Somersham
Somersham maps (2 available)
Map of Cambridgeshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
See this old map of Cambridgeshire
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Somersham books (10 available)
- 10 photos on Somersham appear in 3 Frith books - View photos of Somersham
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Somersham and Cambridgeshire
Somersham memories
Read and share memories of Somersham and Cambridgeshire inspired by Frith photos
holiday visits
In the early to mid 1950s I spent holiday time in Somersham - it was fascinating for a child from London, especially the little ditches and the wildflowers. I stayed with "auntie" (Emma Goodchild), a relative of some kind through my maternal grandmother's family (surnames Duller and Dellow). Auntie lived in the last house in Somersham High Street, it was amazing - no electricity and a pump for water in the kitchen (I especially liked taking a candle to bed). Not so pleasant were the sanitary arrangements. The name of the butcher also interested me and of course as a small child the sweet shop was a favourite. In my memories the sun always shone and visiting auntie Gwen and auntie ...read more here
Contributed by jacqueline peachey
Growing up in Somersham
I was born in Somersham in 1940, in my grandmother's house, which was 1 West End.
My own house was known then as 6 Trinity Terrace, since changed to 90 High Street. Until the mid 1950s a lot of the houses were quite primitive, no indoor sanitation, the Terrace had a pump for the 6 houses. The only heating was a fire in the living room, the bedrooms were always freezing. My memories are of a friendly village although as youngsters, our only plan was to get out. I started infant school in what is now the library, and the junior school was closer to 'The Cross'. Life, in retrospect, was simple and fun, we, as children, could be absent from ...read more here
Contributed by Frances Marshallsay
Cambridgeshire memories
Growing up in Somersham
I was born in Somersham in 1940, in my grandmother's house, which was 1 West End.
My own house was known then as 6 Trinity Terrace, since changed to 90 High Street. Until the mid 1950s a lot of the houses were quite primitive, no indoor sanitation, the Terrace had a pump for the 6 houses. The only heating was a fire in the living room, the bedrooms were always freezing. My memories are of a friendly village although as youngsters, our only plan was to get out. I started infant school in what is now the library, and the junior school was closer to 'The Cross'. Life, in retrospect, was simple and fun, we, as children, could be absent from ...read more here
A memory of Somersham contributed by Frances Marshallsay
holiday visits
In the early to mid 1950s I spent holiday time in Somersham - it was fascinating for a child from London, especially the little ditches and the wildflowers. I stayed with "auntie" (Emma Goodchild), a relative of some kind through my maternal grandmother's family (surnames Duller and Dellow). Auntie lived in the last house in Somersham High Street, it was amazing - no electricity and a pump for water in the kitchen (I especially liked taking a candle to bed). Not so pleasant were the sanitary arrangements. The name of the butcher also interested me and of course as a small child the sweet shop was a favourite. In my memories the sun always shone and visiting auntie Gwen and auntie ...read more here
A memory of Somersham contributed by jacqueline peachey
Extracts From Somersham & Cambridgeshire books
The palace of the bishops of Ely must have influenced this almost completely 13th-century church dedicated to St John. Inside there is a fine 14th-century king post roof with carved bosses. Very little remains of the palace except for two large fish ponds and the medieval bridge across the moat. On the south side of the palace was a huge deer park, Somersham Chase, that survived until the enclosures.
An extract from from"Cambridgeshire Villages Photographic Memories".
The village was rebuilt in brick after a disastrous fire; shops, chapels and the school all have slate roofs. Blinds shade the shop windows of Normans, ‘Drapery and Furnishing, Boots and Shoes, Tailoring and Outfitter’.
An extract from from"Cambridgeshire Villages Photographic Memories".
Looking west towards Pidley cum Fenton, we see Somersham before the start of the building programme which has brought an industrial estate and several large housing developments. Fortunately the allotments in the foreground and the town football pitch have survived unscathed.
An extract from from"Cambridgeshire Living Memories".
The Millennium Stone, a natural stone boulder underneath which lie two time capsules from the local school and the Baptist chapel, was placed on the left-hand side of the street to mark both the millennium and the Greenwich Meridian, which runs through Somersham.
An extract from from"Cambridgeshire Living Memories".
Somersham stretches for about a mile along a kink in the road between St Ives and Chatteris. The village was once celebrated for its mineral spa.
An extract from from"Cambridgeshire Photographic Memories".