HINCHINBROOK, a hamlet, partly in the parish of ST-MARY,
borough of HUNTINGDON, and partly in the hundred
of HURSTINGSTONE, the latter portion being extraparochial,
county of HUNTINGDON, 1 mile (W.) from
Huntingdon. A small Benedictine nunnery, dedicated
to St. James, was founded here by William the Conqueror,
to which the nuns removed from Eltesley, in
Cambridgeshire; its revenue, at the dissolution, was
£19. 9. 2.: the site is now occupied by Hinchinbrook
house, which formerly belonged to Sir Oliver Cromwell,
uncle of the Protector, who sumptuously entertained
James I. in it, with all his court, on the monarch's arrival
from Scotland, also Charles II. at different periods.;
the mansion, which has recently sustained considerable
injury from a fire, now belongs to the Earl of Sandwich,
who enjoys the inferior title of Viscount Hinchinbroke.