Editing Isleham

{{Short description|Village in Cambridgeshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox UK place 
 | official_name=         Isleham
 | country=               England
 | region=                East of England
 | os_grid_reference=     TL644738
 |coordinates  = {{coord|52.33|0.4|display=inline,title}}
 | post_town=             ELY
 | postcode_area=         CB
 | postcode_district=     CB7
 | dial_code=             01638
 | shire_county=          [[Cambridgeshire]]
|shire_district=          [[East Cambridgeshire]]
|population = 2,378
 | population_ref           =(2011)<ref name="2011Census">{{cite web|title=Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics. Area: Isleham (Parish)|publisher=[[Office for National Statistics|ONS]]|year=2013|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11125043&c=isleham&d=16&e=62&g=6405607&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1359839457910&enc=1|access-date=2 February 2013}}</ref>
 |hide_services=           Yes
|static_image_name = Isleham Church - geograph.org.uk - 271173.jpg
|static_image_caption = St Andrew's Church
}}
[[File:UK Isleham.jpg|thumb|Isleham village sign]]

'''Isleham''' is a village and [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in the [[England|English]] county of [[Cambridgeshire]]. It is part of [[the Fens]]. It has three pubs.

==Geography==
Isleham is located in [[the Fens]] of south-east Cambridgeshire. The western parish boundary is formed by the Crooked Ditch or Crooked Drain, the eastern boundary largely by the Lea Brook and the north by the [[River Lark]]. The village lies on the [[B1104 road|B1104]] from [[Prickwillow]] to [[Chippenham, Cambridgeshire|Chippenham]]. Isleham is twinned with [[Nesles]] in France and [[Magdala, Germany|Magdala]] in Germany. 

==Amenities==
The village has a [[Co-op UK|Co-op supermarket]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.coop.co.uk/store-finder/CB7-5SB/2-west-street |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=www.coop.co.uk}}</ref> and [[Post Office Ltd.|Post Office]]. There are three [[public house]]s - The Griffin, The Merry Monk and the Rising Sun - and three churches: St Andrew's [[Church of England parish church]], [http://www.plfc.org.uk/ plfc (Pound Lane Free Church)] and the Ark Church.

==Archaeology==
{{Main|Isleham Hoard}}
The region between [[Devil's Dyke, Cambridgeshire|Devil's Dyke]] and the line between [[Littleport, England|Littleport]] and [[Shippea Hill]] shows a remarkable amount of [[archaeological]] findings of the [[Stone Age]], the [[Bronze Age]] and the [[Iron Age]]
.<ref>{{cite book|title= Fenland survey : an essay in landscape and persistence / David Hall and John Coles |first=David|last=Hall|year=1994|publisher=London; English Heritage|isbn=1-85074-477-7 }}, p. 81-88</ref> Findings in Isleham include the [[Isleham Hoard]] of more than 6500 pieces of [[bronze]], both manufactured articles and fragments of sheet bronze, all dating from the late [[Bronze Age]], and discovered by Bill Houghton and his brother, Arthur.<ref>''[[Where Troy Once Stood]]'', [[I. Wilkens]], 2005, p. 90</ref>

==Genealogy==
Following a landscaping project, plfc (Pound Lane Free Church) have made listings and photographs of the graveyard headstones available via an on-line library.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://plfc.org.uk/|title=Pound Lane Free Church, Isleham (plfc)|website=plfc.org.uk}}</ref>

==History==
Its name seems to come from [[Old English language|Anglo-Saxon]] ''Gísla hám'' = "the home of the hostages". It seems that in Anglo-Saxon societies the position of a hostage from one political group held by another political group, was sometimes more or less voluntary, and the meaning of the word could slip into "representative".

{{Main|Isleham Priory Church}}
The [[Isleham Priory Church|Priory of St Margaret of Antioch]] was founded in the village in 1090. It was always an [[alien priory]] run directly from France and, as such, was dissolved in 1414. It was later used as a barn and is now looked after by [[English Heritage]].

St Andrew's parish church is a [[Grade I listed building]].<ref>{{NHLE|num=1126475}}</ref> It was the burial site for ancestors of the Peyton family. Descendants of Peytons visit the church and obtain rubbings of the [[Monumental brass|brasses]] decorating the Peyton [[church monument|monuments]].  The church continues to be restored with the help of donations from Peyton families in the UK and USA. Isleham Hall on West Street is a building associated with the Peyton family, and dating from the 16th century.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1331733}}</ref>

On 3 May 1850 Baptist preacher [[Charles Spurgeon]] was baptised in the river Lark. A stone marks the location.

== Culture ==
In 1975 [[Mary Chamberlain]] published the book ''Fenwomen'', an account of the lives of women in the village of Gislea - which was a pseudonym for Isleham.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sitzia |first=Lorraine |date=2012 |title=Review of FENWOMEN: A PORTRAIT OF WOMEN IN AN ENGLISH VILLAGE |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41806589 |journal=Oral History |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=121–122 |jstor=41806589 |issn=0143-0955}}</ref>

In 2015, English rapper Dirty Dike released his fourth album which included a track entitled "Isleham Swamp". Dirty Dike has referenced Cambridgeshire and the Fenland in several of his tracks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dirty Dike - Sucking On Prawns In The Moonlight |url=https://www.discogs.com/Dirty-Dike-Sucking-On-Prawns-In-The-Moonlight/master/902237 |website=Discogs|date=2015 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Isleham}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060615002615/http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/902AB591-33DF-4625-8A23-33A6A899E5D9/0/Isleham.pdf 2001 Census]
*[http://www.isleham-village.co.uk/ Isleham Village Website]
*[http://www.islehaminformer.org.uk/ Isleham Informer]
*[http://www.thegriffinisleham.co.uk/ The Griffin Isleham Website]
*[http://www.risingsunisleham.co.uk/ The Rising Sun Isleham Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703162435/http://www.risingsunisleham.co.uk/ |date=3 July 2008 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121113104737/http://www.old-vicarage-isleham.com/ The Old Vicarage B&B Isleham Website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061222020629/http://islehamfc.co.uk/ Isleham FC Website]
*[http://plfc.org.uk/html/graveyard/ plfc (Pound Lane Free Church, Isleham) genealogy library]

{{East Cambridgeshire}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Isleham| ]]
[[Category:Villages in Cambridgeshire]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Cambridgeshire]]
[[Category:East Cambridgeshire District]]