26. Victorian Willingham – Farming and Transport

Land ownership changes
The Victorian era saw profound changes in the structure of agriculture in Willingham. Ownership changed dramatically following the Enclosure Acts. By 1853 over 3000 acres of open fields, meadows and common land had been divided and enclosed. Jesus College bought 275 acres, eight owners were allotted more than 100 acres, and sixteen owners took between 50 and 100 acres each; there were 150 smaller landowners. These holdings offered opportunities for more efficient farming methods, including gradual mechanisation. However, this also provoked opposition from some groups of agricultural labourers who saw mechanisation as a threat to their jobs. They became known as the Swing Rioters and used arson as a means of gaining publicity for their cause. The first of the large Willingham fires in 1830 was allegedly started by an arsonist as a protest against the use of a new threshing machine.

The balance of farming changes
During the early part of the century dairy farming dominated the scene. Much of it was for cheese production, ironically under the name of Cottenham cheese. In 1808 there were 1200 milking cows usually on the commons, and a Cattle Club was established in 1837 to help small farmers. After enclosure this number fell and by 1865 had fallen to 600 cattle, while sheep had increased to 750 and pigs to 850. On the arable side the focus remained mainly on wheat. A reflection of this was the building of a new 8-sided smock windmill in 1828 in Mill Road (still standing and recently renovated) in addition to the 3 existing windmills on Rampton Road, Long Lane and Station Road. At the same time there was a slow but significant increase in the area of orchards, and fruit was being sent to London markets in modest quantities from the 1820’s.

Gardens
The mid-Victorian period also saw the growth of ornamental gardening on a national scale. The traditional Willingham cottage garden was long and narrow, as the 1842 street map in Part 24 clearly showed. They were commonly used to grow vegetables and a handful of flowers as well as keeping hens and pigs. News of the Californian Gold Rush of 1849 focussed national interest in the giant redwood conifer trees growing there. Seedlings of the Giant Sequoia, or Wellingtonia, were imported in the 1850’s and became fashionable in the gardens of large houses. Willingham was no exception and three of the very tall Wellingtonia trees from that time can still be found in gardens in Long Lane, Fen End and High Street.

The railway comes to Willingham
The railway came to Willingham in 1847 as part of a new branch line from Cambridge to St. Ives (now the route of the Guided Busway). It was served by the Great Eastern and Midland railways, that provided daily connections via Cambridge to the rapidly expanding cities of London, Manchester, Liverpool and beyond. Freight delivery changed overnight from the speed of the horse and cart at 10mph to the speed of the train at 50mph. For agricultural produce, especially perishable produce, this development opened up potential markets on an unprecedented scale.

Orchards and horticulture take off
There followed a rapid expansion of orchards and horticulture, driven by a number of Willingham farmers to exploit these new markets. Orchards don’t appear overnight, but during the 1850’s. 1860’s and 1870’s the acreage steadily increased to over 200 acres by the end of the century (increasing further to 750 acres by 1935). Plums and gages then comprised half the acreage, closely followed by apples, but also pears and cherries. Fruit bushes producing soft fruit also increased to cover a further 150 acres by 1895. The emphasis here was on raspberries and gooseberries, and later strawberries as well as asparagus. Yet another development was growing flowers, both under glass and outside.

One of those leading the field was the Thoday family, who created a vast enterprise under glass at the Vineries in Long Lane, between Silver Street and Newington. They built seven enormous glasshouses 75m long, 7m wide and 4m high, in which they grew vines, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, asparagus and flowers, ranging from spring bulbs to chrysanthemums, lilies and palms on a large scale. The Gardeners’ Chronicle published a very detailed article in 1895 covering the enterprise, in which the writer marvelled not only at the quality and quantity of fruit and flowers, but also at the ‘orchard-blossomed whiteness of the entire area surrounding Willingham’ at the time of his spring visit.

Next:  Victorian Willingham – Religious Rivalries

INDEX