King William lV (1820 to 1837), Queen Victoria (1837 to 1901)
The first half of the 19th century was a period of enormous expansion in Willingham. By 1850 the village population had doubled from 800 at the turn of the century to 1,600. The increased numbers were largely housed in small thatched cottages for labourers, some infilling the yards of existing properties within the village core, but now expanding on land outside it along Over Road, Long Lane, Rampton End and Berrycroft. The population would have been even larger had it not been for over 100 who emigrated to America in the 1830’s and 1840’s.
Thatch and Fire. Despite being a potential fire hazard, straw and reeds were plentiful and cheap and thatch was the most popular roofing method, not only for small cottages, but also for the many barns and outbuildings near the larger farms in the village. So perhaps it is no surprise that fire became a growing threat. During the century 28 fires in the village were significant enough to be reported in some detail in the Cambridge Chronical, or the Cambridge Independent Press, and in 1830 nationally in The Times. Seven of them were particularly serious, with fire spreading rapidly through haystacks, barns and outbuildings of farmhouses, causing the further destruction of adjacent thatched houses and cottages. One of the worst was in Rampton End in September 1859 when no fewer than 16 farms, with 19 dwellings, 8 barns, 3 stables and many tons of harvested crops and animals being destroyed in the fire. An idea of the readily combustible materials in and around farmyards is given in the insurance claim from one farmer, William Few:- 1 barley stack, 4 wheat stacks, 1 bean stack and 2 oat stacks. On this occasion the fire was caused by an 8 year old boy with a match, but other causes over the period included 4 from lightning strikes, 2 from temporary copper chimney pipes ‘for brewing activities’, as well as overheating grain. Another 3 were caused deliberately as ‘grudge’ fires.
The late Dennis Jeeps produced an unpublished pamphlet on the fires in Willingham in the 1800’s, reproduced from newspaper reports. The seven really large fires were in 1830, 1852, 1854, 1859, 1866, and two in 1891.The reports include details of insurance claims and causes, but also of injuries. Amazingly there were no deaths, although many suffered burns. Not all premises were insured and there are graphic accounts of families left homeless and destitute.
Willingham had two fire tenders, which were kept in the entrance porch of the Church, and were frequently augmented by horse-drawn tenders from Cottenham and Cambridge (for the 1830 fire no fewer than 11 tenders came from Cambridge). There was no mains water supply until 1912, so water had to come from wells and the ponds at Fen End, the Green, Rampton End and Parsons Pond at the Over crossroads. Today there are still nine thatched houses in the village on High Street, George Street, Church Street, Silver Street and the Green.
New trades. Another consequence of expansion was the arrival of specialist trades and craftsmen to support it. During the century the village records show the establishment of blacksmiths, stonemasons, bricklayers, thatchers, glaziers, carpenters, sawyers, plumbers, harness-makers, coopers, wheelwrights, tailors, shoe and boot makers, osier basket makers, a tinman and even a watchmaker. Of course there were also shops and stalls – drapers, butchers, bakers, grocers, fruiterers and a tailor.
By 1850 Willingham had become a thriving self-sufficient small town of 1,600. A further indication of this was the even more rapid growth of what we would now describe as the hospitality industry of inns, pubs and ale-houses – of which more next time
Next Time: Victorian Willingham – Inns, Pubs and Ale Houses