Сохэм қаласының тарихы мен археологиялық жазбалары

the town in England

Soham ('/s//oʊ//ə//m/ SOHəm) is a town and civil parish in the district of East Cambridgeshire, in Cambridgeshire, England, just off the A142 between Ely and Newmarket. Its population was 12,336 at the 2021 census. A large Anglo Saxon settlement was discovered on land between Brook Street and Fordham Road, next to Roman remains in the old Fisky's Hill area and former allotment site in 2013 and onwards. During the establishment of the Fordham Road cemetery, in the late 1800s, burial remains were also found with several high status grave goods, including a girdle hanger, beads and jewellery. These items are now housed in the British Museum. Further Bronze and Iron Age settlements and related activity has also been noted in the north of the town during recent development on the sites. Many Neolithic items have been found whilst field walking to the East of the town along with fossils towards the bypass. An extensive ditch system, not visible via aerial photography, has also been identified, as well as a wooden trackway in length between Fordey Farm (Barway) and Little Thetford, with associated shards of later Bronze Age pottery (1935).

St Felix of Burgundy, 'Apostle of the East Angles', founded Soham Abbey in Soham around 630 AD but it was destroyed by the Danes in 870 AD. Luttingus, an Anglo Saxon nobleman, built a cathedral and palace at Soham around 900 AD, on the site of the present day Church of St Andrew and adjacent land. St Andrew's Church dates from the 12th century. Traces of the Saxon cathedral are said to still exist within the church. In 1102 Hubert de Burgh, Chief Justice of England, granted 'Ranulph' certain lands in trust for the Church of St Andrew. Ranulph is recorded as the first Vicar of Soham and had a hand in designing the 'new' Norman church. The current church is mainly later, the tower being the latest addition in the 15th century. This tower was built to replace a fallen crossing tower and now contains ten bells. The back six were cast in 1788, with two new trebles and two bells being recast in 1808. There are some pictures and a description of the church at the Cambridgeshire Churches website.

The first black British author and anti slave activist, Olaudah Equiano, also known as Gustavus Vassa, married a local girl, Susannah Cullen, at St Andrew's Church, on 7 April 1792 and the couple lived in the town for several years. They had two daughters. Anna Maria was born on 16 October 1793 and baptised in St Andrew's on 30 January 1794. Their second child, Joanna Vassa, was born on 11 April 1795 and was baptised in the parish church on 29 April 1795.

William Case Morris (1864–1932) was born in Soham on 16 February 1864. He and his father left the town in search of a new life in 1872 after the death of his mother in 1868, finally settling in Argentina in 1874. Morris was horrified by the poverty of the street children, which led him to found several children's homes in Buenos Aires. Morris returned to Soham shortly before his death on 15 September 1932, and was buried in the Fordham Road cemetery. He is commemorated with a statue in Palermo, Buenos Aires as well as railway stations, football stadia and a town, William C. Morris, Buenos Aires, named after him. His legacy lives on with the Biblioteca Popular William C. Morris and 'Hogar el Alba' children's homes located in Buenos Aires which help impoverished children.

The town narrowly escaped destruction on 2 June 1944, during the Second World War, when a fire developed on the leading wagon of a heavy ammunition train travelling slowly through the town. The town was saved by the bravery of four railway staff, Benjamin Gimbert (driver), James Nightall (fireman), Frank Bridges (signalman) and Herbert Clarke (guard), who uncoupled the rest of the train and drove the engine and lead wagon clear of the town, where it exploded, killing Jim Nightall and Frank Bridges but causing no further deaths. Ben Gimbert survived and spent seven weeks in hospital. Although small in comparison to what would have happened if the entire train had blown up, the explosion caused substantial property damage. Gimbert and Nightall were both awarded the George Cross (Nightall posthumously). A permanent memorial was unveiled on 2 June 2007 by Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester followed by a service in St Andrew's Church. The memorial is constructed of Portland stone with a bronze inlay depicting interpretive artwork of the damaged train and text detailing the incident.

In August 2002, Soham became the centre of national media attention following the disappearance and murder of two 10 year old girls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, who both lived in Soham. They disappeared from the family home of Holly Wells in Redhouse Gardens on the evening of 4 August. Both were found dead some away, near RAF Lakenheath, on 17 August. In December 2003, Ian Huntley, who had been employed as the caretaker at the local secondary school, Soham Village College, was convicted of their murders and sentenced to life in prison. He had given a number of police and television interviews while the girls were missing, claiming to have seen them on the evening of their disappearance, and was finally arrested several hours before their bodies were found, following the recovery of clothing belonging to the girls on the school site. The caretaker's house in College Close where Huntley lived and, as admitted at his trial, where the girls died, was demolished in 2004.

The A142 road from Ely to Newmarket runs past Soham, and formerly ran through the town. Soham is served by an hourly bus service Monday to Friday (the number 112, on a route linking Newmarket and Ely) with a reduced service on Saturday. Following Stagecoach's cancellation of route 12 on 30 October 2022, Stephenson of Essex took on the route, renumbering it as route 112 to avoid clashing with its existing Newmarket to Cambridge route 12. Soham railway station closed to passengers in 1965, and reopened in December 2021. The line through Soham remained open for passenger and goods services between the Midlands and Ipswich, Harwich and Felixstowe. After local campaigns for its reopening, it was announced in June 2020 that a new station would be built on the old site. Initial works on the station started in autumn 2020, followed by the main construction during 2021. The first timetabled passenger train to stop at Soham Station for 56 years was the 6.49am towards Ely and Peterborough on Monday 13 December 2021.

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East and ITV Anglia. Television signals are received from either the Sandy Heath or Tacolneston TV transmitters. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Heart East, and Star Radio. The town's local newspapers are the Ely Standard and Cambridge News.