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The Villages Of Houghton And WytonWhere are we? We are in the modern English county of Cambridgeshire about sixteen miles North-West of the city of Cambridge and between the towns of St Ives and Huntingdon.We are unusual in having the two names Houghton and Wyton. There are two villages but they have always been so close together that it is impossible for a stranger to say where one ends and the other begins. There were two churches until 1974 when Wyton church was closed but nearly always one rector served both. There is one parish council for both villages. The postal addresses are different, you put Houghton or Wyton as your address not Houghton and Wyton. House agents say that property in one village or the other. Residents are conscious of living in one village or the other. But there is only one village centre and that is, just, in Houghton. So you can see that this is a confusing situation, for some things the villages are separate and for some things they are together and this seems to have been the situation for centuries past. How are the village names pronounced? Firstly, Houghton. This is not Horton, not Hooton nor Howton but Hohton (rhyme it with Santa's Ho! Ho!). Secondly, Wyton is pronounced Witton and not Whyton. We are very special, not only are we two villages in one but we do not pronounce our village names as you might expert. Get this right and you might be thought to be a long-time resident! |
