Brief history of Cambridge

This is taken from Mill Road area Conservation Area Appraisal - This document dates from June 2011.

A Brief History of Cambridge

Cambridge is located at the highest navigable point of the River Cam from Kings Lynn via the River Ouse.

A Roman settlement developed on a gravel ridge looking over the river to the south at the meeting point of four important roads. By the 2nd century a sizeable town had developed on an enclosed area of about 25 acres, the site being reused later by the Anglo-Saxons.

In about 1068 William the Conqueror built a castle (of which only the motte remains), this leading to the rapid growth of the settlement, including the provision of churches – St Giles, St Peter's and St Bene't's Churches all retain Norman features.

Monastic foundations soon followed, including the Augustinians priory of 1092 and the Benedictine nunnery of 1135 (now Jesus College). Other foundations were also established and many remain in some form or another as present-day colleges.

Cambridge became important for its markets and guilds, as well as a centre for learning, which may have been the result of a migration of monks and scholars from Oxford in 1209 linked to an increasing demand throughout the 13th century for well trained administrators, who were needed for secular rather than ecclesiastical posts.

Most of the teaching was done in a single complex of buildings, now called the Old Schools, which included the Divinity School, Law and Arts School, and the Library, completed in 1475. Initially the students were housed in rented accommodation but from the late 14th century individual colleges, usually grouped around a court, were built so that by 1474 there were 12 in all, rising to 15 at the time of the Reformation.

The founders of these Colleges were kings (Edward III, Henry VI, and Henry VIII), queens and other members of the royal families, aristocrats and powerful civil servants. The new buildings were initially constructed in a clunch-faced rubble (unlike Oxford, which used locally quarried Oolitic limestone), but from the 14th century onwards brick became the material of choice.

Outside the university and college buildings, much of medieval Cambridge has been demolished and redeveloped apart from small groups of buildings, such as the ones at the junction of Bridge Street and Northampton Street.

A change of building style started in the mid 16th century and then developed in the 17th century into a rejection of the Gothic in preference for Italian-based motifs, such as mullioned and transomed windows and more classical details, following the example of Christopher Wren's buildings in Oxford and London.

Later, in the 18th century, the buildings followed the Palladian principles of Lord Burlington, such as James Burrough's Fellow's Building at Peterhouse.

In 1600 Cambridge had just 265 students in comparison to Oxford's 305, but by 1830 the numbers were 440 to 405, confirming Cambridge's increased capacity as more Colleges were built, including Downing College of 1807.Further buildings were added during the 19th century as Cambridge became an important centre for the study of the Arts, such as the University Library (1837) and the Fitzwilliam Museum (also 1837). In 1870 some 605 students completed their studies and by 1900 there were over 1,000, leading to the provision of a large number of new university buildings, some of them on the former water meadows to the west of the Backs, an area that is defined by Queen's Road and runs along the rear entrances to many colleges.

By the mid 20th century, the city's population had risen to about 90,000 from about 38,000 in 1900. Much new housing was added between the wars and from the 1950s, new colleges, and extensions to existing colleges, were also constructed, mostly designed by prestigious architects.

In the early 21st century, Cambridge has become not only an important university city but also a focus for tourism with an estimated four million visitors a year. In the last thirty years or so, Cambridge has also developed an international reputation for scientific research and development.