WHITTLESEY  , a

market town in the Wisbech parliamentary division of Cambridgeshire, England, 54 M . E. of Peterborough, between that city and March, on the Great Eastern railway . Pop. of urban district (1901) 3909 . It lies on a gentle eminence in the flat fen country, and the fine Perpendicular tower and spire of the church of St Mary are a landmark from far . A little to the north is the great artificial cut carrying the waters of the river Nene; and the neighbourhood is intersected with many other navigable " drains." To the south-west is the tract known as Whittlesey Mere, 6 m. distant from the town, in Huntingdon-shire . It was a lake until modern times, when it was included in a scheme of drainage . The so-called Whittlesey Wash, in the neighbourhood of the town, is among several tracts in the fens which are perennially flooded . St Mary's church is principally Perpendicular, but has Norman and Decorated portions; the church of St Andrew is also Decorated and Perpendicular . The town has manufactures of bricks and tiles, and a considerable agricultural trade .