Farcet

Farcet
Village Hall frontage, Farcet
Farcet  Farcet shown within Cambridgeshire
Population	1,800 (2011)
OS grid reference	TL198943
District	Huntingdonshire
Shire county	Cambridgeshire
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Peterborough
Postcode district	PE7
Dialling code	01733
Police	Cambridgeshire
Fire	Cambridgeshire
Ambulance	East of England
EU Parliament	East of England
List of places UK England Cambridgeshire

Coordinates: 52°32′N 0°14′W / 52.53°N 0.23°W / 52.53; -0.23

Farcet is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England.^[1] Farcet lies approximately 2 miles (3 km) south of Peterborough City Centre, between Yaxley and the Peterborough suburb of Old Fletton. Farcet is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well as being a historic county of England.^[2]

The parish of Farcet was established in 1851, having previously been part of the parish of Stanground, its northern neighbour, when the vicarage of Stanground included the curacy of Farcet's village church.^[3]

Government

As a civil parish, Farcet has a parish council. The parish council is elected by the residents of the parish who have registered on the electoral roll; the parish council is the lowest tier of government in England. A parish council is responsible for providing and maintaining a variety of local services including allotments and a cemetery; grass cutting and tree planting within public open spaces such as a village green or playing fields . The parish council reviews all planning applications that might affect the parish and makes recommendations to Huntingdonshire District Council, which is the local planning authority for the parish. The parish council also represents the views of the parish on issues such as local transport, policing and the environment. The parish council raises its own tax to pay for these services, known as the parish precept, which is collected as part of the Council Tax. The parish council consists of ten councillors and has a parish clerk.^[4]

Farcet was in the historic and administrative county of Huntingdonshire until 1965. From 1965, the village was part of the new administrative county of Huntingdon and Peterborough. Then in 1974, following the Local Government Act 1972, Farcet became a part of the county of Cambridgeshire.

The second tier of local government is Huntingdonshire District Council which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and has its headquarters in Huntingdon. Huntingdonshire District Council has 52 councillors representing 29 district wards.^[5] Huntingdonshire District Council collects the council tax, and provides services such as building regulations, local planning, environmental health, leisure and tourism.^[6] Farcet is a part of the district ward of Yaxley and Farcet and is represented on the district council by three councillors.^[7][5] District councillors serve for four-year terms following elections to Huntingdonshire District Council.

For Farcet the highest tier of local government is Cambridgeshire County Council which has administration buildings in Cambridge. The county council provides county-wide services such as major road infrastructure, fire and rescue, education, social services, libraries and heritage services.^[8] Cambridgeshire County Council consists of 69 councillors representing 60 electoral divisions.^[9] Farcet is part of the electoral division of Norman Cross^[7] and is represented on the county council by two councillors.^[9]

At Westminster Farcet is in the parliamentary constituency of North West Cambridgeshire,^[7] and elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. Farcet is represented in the House of Commons by Shailesh Vara (Conservative). Shailesh Vara has represented the constituency since 2005. The previous member of parliament was Brian Mawhinney (Conservative) who represented the constituency between 1997 and 2005. For the European Parliament Farcet is part of the East of England constituency which elects seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.

Demography

Population

In the period 1801 to 1901 the population of Farcet was recorded every ten years by the UK census. During this time the population was in the range of 363 (the lowest was in 1801) and 1165 (the highest was in 1901).^[10]

From 1901, a census was taken every ten years with the exception of 1941 (due to the Second World War).

All population census figures from report Historic Census figures Cambridgeshire to 2011 by Cambridgeshire Insight.^[10]

In 2011, the parish covered an area of 4,552 acres (1,842 hectares)^[10] and so the population density for Farcet in 2011 was 262.5 persons per square mile (101.4 per square kilometre).

Culture and community

Farcet has a working men's club called the "The Village Club. The old River Nene flows through it and you can get to the Green Wheel cycling and walking network from it, on the end of St Mary's Street, near the working men's club.

Next to the village (though technically in Huntingdonshire) is Crown Lakes Country Park. The park has a well maintained walkway around several lakes as well as a dedicated area for the very rare Great Crested Newt, Britain's largest newt.

Religious sites

The church of St. Mary consists of a chancel, south chapel, nave, north aisle, south aisle, west tower and south porch. The walls are of ashlar and rubble with stone dressings, and the roofs are covered with stone slates and lead.

The church is not mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086, but in the 12th century there was a chancel and an aisleless nave to which a west tower was added in the later years of that century. In the middle of the next century the chancel was rebuilt and a south chapel added. About 1275 the south aisle was added and was continued to the western wall of the tower, possibly with the intention of pulling down the tower and correspondingly lengthen the nave. The south porch was built in the 14th century.

The church was restored in 1852 when the chancel and chapel are said to have been rebuilt, the nave roof renewed and the north aisle added. The tower was restored in 1894-7.

References

1. ↑ Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 142 Peterborough (Market Deeping & Chatteris) (Map). Ordnance Survey. 2012. ISBN 9780319229248. 
2. ↑ "Towns & Villages: Farcet". Service Directory. Huntingdonshire District Council. 2007. Archived from the original on 20 April 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2007. 
3. ↑ "Letters from Mary, Countess Dowager of Westmorland, to the Master and Fellows of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 1639" (PDF). Notes and Queries. London: Oxford Journals. 4–11 (28): 25. 11 July 1868. Retrieved 4 October 2007. 
4. ↑ "Farcet Parish Council: Councillors". www.farcetpc.org.uk. Farcet Parish Council. Retrieved 6 February 2016. 
5. 1 2 "Huntingdonshire District Council: Councillors". www.huntingdonshire.gov.uk. Huntingdonshire District Council. Retrieved 23 February 2016. 
6. ↑ "Huntingdonshire District Council". www.huntingdonshire.gov.uk. Huntingdonshire District Council. Retrieved 23 February 2016. 
7. 1 2 3 "Ordnance Survey Election Maps". www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 23 February 2016. 
8. ↑ "Cambridgeshire County Council". www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk. Cambridgeshire County Council. Retrieved 23 February 2016. 
9. 1 2 "Cambridgeshire County Council: Councillors". www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk. Cambridgeshire County Council. Retrieved 15 February 2016. 
10. 1 2 3 "Historic Census figures Cambridgeshire to 2011" (xlsx – download). www.cambridgeshireinsight.org.uk. Cambridgeshire Insight. Retrieved 12 February 2016. 

External links

Media related to Farcet at Wikimedia Commons