Editing Huntingdon (section)

==History==
During the [[Roman Empire]], in 274, a massive [[coin hoard]] dating to the reign of [[Tetricus I]] and Roman Emperor [[Aurelian]] was hidden in the grounds of the town. Consisting of 9,724 [[Roman coins]], and discovered in 2018, the [[Muddy hoard|Muddy Hoard]] is considered to date the largest treasure trove of Cambridgeshire.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-12-19 |title=Detectorist finds 10,000 Roman coins in Huntingdon hoard |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-59665406 |access-date=2023-09-22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Museum |first=The British |last2=Street |first2=Great Russell |last3=T: +4420 73238618 |first3=London WC1B 3DG |title=Record ID: CAM-A0ECFB - ROMAN hoard |url=https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/901810/recordtype/artefacts |access-date=2023-09-22 |website=The Portable Antiquities Scheme |language=en}}</ref>

Huntingdon was founded by the [[Anglo-Saxons]] and [[Danes (Germanic tribe)|Danes]]. It is first mentioned in the [[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]] in 921, where it appears as ''Huntandun''. It appears as ''Huntedun'' in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086. The name means "The huntsman's hill" or possibly "Hunta's hill".<ref>[[Eilert Ekwall]], ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'', p. 258.</ref>

Huntingdon seems to have been a staging post for Danish raids outside [[East Anglia]] until 917, when the Danes moved to [[Tempsford]], now in [[Bedfordshire]], before they were crushed by [[Edward the Elder]]. It prospered successively as a bridging point of the [[River Great Ouse]], a market town, and in the 18th and 19th centuries a [[Stagecoach|coaching]] centre, notably at the ''George Hotel''. The town has [[Old Bridge, Huntingdon|a well-preserved medieval bridge]] that used to serve as the main route of [[Ermine Street]] over the river. The bridge only ceased to be the sole crossing point to [[Godmanchester]] in 1975, with the building of what is now the [[A1307 road|A1307]] (formerly [[A14 road (Great Britain)|A14]]) [[Bypass route|bypass]].

[[File:Sebastopol cannon Huntingdon uk.jpg|thumb|right|Sebastopol cannon]]
The town's valuable trading position was secured by [[Huntingdon Castle]], of which only the earthworks of the [[motte]] survive. The site is a [[Scheduled Ancient Monument]] and home to a [[beacon]] used to mark the 400th anniversary of the [[Spanish Armada]].

In 1746, the nurserymen Wood and Ingram of nearby [[Brampton, Cambridgeshire|Brampton]] developed an [[elm]]-tree cultivar, ''[[Ulmus × hollandica 'Vegeta']]'', which they named the Huntingdon Elm after the town.<ref>Louis John Drake. ''Wood and Ingram: A Huntingdonshire Nursery 1742-1950''.</ref>

Original documents on Huntingdon's history, including the borough [[charter]] of 1205, are held by [[Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies]] at the County Record Office, Huntingdon.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/leisure/archives/visiting/crohuntingdon.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=2009-03-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081223233329/http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/leisure/archives/visiting/crohuntingdon.htm |archive-date=23 December 2008 |df=dmy-all}} ''cambridgeshire.gov.uk''</ref>

Parts of Huntingdon, including the centre, were struck by [[1981 United Kingdom tornado outbreak|an F1/T3 tornado]] on 23 November 1981, during a record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.eswd.eu/cgi-bin/eswd.cgi |title=European Severe Weather Database}}</ref> The centre suffered moderate damage.

Between the railway station and the old hospital building, stands a replica cannon installed in the 1990s to replace one from the [[Crimean War]], scrapped for the war effort in the [[Second World War]]. However, it faces in the opposite direction from the original. [[St Mary's Street drill hall, Huntingdon|St Mary's Street drill hall]] was built in the late 19th century.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.godmanchester.co.uk/all-articles/17-organisations/hunts-cyclists/34-the-huntingdonshire-cyclist-battalions-1914-1919 |title=The Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalions 1914–1919|publisher=Porch Museum |access-date=20 September 2017}}</ref>

===George Hotel===

The George Hotel on the corner of High Street and George Street was once a posting house. It was named after [[Saint George]] of England in 1574 and bought some 25 years later by Henry Cromwell, grandfather of [[Oliver Cromwell]].<ref name="EB1911"/> King [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] made the George his headquarters during the [[English Civil War]] in 1645. Later the highwayman [[Dick Turpin]] is said to have been a customer when it was a coaching inn on the [[Great North Road (Great Britain)|Great North Road]]. A theatre was built to the rear of the George in about 1799. The Lincoln company of actors managed by [[Thomas Shaftoe Robertson]] and later [[Fanny Robertson]] performed here in race weeks.<ref>{{cite book|title=Treading the Boards |last=Wright |first=Neil R |year=2016 |page=141 |publisher=SLHA}}</ref> Two wings of the inn burnt down in the mid-19th century, but two were saved, including one with a balcony overlooking the yard. Since 1959, the courtyard and balcony have been used for [[Shakespeare]] performances by a company run by the Shakespeare at the George Trust. These performances took place until 2024 when the Green King company who run the George Hotel decided it was not in their best interest to continue Shakespeare at the George, ending its 65-year run.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.satg.org.uk |title=Shakespeare at the George |website=satg.org.uk |access-date=19 November 2017}}</ref>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=180 heights=180>
File:The George Hotel, Huntingdon courtyard 1574 sides.jpg|The George Hotel's courtyard with balcony later used in Shakespeare play productions
File:The George Hotel, Huntingdon courtyard 1574 sides through arch.jpg|The George Hotel's courtyard, 1574 sides, through carriage arch
File:The George Hotel, Huntingdon 19th century sides from High Street.jpg|The George Hotel's 19th century sides, rebuilt after a fire, from the High Street
</gallery>