Glatton

Glatton
Glatton  Glatton shown within Cambridgeshire
Population	308 (2011 census)[1]
OS grid reference	TL154860
District	Huntingdonshire
Shire county	Cambridgeshire
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
EU Parliament	East of England
List of places UK England Cambridgeshire

Coordinates: 52°27′36″N 0°18′07″W / 52.460°N 0.302°W / 52.460; -0.302

Signpost in Glatton

Glatton is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England.^[2] Glatton lies approximately 8 miles (13 km) south-west of Peterborough, near to the villages of Conington, Yaxley and Stilton. Glatton is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well as being a historic county of England. A World War II airfield known as RAF Glatton was built nearby and is now known as Peterborough's Conington Airport. In 1881 Glatton had a male population of 126 and a female population of 123, making for a total population of 249.^[3]

In the 1870s, John Marius Wilson described Glatton as:

"GLATTON, a village and a parish in the district of Peterborough and county of Huntingdon. The village stands 3 miles SSW of Stilton, and 3 ½ WSW of Holme r. station."^[4]

A close up of Glatton from an Ordnance survey map from the 20th century

History

In 1085 William the Conqueror ordered that a survey should be carried out across his kingdom to discover who owned which parts and what it was worth. The survey took place in 1086 and the results were recorded in what, since the 12th century, has become known as the Domesday Book. Starting with the king himself, for each landholder within a county there is a list of their estates or manors; and, for each manor, there is a summary of the resources of the manor, the amount of annual rent that was collected by the lord of the manor both in 1066 and in 1086, together with the taxable value.^[5]

Glatton was listed in the Domesday Book in the Hundred of Normancross in Huntingdonshire; the name of the settlement was written as Glatune in the Domesday Book.^[6] In 1086 there was just one manor at Glatton; the annual rent paid to the lord of the manor in 1066 had been £10 and the rent was the same in 1086.^[7]

The Domesday Book does not explicitly detail the population of a place but it records that there was 35 households at Glatton.^[7] There is no consensus about the average size of a household at that time; estimates range from 3.5 to 5.0 people per household.^[8] Using these figures then an estimate of the population of Glatton in 1086 is that it was within the range of 122 and 175 people.

The Domesday Book uses a number of units of measure for areas of land that are now unfamiliar terms, such as hides and ploughlands. In different parts of the country, these were terms for the area of land that a team of eight oxen could plough in a single season and are equivalent to 120 acres (49 hectares); this was the amount of land that was considered to be sufficient to support a single family. By 1086, the hide had become a unit of tax assessment rather than an actual land area; a hide was the amount of land that could be assessed as £1 for tax purposes. The survey records that there were sixteen ploughlands at Glatton in 1086 and that there was the capacity for a further eight ploughlands.^[7] In addition to the arable land, there was 60 acres (24 hectares) of meadows and 22 acres (9 hectares) of woodland at Glatton.^[7]

The tax assessment in the Domesday Book was known as geld or danegeld and was a type of land-tax based on the hide or ploughland. It was originally a way of collecting a tribute to pay off the Danes when they attacked England, and was only levied when necessary. Following the Norman Conquest, the geld was used to raise money for the King and to pay for continental wars; by 1130, the geld was being collected annually. Having determined the value of a manor's land and other assets, a tax of so many shillings and pence per pound of value would be levied on the land holder. While this was typically two shillings in the pound the amount did vary; for example, in 1084 it was as high as six shillings in the pound. For the manor at Glatton the total tax assessed was eight geld.^[7]

By 1086 there was already a church and a priest at Glatton.

Government

As a civil parish, Glatton has a parish council. The parish council is elected by the residents of the parish who have registered on the electoral roll; the parish council is the lowest tier of government in England. A parish council is responsible for providing and maintaining a variety of local services including allotments and a cemetery; grass cutting and tree planting within public open spaces such as a village green or playing fields . The parish council reviews all planning applications that might affect the parish and makes recommendations to Huntingdonshire District Council, which is the local planning authority for the parish. The parish council also represents the views of the parish on issues such as local transport, policing and the environment. The parish council raises its own tax to pay for these services, known as the parish precept, which is collected as part of the Council Tax. The parish council consists of five councillors and it has a parish clerk. The parish council normally meets on a Wednesday, approximately 4–6 times a year.^[9]

Glatton was in the historic and administrative county of Huntingdonshire until 1965. From 1965, the village was part of the new administrative county of Huntingdon and Peterborough. Then in 1974, following the Local Government Act 1972, Glatton became a part of the county of Cambridgeshire.

The second tier of local government is Huntingdonshire District Council which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and has its headquarters in Huntingdon. Huntingdonshire District Council has 52 councillors representing 29 district wards.^[10] Huntingdonshire District Council collects the council tax, and provides services such as building regulations, local planning, environmental health, leisure and tourism.^[11] Glatton is a part of the district ward of Sawtry and is represented on the district council by two councillors.^[12][10] District councillors serve for four-year terms following elections to Huntingdonshire District Council.

For Glatton the highest tier of local government is Cambridgeshire County Council which has administration buildings in Cambridge. The county council provides county-wide services such as major road infrastructure, fire and rescue, education, social services, libraries and heritage services.^[13] Cambridgeshire County Council consists of 69 councillors representing 60 electoral divisions.^[14] Glatton is part of the electoral division of Sawtry and Ellington^[12] and is represented on the county council by one councillor.^[14]

At Westminster Glatton is in the parliamentary constituency of North West Cambridgeshire,^[12] and elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. Glatton is represented in the House of Commons by Shailesh Vara (Conservative). Shailesh Vara has represented the constituency since 2005. The previous member of parliament was Brian Mawhinney (Conservative) who represented the constituency between 1997 and 2005. For the European Parliament Glatton is part of the East of England constituency which elects seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.

Demography

Population

In the period 1801 to 1901 the population of Glatton was recorded every ten years by the UK census. During this time the population was in the range of 189 (the lowest was in 1901) and 358 (the highest was in 1821).^[15]

From 1901, a census was taken every ten years with the exception of 1941 (due to the Second World War).

All population census figures from report Historic Census figures Cambridgeshire to 2011 by Cambridgeshire Insight.^[15]

In 2011, the parish covered an area of 2,174 acres (880 hectares)^[15] and so the population density for Glatton in 2011 was 90.7 persons per square mile (35 per square kilometre).

Of the population of 308 in 2011, 35 people are in the 0–19 age cohort, 62 people are in the 20–44 age cohort, 142 are in the 45–74 age cohort and 79 people are over 75 years old. This is an age structure which is weighted on the side of the older population; 72% of the population is above 45 years old.^[16] Census records for Glatton, beginning from 1801 at 323 people, show slight fluctuations however a steady decline in people can be seen until 1951 with 136 people living in Glatton. After this, the population goes up relatively swiftly.^[17][18]

Glatton population change

Occupation

In 1881 there is a clear gender divide in occupations. Most men work in Agriculture (74%), with a fairly even spread among other occupation. Most women have unknown occupations or work in domestic services/ offices.^[19] 130 years later, in the 2011 census, there is a distinct change in livelihoods. Both men and women have their highest levels of employment in Associate Professional and technical occupations, there are also a far greater number of people working in Management or as Professionals. There is still a degree of gender specific employment, for example Administrative and Secretarial jobs employ far more women (ratio = 5:1) and far more men work in the Skilled Trade sector of employment (ratio = 4:1). However men and women are represented more evenly across all the occupation types in the latter census. Agricultural and Domestic professions, the most common known occupations in 1881, are non-existent in 2011.^[20]

Glatton occupational structure 1881

Graph showing the occupational structure of Glatton in 2011, for both males and females.

Education

There are no schools in Glatton. The closest primary school is Stilton CofE VC Primary School in Stilton and is 1.8 miles away. The closest secondary school is Sawtry Community College in Sawtry which is 2.1 miles away.^[21]

Landmarks

There are a number of listed buildings in Glatton,^[22] among them is St Nicholas' Church and the Addison Arms Public House which won the Rural Pub of The Year award in Huntingdonshire in 2014.^[23]

Transport

The A1 is the closest motorway and is about a mile to the East of Glatton parish. There is a rail line that runs about 3 miles to the east of Glatton however the closest station is in Peterborough and this is about 10 miles away.^[24]

Religious sites

Glatton has a parish church called St Nicholas which is part of the Diocese of Ely.^[25] The church is mentioned in the 1086 Domesday book however none of the original building now remains. A notable feature of the church is its tower which was built in about 1500 AD, its four bells have the following inscriptions: 1) COMM COMM AND PREAY 1595. 2) SEARVE GOD AND OBEAY THY PRINCE 1595. 3) J.TAYLOR & CO FOUNDERS LOUGHBOROUGH 1863. 4) OMNIA FAINT AD GLORIAM DEI SOLI THO. EAYRE 1736.^[26]

References

External links

Media related to Glatton at Wikimedia Commons

Glatton Village Official website www.glatton.org.uk

Small live music events hosted by village resident #Glattonbury