Toseland, Cambridgeshire
Toseland is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England.[1] Toseland lies approximately 6 miles (10 km) south of Huntingdon, near St Neots. Toseland is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well as being a historic county of England. There are various farms situated in the vicinity of Toseland such as East Farm, Green Farm, Home Farm at the heart of the village.
Toseland got its name from Tolis Grove, which means Land of Tolis, a Viking that originally settled the area. before the town of St Neots grew, Toseland was the centre of politics for the Toseland Hundred, including the Paxtons, Yelling and Gravely.
In the 19th century Toseland experienced a reduction in mortality and the reason for this being described as:
"mortality decline in the late 19th century was mainly due to the reduction of very high infant mortality rates: the presence or absence of large number of infants dying before their first birthday had little effect on overall age structures".[2]
Government
As a civil parish, Toseland 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 five councillors and a parish clerk.[3] The parish council meets approximately five times a year.[4] The parish precept for the financial year ending 31 March 2015 was £700.[5]
Toseland 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, Toseland 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.[6] Huntingdonshire District Council collects the council tax, and provides services such as building regulations, local planning, environmental health, leisure and tourism.[7] Toseland is a part of the district ward of Gransden and The Offords and is represented on the district council by two councillors.[8][6] District councillors serve for four year terms following elections to Huntingdonshire District Council.
For Toseland 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.[9] Cambridgeshire County Council consists of 69 councillors representing 60 electoral divisions.[10] Toseland is part of the electoral division of Buckden, Gransden and The Offords [8] and is represented on the county council by one councillor.[10]
At Westminster Toseland is in the parliamentary constituency of Huntingdon,[8] and elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. Toseland is represented in the House of Commons by Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative). Jonathan Djanogly has represented the constituency since 2001. The previous member of parliament was John Major (Conservative) who represented the constituency between 1983 and 2001. For the European Parliament Toseland 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 Toseland was recorded every ten years by the UK census. During this time the population was in the range of 99 (the lowest was in 1801) and 230 (the highest was in 1851).[11]
From 1901, a census was taken every ten years with the exception of 1941 (due to the Second World War).
| Parish |
1911 |
1921 |
1931 |
1951 |
1961 |
1971 |
1981 |
1991 |
2001 |
2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toseland | 151 | 138 | 145 | 121 | 100 | 101 | 99 | 78 | 82 | 111 |
All population census figures from report Historic Census figures Cambridgeshire to 2011 by Cambridgeshire Insight.[11]
In 2011, the parish covered an area of 1,339 acres (542 hectares)[11] and the population density of Toseland in 2011 was 53.1 persons per square mile (20.5 per square kilometre).
Cultural references
Toseland is within 15 miles of Hemingford Grey, the former home of Lucy M. Boston, who used the name extensively in her Green Knowe books, inventing the imaginary placenames "Fen Toseland", "Toseland St Agnes" and "Toseland Gunning", and using it as a recurring first name in many generations of the same family.
References
- ^ Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 153 Bedford & Huntingdon (St Neots & Biggleswade) (Map). Ordnance Survey. 2013. ISBN 9780319231722.
- ^ Bartholomew, John (1887). Gazetteer of the British Isles. Edinburgh: Bartholomew.
- ^ "Toseland Parish Council: Councillors". www.toseland-pc.org.uk. Toseland Parish Council. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
- ^ "Toseland Parish Council: Meetings". www.toseland-pc.org.uk. Toseland Parish Council. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
- ^ "Toseland Parish Council: Accounts". www.toseland-pc.org.uk. Toseland Parish Council. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
- ^ a b "Huntingdonshire District Council: Councillors". www.huntingdonshire.gov.uk. Huntingdonshire District Council. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
- ^ "Huntingdonshire District Council". www.huntingdonshire.gov.uk. Huntingdonshire District Council. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
- ^ a b c "Ordnance Survey Election Maps". www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
- ^ "Cambridgeshire County Council". www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk. Cambridgeshire County Council. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
- ^ a b "Cambridgeshire County Council: Councillors". www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk. Cambridgeshire County Council. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
- ^ a b c "Historic Census figures Cambridgeshire to 2011" (xlsx - download). www.cambridgeshireinsight.org.uk. Cambridgeshire Insight. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
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