Wisbech, a market-town of Cambridgeshire, in the Isle of Ely, on the Nene, 21 miles ENE. of Peterborough, 13 SW. of Lynn, and 40 N. of Cambridge. The parish church, Norman to Perpendicular in style, has a fine tower ; and there are a corn exchange (1811), a cattle-market (1869), a town-hall (1873), the Cambridgeshire hospital (1873), a museum and literary institute, and a public park of 18 acres. A castle, founded by the Conqueror in 1071, was rebuilt by Bishop Morton in 1483, restored by Bishop Andrewes in 1617, and again rebuilt from Inigo Jones's designs by Thurloe, Cromwell's secretary, but was demolished in 1816. Visited by King John and Edward IV., it was the prison under Elizabeth of many Catholic recusants, including Bishops Wishart and Watson, the Jesuit Weston, Dr Bagshaw, Catesby, and Tresham (T. G. Law's Conflicts between Jesuits and Seculars, 1890). Godwin was a native, and Clarkson, to whose memory a Gothic cross by Sir G. G. Scott was erected in 1881. Vessels of nearly 500 tons can now ascend the Nene from the Wash (7 miles) ; and Wisbech exports cereals, imports timber, and manufactures iron, oil, ropes, &c. It was long famous for its woad, and woad is still made here for dyeing. It was made a municipal borough in Edward VI.'s reign. Pop. (1851) 10,089 ; (1891) 9395.
See W. Watson's Historical Account of Wisbech (1827) ; History of Wisbech (1833) ; 'Wisbech Castle' in the Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. (1879) ; and Miller's Fenland Past and Present (1878).