Nature in Cambridgeshire

About the Journal

Nature in Cambridgeshire publishes original papers and notes on all aspects of the natural history of Cambridgeshire, including its geology and climate.

We also welcome reviews and papers on historical topics.

Contributions may cover the current administrative county, the historical counties of Cambridgeshire (v.c.29) or Huntingdonshire (v.c.31), or sites within these areas.

Papers relating to adjacent counties or other areas may be accepted if their contents are relevant to Cambridgeshire.

All material is peer reviewed and accepted on the understanding that it is not currently being offered to or considered by any other publication.

The Beginning

According to the First Annual Report of Cambridgeshire & Isle of Ely Naturalists' Trust (14 June 1957):

'Plans have been made for a publication by the Trust supported by Cambridge Natural History Society to contain, in addition to the annual reports and other material of the Trust and the Natural History Society, a number of notes and articles on natural history in Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely' (1: 9)

Nature in Cambridgeshire is the result of those plans (see History)

A motto for the journal was suggested by the first Editor, Philip Hall, in his first editorial:

Inveniet quod quisque velit; non omnibus unum est,
Quod placet; hic spinas colligit, ille rosas. (Petronius)

(Each shall find what he desires; no one thing pleases all; one gathers thorns, another roses.)

The idea is that natural history encompasses so many areas of interest, from botany through zoology, geology, archaeology and more, that the journal needs to appeal to all.

Where is Cambridgeshire?

On the face of it this might seem a rather silly question but there is a reason for it. In the context of Nature in Cambridgeshire the area originally covered by the name was not the modern administrative county of Cambridgeshire.

The title of the journal actually refers to the Watsonian vice-county of Cambridgeshire (vice-county 29), often thought of as 'old' Cambridgeshire. The vice-counties were introduced by Hewett Cottrell Watson in 1852 and are used largely for the purposes of biological recording and other scientific data-gathering. The vice-counties remain unchanged by subsequent administrative reorganisations, allowing historical and modern data to be more accurately compared.

The modern administrative county of Cambridgeshire includes the old county of Huntingdonshire (vice-county 31) and has lost a part of vice-county 29 to the Unitary Authority of Peterborough.

Articles for the journal principally refer to the Watsonian vice-county of Cambridgeshire (vice-county 29) but we are willing to publish articles relevant to Cambridgeshire, in the sense of the modern administrative county, and also articles related only to the Watsonian vice-county of Huntingdonshire (vice-county 31), if there is some biogeographical relevance to vice-county 29. We will also publish the occasional article on more distant regions, if some Cambridgeshire context is included.

Modern County of Cambridgeshire (Blue)


Cambridgeshire: Vice-County 29 (Yellow) &
Huntingdonshire: Vice-County 31 (Red)

Maps Crown Copyright from National Biodiversity Network website