GODMANCHESTER, or Gumecester, a town and a parish in the district and county of Huntingdon. The town stands on the river Ouse, adjacent to the Cambridge and Huntingdon railway, and near the Great northern railway, ¾ of a mile SSE of Huntingdon; and is connected with that town by a bridge over the Ouse. It disputes with Huntingdon the claim of being the Durolipons of the Romans; it has yielded many Roman coins, and other antiquities; it was probably a military post, or fortified station, of Guthrum or Gormond the Dane; and it was known, in subsequent times, as Guma, Gumicastria, and Gumicestre. It was held of the Crown, by grant of King John; was made a borough by James I.; and is noted for long retention of curious old customs. It occupies a considerable tract of ground; comprises several streets; presents an irregular appearance; and, though containing many good houses, consists chiefly of cottages. It has a post office under Huntingdon, a fair on Easter Tuesday, extensive oil and flour mills, a church, two Baptist chapels, a grammar school, and a girls' and infants' national school. The church is a large light edifice, of the 14th century, with western embattled tower and spire of the 17th century; and was restored in 1853. The grammar school was founded by Queen Elizabeth, and has £24 from endowment. Other charities have about £40. The borough is governed, under the new act, by a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors; is included in the parliamentary borough of Huntingdon; and is co-extensive with the parish. Acres, 5, 590. Real property, £13, 662. Pop., 2, 438. Houses, 544. The property is subdivided. The inhabitants were long celebrated for prime agriculture; but, by general improvement in the country around them and throughout the kingdom, have been brought nearly or quite to the common level. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely. Value, £328.* Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster. Stephen Marshall, the puritan divine, a chief of the Smectymnians, was a native.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))