St Ives-a new millennium - Flipbook - Page 9
St Ives-a new millennium
4/10/02
3:40 pm
Page 7
A brief history
Local finds suggest there were Roman settlements here and the area
has been occupied since the Stone Age. But the formation of a town
really began with a small Saxon village called Slepe, meaning ‘muddy’,
around AD500.
In 986 a local Saxon lord left his property, including the village of
Slepe, to the newly established Ramsey Abbey. Shortly afterwards, so
the story goes, a stone coffin was unearthed containing the remains of a
Persian bishop, St Ivo; and St Ivo’s Priory was built to mark the spot.
In modern times, too late to change the romantic origins of the town’s
name, traces of a Roman villa were found beneath the priory, so the
idea that the stone coffin contained anyone except a Roman seems
unlikely. It is possible that a Roman inscription using the numerals IV
engraved on the coffin was mistaken for the name IVO!
A wooden bridge across the Great Ouse was built by Ramsey Abbey
about 1100, and in 1110 Henry I granted a royal charter for an annual
fair. When tales of St Ivo’s healing miracles were put about by
enthusiastic monks, visitors from far and wide, including Europe,
flocked to St Ives. In the 13th century St Ives had one of the biggest
fairs in England.
But by the 14th century economic conditions had changed and the fair
collapsed, to be replaced by a weekly market which has survived to the
present day.
In 2000 the population of the town was estimated at 16,340.
The town’s coat of arms hangs on the Town Hall staircase. The bulls
symbolise the one-time importance of St Ives as a major cattle market.
It was the destination for many herds from the north, as far away as
Scotland. An ancient milestone across the border in deepest Galloway
points the way to Huntingdon. No doubt some cattle were ‘reived’, or
stolen, and driven here by the notorious Border Reivers. The extensive,
lush meadow grazing at St Ives enabled the beef to be rested and
fattened before selling to London buyers. The motto Sudore non Sopore
roughly translates as ‘through toil not sleep’ and is probably a
concoction of the Victorians, who loved puns.
The Town Hall was formerly Stanley House, the Warner family’s
home. The Town Council bought it in 1924 for £1200. Pictured
opposite are members of the defiant ‘Gang of Nine’ on the Town
Council in 2001. But more of them later…
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