| National Census A census of the population of England and Wales, the Channel
Islands and the Isle of Man was first taken in 1801. Since then, a
census has taken place every 10 years, except in 1941, when the country
was at war.
A census is really like a snapshot of those actually present in each
town or village on the census night, and does not list those who
normally reside there, but who happen to be away from home that night.
The census total also included visitors and other short-stay guests.
The figures for Guilden Morden were as follows: -
1801 428 1851 929 1901 646 1951
552
1811 489 1861 906 1911 682 1961
566
1821 570 1871 1059 1921 580 1971 590
1831 675 1881 959 1931 533 1981
799
1841 808 1891 819 1941 * 1991
836
(* no census)
It is interesting to note that by 1931, the population had fallen to
only 533, or less than the population of 570 in 1821, some 110 years
earlier. It was still lower than the 1821 figure at 552 in 1951.
The substantial increase in population between 1861 and 1871 (nearly
17%) may be attributed to the "Cambridgeshire Coprolite Boom".
Coprolites were phosphatic pellets or nodules thought to be the faeces
of fish, reptiles or birds, and were "mined" over a wide band of
Cambridgeshire stretching roughly from Guilden Morden in the south-west,
round the north of Cambridge, then east-north-east to Bottisham and Quy.
The coprolites were crushed and used as fertiliser. ( The house at the
junction of North Brook End and Flecks Lane, Steeple Morden, called "The
Diggings" was formerly a public house of the same name serving the
coprolite diggers.) The industry declined by 1891, due mainly to cheap
imports of fertiliser from America.
The huge increase in population between 1971 and 1981 (over 35%) may
be fairly atributed to the building of the Bells Meadow estate (25
houses) and the Council building in Fox Hill Road, Canons Close and Fox
Corner (and later still, New Rd and Thompson’s Meadow). Guilden Morden
is defined by South Cambridgeshire District Council as a "group
village", where future building of homes is limited to infilling and to
groups of not more than eight houses,
P J Roethenbaugh
Previous Population Estimates
1086 1279 1377 1563 1664 1801
1996AD
255 650 287 243 305
428 900
CP -taken from Alison Taylor Archaeology of South Cambridgeshire
(1997) |
