Location
St. Ives, historic market town, is situated on the River Great Ouse, which was, for thousands of years, one of the main highways of England.
The tiny Chapel, built on the 15th century stone bridge over the river, is one of only four in the country and probably the best example. Every Monday there is a market in the town, as there has been continuously since about 1200 AD.
Oliver Cromwell, born in nearby Huntingdon, went to school here, as did Samuel Pepys. Cromwell lived in St. Ives for five years in the 1630's - while he was still a farmer. He is commemorated today by an impressive bronze statue in the Market Square and by the Cromwell Museum in Huntingdon. In St. Ives the Norris Museum, founded in 1933 from a bequest by Herbert Norris, houses his collection of Books and Manuscripts from the Civil War.
The world famous university city of Cambridge offers the serenity of ancient colleges, the River Cam, Magdalene Bridge, King's College Chapel, the Bridge of Sighs - and so much more. The Fitzwilliam Museum and the Botanic Gardens are certainly worth a visit, whilst the modern, commercial centre of the city provides high quality shopping, restaurants, theatre and cinemas.
Rupert Brooke, the poet, lived at Grantchester just outside Cambridge, and ten minutes drive westwards from St. Ives lies Huntingdon, family home of John Major M.P. and location of the Old Grammar School (now the Cromwell Museum), where both Oliver Cromwell and the great diarist Samuel Pepys were educated.
Hotels and bed and breakfasts in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, UK
