James Historian 2 July 2020 Imperial mud the fight for the Fens London ISBN 978 1 78578 651 8 OCLC 1158215738 a b c d e f g h Gardiner Frederic John 1898 History of Wisbech and Neighborhood During the Last Fifty Years 1848 1898 Gardiner amp Co Retrieved 3 October 2019 via archive org To be sold by auction Stamford Mercury 4 November 1791 p 2 Wisbech Female Friendly Society Abe Books Retrieved 20 October 2021 Law Intelligence Statesman London 17 July 1819 p 4 Wisbech Regatta Peterborough Advertiser 10 August 1850 p 3 The Russian Gun Cambridge Independent Press 19 June 1858 p 7 Wisbech Borough Council Wisbech Charter Celebrations Balding and Mansell Wisbech Museum Wisbech and Fenland Museum Retrieved 24 August 2019 Underwood E Ashworth 1948 The History of Cholera in Great Britain Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine 41 3 165 173 doi 10 1177 003591574804100309 PMC 2184374 PMID 18905493 Wisbech Epidemics sanitation British History Online Retrieved 11 September 2018 Mrs Fanny Kemble Cambridge Independent Press 20 January 1855 p 8 June 29 Stamford Mercury 21 August 1857 p 6 Miscellaneous institutions British History Online Retrieved 24 September 2021 George Aniss 1977 A history of Wisbech Castle EARO Archaeology at Wisbech Illustrated London News 24 August 1878 p 10 About Us Wisbech Standard Retrieved 23 August 2019 Closures www holdthefrontpage co uk Retrieved 30 October 2022 Electric Light for Wisbech Eastern Daily Press 9 April 1904 p 8 Riot Act enidporterproject org uk King Elaine 27 November 2013 Photos of Wisbech in the 1960s 70s and a history of Wisbech Canal to go on show Cambstimes co uk Retrieved 18 August 2018 Wisbech War Memorial roll of honour com Retrieved 5 September 2019 Wisbech Pageant 1929 historicalpageants ac uk Retrieved 5 September 2019 Monger Garry 2022 A Wisbech Wedding The Fens Natasha Shiels 50 20 Wisbech Schools British History Online Retrieved 13 January 2019 Wisbech Hundred Elm British History Online Retrieved 18 February 2019 Wisbech Society Wisbech Society Retrieved 24 August 2019 Cyril Swinson 1949 Wisbech Charter Celebrations 1549 1949 Balding amp Mansell The Pageant of Wisbech 1949 historicalpageants ac uk Retrieved 5 September 2019 Wisbech Rose Fair wisbech rosefair co uk Retrieved 5 September 2019 First purpose built gypsy camp in Britain EAFA Retrieved 15 November 2021 1979 Harrier crash kills three BBC 21 September 1979 Retrieved 18 August 2018 Horsefair www horsefairshopingcentre co uk Retrieved 9 January 2020 1990 Order no 228 Government of the United Kingdom Retrieved 18 February 2019 Bishop s Palace peterboroughtoday co uk Retrieved 26 May 2019 Manea Colony cambstimes co uk 2 October 2016 Retrieved 26 May 2019 Wisbech www highstreet org uk Retrieved 2 April 2021 Fletcher Taleyna 2020 Lost Images of Wisbech Discovering Wisbech Discovering Magazines 33 10 11 anonymous 2019 Wisbech Official Guide and Map Wisbech town council Anglia in Bloom wisbechstandard co uk Retrieved 9 September 2019 Fate of Mayor s pub licence hangs in the balance Wisbech Standard 19 March 2021 p 4 Wisbech Registration District UKBMD Retrieved 21 January 2023 Wisbech Town Council Government of the United Kingdom Retrieved 10 February 2019 Elworthy John 25 January 2018 Acquiring Wisbech Castle to put up town s local council tax by over 30 per cent but do they have the skills to run the castle Wisbechstandard co uk Retrieved 18 August 2018 Cambs Times cambstimes co uk 20 April 2019 Retrieved 20 May 2019 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough set for new mayor Government of the United Kingdom Retrieved 18 August 2018 Rodney Tibbs 1969 Fenland River The Story of the Great Ouse and its Tributaries Terence Dalton Ltd Yacht Harbour and Wisbech Port Government of the United Kingdom 27 November 2014 Retrieved 18 August 2018 Fens Waterways waterways org uk Retrieved 8 September 2019 F A Reeve 1976 Victorian amp Edwardian Cambridgeshire Batsford The New Museum Cambridge Chronicle and Journal 28 August 1847 p 2 Wisbech Corporation Annual Frolic Cambridge Independent Press 18 August 1855 p 7 Monger Garry 2022 Highs and Lows The Fens 52 20 Mud from the flood geograph org uk Retrieved 25 August 2019 Peter Hewett 2000 Fenland A Landscape made by Man The Wisbech Society and Preservation Trust Railway between March and Wisbech Government of the United Kingdom Retrieved 18 August 2018 What is the GRIP Process Kintecglobal com 17 March 2016 Retrieved 18 August 2018 Connecting communities Expanding Accra to the rail network 2009 Reopen these rail lines and put 500 000 people in reach of the railways Campaign for Better Transport UK Census 2011 Local Area Report Wisbech Parish 1170212281 Nomis Office for National Statistics Retrieved 23 January 2019 Wisbech Cambridgeshire East of England United Kingdom Population Statistics Charts Map Location Weather and Web Information Citypopulation de Retrieved 18 August 2018 Ka reikia deti į atlieku dezes Lithuanian Government of the United Kingdom April 2017 Retrieved 18 August 2018 British Birds PDF britishbirds co uk Retrieved 17 February 2019 Two pipe makers Stamford Mercury 2 April 1747 p 4 Soap Office Stamford Mercury 17 April 1746 p 4 anonymous 2019 Wisbech Official Town Guide and Map 2019 Local Authority Publishing Co Ltd William Richards M A 1812 The history of Lynn Vol I p 104 anonymous 1976 The 37th Annual Report The Wisbech Society page needed New Banking Offices Stamford Mercury 26 September 1851 p 3 Wisbech and Isle of Ely Permanent Building Society Cambridgeshire Times Retrieved 25 September 2019 via britishnewspaperarchive co uk subscription required full citation needed J W Myers Circus Retrieved 30 September 2019 via britishnewspaperarchive co uk subscription required full citation needed For Sale Leeds Mercury 20 April 1895 p 12 Coleman of Norwich Stamford Mercury Retrieved 21 September 2019 via britishnewspaperarchive co uk subscription required Coleman of Norwich Wisbech Standard Retrieved 4 October 2019 Wisbech Mustard Market Spalding Free Press Retrieved 29 December 2019 Fruitpicking The Tewkesbury Register and Agricultural Gazette Retrieved 1 November 2019 via britishnewspaperarchive co uk subscription required Liptons Bury Free Press Retrieved 26 September 2019 Michael Smedley 2012 What Happened to Smedley s Pioneers of British Canned and Frozen Foods An Industrial History 1925 1975 Michael J Smedley ISBN 978 0 9571830 0 1 Crown Holdings crowncork com Retrieved 4 December 2019 anonymous 1969 The Wisbech Regency Town Book Regency Town Books Wisbech Stamford Mercury 28 September 1900 p 4 anonymous 1992 Lilian Ream a life in photography Cambridgeshire County Council Shire shiregb co uk Retrieved 15 February 2019 Wisbech Budgens store to close on Thursday fEnlandcitizen co uk 7 March 2017 Retrieved 18 August 2018 Student reunion held to mark the closure of the Wisbech horticultural station Wisbech Standard 14 July 2012 Retrieved 18 August 2018 Two new fast food outlets in centre of Wisbech to bring 60 full and part time jobs to the town Wisbechstandard co uk 28 May 2014 Retrieved 18 August 2018 Butcher s shuts after 107 years BBC 22 February 2015 Retrieved 18 August 2018 SCALDING STEAM Five suffer burns in factory horror Peterboroughtoday co uk Retrieved 18 August 2018 Princes Lynn Road Wisbech C Richard Humphrey Geograph org uk Retrieved 18 August 2018 NHS Trust launches redevelopment plans for North Cambridgeshire Hospital Wisbech Wisbech 2020 Vision 19 April 2018 Retrieved 18 August 2018 Wisbech castle Government of the United Kingdom 29 November 2018 Retrieved 13 January 2019 wim Zwalf 1997 The Parish Church of St Peter amp St Paul Wisbech Wisbech Society Pugh R B ed 1953 The Victoria History of the County of Cambridge and The Isle of Ely Vol IV London Oxford University Press p 250 Wisbech Official Town Guide amp Map Wisbech Town Council 2020 Wisbech www ukga org Retrieved 7 April 2021 Octagon Church CCAN Retrieved 19 October 2021 Kevin Rodgers 2021 Wisbech Chapel of Ease The Octagon Church Kevin Rodgers Wisbech Lincolnshire Chronicle Friday 17 May 1839 p 3 Wisbech Official Town Guide amp Map 2019 Wisbech Town Council 2019 Yacht club opens Peterborough Advertiser 22 April 1955 p 11 Gordon Smith 2006 Early Football in Wisbech Gordon Smith ISBN 0 9544560 1 7 The Wisbech Players www wisbechplayers org uk Retrieved 11 August 2021 About us wisbechmuseum org uk Retrieved 22 December 2019 Wisbech Brewery Norwich Mercury Retrieved 21 September 2019 Our history elgoods brewery co uk Retrieved 22 December 2019 Monger Garry 2021 Inns amp Taverns The Fens Natasha Shiels 39 20 Andrew BN Ketley 2021 Wisbech Inns Taverns and Beer Houses Past and Present Volume 1 Friends of Wisbech amp Fenland Museum The Rose and Crown www imdb com Retrieved 8 October 2022 John Timpson 1989 Timpson s Towns of England amp Wales Jarrold ISBN 0 7117 0419 8 Wisbech www localauthoritypublishing co uk Retrieved 8 April 2021 King s Lynn Mart www kingslynnonline Retrieved 8 April 2021 Bridget Holmes 2010 Cemeteries Graveyards and Memorials in Wisbech Wisbech Society Wisbech Rose Fair wisbech rosefair co uk Retrieved 30 November 2019 Wisbech Rosefair wisbech rosefair co uk Retrieved 30 November 2019 Rose Fair wisbechstandard co uk 9 July 2018 Retrieved 30 November 2019 Biggest ado of the year wisbechstandard co uk 6 July 2019 Retrieved 30 November 2019 Monger Garry 2022 175 Years of Fenland History The Fens 47 20 20Wisbech Rock Festival visitcambridgeshirefens org Retrieved 22 December 2019 Wisbech Bandstand Wisbech Standard Retrieved 22 December 2019 Events www wisbechcastle org Retrieved 8 April 2021 Local events Government of the United Kingdom 14 January 2020 Retrieved 29 August 2019 Diane Carlton Smith 2020 In the Wash New Generation Publishing ISBN 978 1 80031 744 4 Fenland Poet Laureate fenlandpoetry co uk Retrieved 2 September 2019 Wisbech Standard 2 December 2019 Michel Millard 1974 Victorian Townscape The Work of Samuel Smith Ward Lock Ltd ISBN 0 7063 1855 2 Somerville Eric 2020 Valentine Blanchard Pioneering Photographer Annual Review Wisbech Society 81 14 17 Andy Ketley 2019 Images of Wisbech no 1 Friends of the Wisbech and Fenland Museum Step back in time Cambs Times Retrieved 17 April 2022 Cambridge Rockers My global mind 9 May 2019 Retrieved 15 April 2022 Live Music Fenland Citizen 27 July 2020 Retrieved 15 April 2022 Hansson Mia 2020 Mia s Bayeux Tapestry Colouring Book March Eyrie Press ISBN 978 1 913149 11 6 Hansson Mia Mia s Bayeux Tapestry Story Facebook Retrieved 6 February 2019 Wisbech britishlistedbuildings co uk Retrieved 29 August 2019 Historic England Remains of White Cross in garden of Number 15 Peckover House 1331633 National Heritage List for England Retrieved 23 August 2019 Monger Garry June 2018 The Manea Colony Dig The fens Wisbech amp Surrounding No 3 Natasha Shiels p 18 Retrieved 2 February 2020 Pugh R B ed 1953 The Victoria History of the County of Cambridge and The Isle of Ely Vol IV London Oxford University Press Historic England Tallow Court 1279266 National Heritage List for England Retrieved 10 September 2019 Historic England Ely House 1331636 National Heritage List for England Retrieved 5 December 2019 Historic England Angles Theatre 1125904 National Heritage List for England Retrieved 5 October 2021 History www anglestheatre co uk Retrieved 6 July 2021 Robert Stevens 1985 Cambridgeshire Windmills and Watermills Cambridgeshire Wind and Watermill Society T W Foster 1867 An Illustrated Guide to Wisbech St Peter and neighbourhood TV Sumfield King Elaine 22 November 2012 Richard Young Memorial started life as a drinking fountain Cambstimes co uk Retrieved 18 August 2018 Cambridgeshire Churches Druidic org Retrieved 18 August 2018 Church of St Mary Wisbech St Mary Cambridgeshire Britishlistedbuildings co uk Retrieved 18 August 2018 Cambridgeshire Churches Druidic org Retrieved 18 August 2018 Stallard Frederick 1991 John of Wisbech Annual Report Wisbech Society 52 12 13 Walker amp Craddock 1849 The History of the Fens Richard Walker An Historical Account of the Ancient Town and Port of Wisbech in the Isle of Ely Watson W p452 Cambridgeshire H and J Leach 1827 Fryde E B Greenway D E Porter S Roy I 1986 Handbook of British Chronology 3rd ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press pp 348 350 ISBN 0 521 56350 X Thurman Dorothy 1991 William Godwin Annual Report Wisbech Society 52 19 20 Arthur A Oldham 1997 Inns and Taverns of Wisbech John Gordon 1992 Ordinary Seaman p27 Walker Books Alfred Balding Fading Images Retrieved 8 February 2022 Alfred Balding Art Uk Retrieved 8 February 2022 Clayton Peter 1991 Caroline Southwood Hill Annual Report Wisbech Society 52 14 18 Somerville Eric 2020 Wisbech Bonesetters Discovering Wisbech 22 32 Roger Powell 1995 Richard Young of Wisbech Wisbech Society ISBN 0 9519220 3 3 Thomas Craddock fadingimages uk Retrieved 28 February 2020 Cave Peter 1982 Richard Massey Wisbech Society 43rd Annual Report 43 7 14 Samuel Smith fadingimages uk Retrieved 28 February 2019 Edward Johnson fadingimages uk Retrieved 28 February 2020 Lilian Ream lilianream org uk Retrieved 13 January 2019 Lilian Ream fadingimages Retrieved 28 February 2020 Geoff Hastings fadingimages Retrieved 18 September 2021 John Barrie Dundee Courier Retrieved 4 October 2019 via britishnewspaperarchive co uk subscription required Wisbech Working Men s Institute www wisbechinstitute org uk Retrieved 6 October 2019 A Peckover plants jstor org Retrieved 7 September 2019 5 000 for Youth Peterborough Standard 19 July 1946 p 5 They didn t give her the Nobel Prize Discovering Wisbech 1 February 2022 pp 14 15 Andy Ketley 2022 Wisbech Inns Taverns and Beer Houses Past and Present volume 4 The Loaf The Orchard House Hotel Friends of Wisbech amp Fenland Museum p 63 Monger Garry 2021 Fenland s Magician The Fens September 20 21 Chris Abbott 2006 An East Anglian Odyssey the story of the DaSilva puppet company Friends of the Wisbech amp Fenland Museum Ray DaSilva wepa unima org Retrieved 11 January 2020 Bayeux Tapestry Wisbech teacher fretting over famous embroidery errors BBC News 16 February 2022 Retrieved 14 April 2022 Monger Garry 2022 Fenland s Bayeux Tapestry The Fens 49 20 MBE in Queen s Birthday Honours Wisbech Standard 9 October 2020 Retrieved 16 April 2021 East Anglian Film Archive Peeps Into A Day s Work At The North Cambridgeshire Hospital Wisbech 1924 Eafa org uk Retrieved 18 August 2018 East Anglian Film Archive Electrics Local Pictures including The Mart version 1 1926 Eafa org uk Retrieved 18 August 2018 East Anglian Film Archive The North Cambridgeshire Hospital Who s Who 1930s Eafa org uk Retrieved 18 August 2018 East Anglian Film Archive Approaching Wisbech 1938 Eafa org uk Retrieved 18 August 2018 Prince George at Wisbech BFI org uk Retrieved 10 February 2019 Bowden Kim Rayner David 1996 Wisbech Chalford Oublishing Company ISBN 978 0 7524 0740 1 anonymous 1992 Lilian Ream a life in photography Cambridgeshire County Council ISBN 1 870724 82 8 East Anglian Film Archive About Anglia Wisbech Railway 1961 Eafa org uk Retrieved 18 August 2018 East Anglian Film Archive About Anglia Wisbech Castle 1963 Eafa org uk Retrieved 18 August 2018 East Anglian Film Archive The Flood 1963 Eafa org uk Retrieved 18 August 2018 East Anglian Film Archive First purpose built gypsy camp in Britain 1975 Eafa org uk Retrieved 18 August 2018 A Passage to Wisbech 1986 bfi org uk Retrieved 10 February 2019 Still Crazy TV com Retrieved 10 February 2019 David Copperfield IMDb Retrieved 10 February 2019 Micawber Comedy co uk Retrieved 10 February 2019 Antiques Roadshow S23 Episode 7 Vintage Antiques Roadshow Wisbech Radio Times Retrieved 18 August 2018 French Philip 14 December 2008 Dean Spanley The Guardian Rose amp Crown Channel 5 Retrieved 18 August 2018 The Day the Immigrants Left BBC One BBC Retrieved 18 August 2018 Wisbech The big migrant job swap BBC 23 February 2010 Retrieved 18 August 2018 Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine The Day the Immigrants Left Part 3 6 2 March 2010 Retrieved 18 August 2018 via YouTube Welcome to Wisbech nestle co uk Retrieved 10 February 2019 Giant Santa wisbechstandard co uk Retrieved 7 January 2019 Wisbech 2019 collusion org uk Retrieved 13 October 2019 Joseph Jacobs 1894 More English FairyTales G P Putnam s Sons Peter Jeevar 1993 Thomas Hickathrift Ketton Publishing a b anonymous 1953 Wisbech Coronation Year Celebrations Wisbech Borough Defoe visionofbritain org uk Retrieved 29 August 2019 John Howard 1777 The State of Prisons in England And Wales with preliminary Observations and an account of Some Foreign Prisons Cadell William Watson 1827 A History of Wisbech Alton Locke wordpress com 18 September 2012 Retrieved 5 September 2019 Hilaire Belloc 1906 Hills and the Sea Charles Scribner s Sons Arthur Oswald ed 1952 Old Towns Revisited Country Life Ltd Capital of Fertility The Sphere 9 May 1964 Retrieved 27 December 2019 Nicholas Wollaston 1965 Winter in England Huddersfield amp Stoughton John Gordon 1992 Ordinary Seaman A teenage memoir Walker Books ISBN 9780744521061 Wisbech Standard wisbechstandard co uk Retrieved 29 December 2019 Fenland Citizen fenlandcitizen co uk Retrieved 29 December 2019 The fens thefens co uk Retrieved 29 December 2019 Discovering Wisbech Magazine Discoveringmagazines co uk Retrieved 18 August 2018 The Wisbech Post thewisbechpost Retrieved 29 December 2019 Resident magazines archant co uk Retrieved 4 December 2019 Wisbech blighted by crime Fenland Today Fenlandcitizen co uk Retrieved 18 August 2018 Country Life 20 June 2018 Rear Jack 24 November 2018 The spirited English town with some of Britain s best forgotten history The Telegraph Retrieved 5 January 2019 Celebrating the history of a Fenland high street highstreetwisbech org uk Wisbech officialguides co uk Retrieved 20 August 2019 Wisbech United Kingdom Weather Averages World Weather Online Retrieved 1 September 2017 Further reading EditArthur Jane et al 1996 Medicine in Wisbech Seagull Press ISBN 0 948147 00 8 Bell Robert 2001 Wisbech A photographic history of your town Black Horse Books Bevis Trevor 1990 Wisbech 657 1987 T A Bevis ISBN 0 901680 33 8 Bevis Trevor 1987 A Pocket Guide to The Fenland T A Bevis ISBN 0 901680 27 3 Bowden Kim Rayner David eds 2004 Wisbech Images of England The History Press ISBN 9780752407401 via AbeBooks com Brown Raymond 1992 The story of Balding amp Mansell Balding amp Mansell Bevis Trevor 2011 Cromwell Lord of the Fens TA Bevis ISBN 978 0 901680 85 3 Clayton Peter 1993 Octavia Hill 1838 1912 Born in Wisbech The Wisbech Society and Preservation Trust Ltd ISBN 0 9519220 1 7 Craddock Thomas amp Walker Neil 1849 The History of Wisbech and the Fens Richard Walker A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely Volume 4 City of Ely N and S Witchford and Wisbech Hundreds 2002 Dugdale Sir William 1651 History of Imbanking and Draining of the divers Fens and Marshes both of Foreign Parts and this Kingdom Dunlop George 2007 Wisbech Fire Brigade 1845 1949 G Dunlop ISBN 978 0955598418 Dunlop George 2008 Wisbech Fire Brigade 1950 1979 G Dunlop ISBN 978 0955598432 Ellis John 2011 To Walk in the Dark the History Press ISBN 978 0 7524 6023 9 Gadsden E J S 1966 The Wisbech and Upwell tramway Branch Line Handbooks Gardiner Frederic John 1898 History of Wisbech and Neighborhood During the Last Fifty Years 1848 1898 Gardiner amp Co Retrieved 3 October 2019 via archive org Gordon John 1992 Ordinary Seaman Walker Books ISBN 0 7445 2106 8 Gordon John 1970 The House on the Brink Childrens Book Club ISBN 0060220287 Gordon John 2009 Fen Runners Orion Childrens ISBN 978 1 84255 684 9 Hastings Geoff amp Ketley Andrew 2019 Images of Wisbech No 1 Friends of Wisbech amp Fenland Museum Hastings Geoff amp Ketley Andrew 2019 Images of Wisbech No 2 Friends of Wisbech amp Fenland Museum Hastings Geoff amp Ketley Andrew 2020 Images of Wisbech No 3 Friends of Wisbech amp Fenland Museum Hastings Geoff amp Ketley Andrew 2020 Images of Wisbech No 4 Friends of Wisbech amp Fenland Museum Hastings Geoff amp Ketley Andrew 2021 Images of Wisbech No 5 Friends of Wisbech amp Fenland Museum Hastings Geoff amp Ketley Andrew 2022 Images of Wisbech No 6 Friends of Wisbech amp Fenland Museum Hawkins Chris amp Reeve George 1982 The Wisbech and Upwell tramway Wild Swan publications ltd ISBN 0906867096 Hewett Peter 2000 Fenland A Landscape made by Man The Wisbech Society and Preservation Trust ISBN 0 9519220 6 8 Mark Hinman amp Elizabeth Popescu 2012 Extraordinary inundations of the sea Excavations at Market Mews Wisbech Cambridgeshire EAA Hall D 1996 The Fenland project No 10 Cambridgeshire Survey The Isle of Ely amp Wisbech EAA Holloway Jane 2019 Wisbech s Forgotten Hero AuthorHouse ISBN 978 1 7283 8789 5 Holmes Bridget 2010 Cemeteries Graveyards and Memorials in Wisbech Wisbech Society Hutchesson Mann 1791 Introduction to the Charter of Wisbech W Nicholson Ingram Arthur C 1979 Branch lines around Wisbech Middleton Press ISBN 9781901706017 Ingram Andrew C 1983 The Wisbech and Upwell tramway Centenary album Becknell Books ISBN 0907087205 Ingram Andrew 2002 Wisbech 1800 1901 Middleton Press Ketley Andrew BN 2021 Wisbech Inns Taverns and Beer Houses Past and Present Vol 1 Friends of Wisbech amp Fenland Museum Ketley Andrew BN 2022 Wisbech Inns Taverns and Beer Houses Past and Present Vol 2 Friends of Wisbech amp Fenland Museum Ketley Andrew BN 2022 Wisbech Inns Taverns and Beer Houses Past and Present Vol 3 Friends of Wisbech amp Fenland Museum Ketley Andrew BN 2022 Wisbech Inns Taverns and Beer Houses Past and Present Vol 4 Friends of Wisbech amp Fenland Museum Mahoney Charlotte 1970 A short history of Wisbech High School Miss M Whitlock McReynolds Madeline G H 1994 The Peckovers of Wisbech The Wisbech Society and Preservation Trust Ltd ISBN 0 9519220 2 5 Millard Michel and Coe Brian 1974 Victorian Townscape The Work of Samuel Smith Ward Lock Ltd ISBN 0 7063 1855 2 Mitchell Vic et al 1995 Branch line to Upwell including the Wisbech canal Middleton Press ISBN 1873793642 Monger Garry 2020 The last voyage of the Violet The Fens Natasha Shiels November 20 Monger Garry 2021 Fenland Mole Catchers The Fens Natasha Shiels 38 20 Monger Garry 2021 Inns amp Taverns The Fens Natasha Shiels 39 20 Oldham Arthur Artis 1933 The History of the Wisbech River AA Oldham Oldham Arthur 1950 Pubs and Taverns of Wisbech out of print Oldham amp Robert Bell Arthur Artis 1994 Windmills in and around Wisbech Spindrift Osborne Mike 2013 Defending Cambridgeshire the History Press ISBN 978 0 7524 9330 5 Parker A K K D Pye 1976 The Fenland David amp Charles ISBN 0 7153 7296 3 Plume Derrick C 1991 Recollections of Wisbech Derrick C Plume Plume Derrick C 1980 Wisbech Derrick C Plume Powell Roger 1996 Richard Young of Wisbech 1809 1871 The Wisbech Society and Preservation Trust Ltd ISBN 0 9519220 3 3 Reynold P ed 1958 The Wisbech Stirs Catholic Record Society Reader W J 1976 Metal Box Heinemann ISBN 0434625000 Reeve F A 1976 Victorian and Edwardian Cambridgeshire from Old photographs BT Batsford Ltd ISBN 0 7134 3079 6 Rodgers Kevin 2001 A Brief History of Wisbech General Cemetery Kevin Rodgers Rodgers Kevin 2019 Wisbech General Cemetery 1836 2019 Wisbech Society ISBN 978 0 9519220 9 5 Rodgers Kevin 2019 Wisbech Cholera Epidemics K Rodgers Sly Rex 2003 From punt to plough Sutton publishing ISBN 978 0 7509 3398 8 Sly Rex 2007 Fenland Families Sutton Publishing ISBN 978 0 7509 4327 7 Sly Rex 2010 Soil in their Souls A history of fenland farming The History Press ISBN 978 0 7524 5733 8 Smeaton John 1768 The report of John Smeaton Engineer concerning the drainage of the North level of the Fens and the outfall of the Wisbech river Smith Diane Calton 2018 Webbed feet and wildfowlers an early history of Wisbech and the Fens New Generation Publishing ISBN 978 1787193215 Smith Diane Calton 2019 Plague Flood and Gewgaws Wisbech and the Fens in Tudor and Stuart Times New Generation Publishing ISBN 978 1 78955 496 0 Smith William P 2014 Pictorial Journey Down The Wisbech Canal Carrilson Publications ISBN 978 0 9543997 3 3 Storey Edward 1971 Portrait of the Fen Country Robert Hale Ltd ISBN 0 7091 2443 0 Swinson Cyril 1949 Wisbech Charter Celebrations 1549 1949 Balding amp Mansell Taylor William 1971 With the Cambridgeshires at Singapore T A Bevis Tebbutt Lt Col Louis 1914 Cambs amp Isle of Ely Territorial Recruiting Week Souvenir Cambridge Chronicle Thurman Dorothy with illustrations by Abel Derek 1998 Wisbech Forty perspectives of a Fenland town The Wisbech Society and Preservation Trust Ltd ISBN 0 9519220 5 X Tibbs Rodney 1969 Fenland River The Story of the Great Ouse and its tributaries The Lavenham Press Ltd Veal C N 1980 Wisbech Charles N Veal amp Co Watson William 1827 An historical account of the ancient town and port of Wisbech H amp J Leach Wilson Ellen Gibson 1992 The Clarksons of Wisbech and the abolition of the slave trade The Wisbech Society and Preservation Trust Ltd ISBN 0 9519220 0 9 Wright Neil R 2016 Treading The Boards Actors and Theatres in Georgian Lincolnshire SLHA ISBN 978 0 903582 55 1 Zwalf Wim 1997 The Parish Church of St Peter amp St Paul Wisbech The Wisbech Society amp Preservation Trust Ltd ISBN 0 9519220 4 1 Zwalf Wim 2006 The Church of St Peter and St Paul Wisbech Nordic Press anonymous 1969 The Wisbech Regency Town Book Regency Town Books anonymous 1833 The History of Wisbech William Watts anonymous 2011 The catalogue of the library of the Wisbech museum Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 1108031189 anonymous 2019 Wisbech Merchants Trail Wisbech High Street anonymous 2021 Wisbech Official Town Guide and Map Local Authority Publishing Co External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wisbech Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica article Wisbech Wisbech High Street Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Wisbech amp oldid 1142866390, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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