Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge (i /ˈkeɪmbrɪdʒ/ kaym-brij) is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about 50 miles (80 km) north-by-east of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the city.

Cambridge is well known as the home of the University of Cambridge. The university includes the renowned Cavendish Laboratory, King's College Chapel, and the Cambridge University Library. The Cambridge skyline is dominated by the last two buildings, along with the chimney of Addenbrooke's Hospital in the far south of the city and St John's College Chapel tower in the north.

According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, the city's population was 108,863 (including 22,153 students), and the population of the urban area (which includes parts of the neighbouring South Cambridgeshire district) is estimated to be 130,000.

The first major development of the area began with the Roman invasion of Britain in about AD 40. Castle Hill made Cambridge a useful place for a military outpost from which to defend the River Cam. It was also the crossing point for the Via Devana which linked Colchester in Essex with the garrisons at Lincoln and the north. This Roman settlement has been identified as Duroliponte.

The settlement remained a regional centre during the 350 years after the Roman occupation, until about AD 400. Roman roads and walled enclosures can still be seen in the area.

Duroliponte means bridge over the duro or duroli, which appears to derive from the celtic word for water.

[edit]Saxon and Viking age

After the Romans had left Saxons took over the land on and around Castle Hill and renamed it Grantabrycge - 'Bridge over Granta'. Their grave goods have been found in the area. During Anglo-Saxon times Cambridge benefited from good trade links across the hard-to-travel fenlands. By the 7th century, however, visitors from nearby Ely reported that Cambridge had declined severely[citation needed]. Cambridge is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as "Grantebrycge".

The arrival of the Vikings in Cambridge was recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 875. Viking rule, the Danelaw, had been imposed by 878[4] The Vikings' vigorous trading habits caused Cambridge to grow rapidly. During this period the centre of the town shifted from Castle Hill on the left bank of the river to the area now known as the Quayside on the right bank.[4] After the Viking period the Saxons enjoyed a brief return to power, building St Bene't's Church[5] in 1025, which still stands in Bene't Street.

[edit]Norman times

In 1068, two years after his conquest of England, William of Normandy built a castle on Castle Hill. Like the rest of the newly conquered kingdom, Cambridge fell under the control of the King and his deputies. The distinctive Round Church dates from this period. By Norman times the name of the town had mutated to Grentabrige or Cantebrigge (Grantbridge), while the river that flowed through it was called the Granta.

Over time the name of the town changed to Cambridge, while the river Cam was still known as the Granta — indeed the Upper River (the stretch between the Millpond in Cambridge and Grantchester) is correctly known as the Granta to this day. It was only later that the river became known as the Cam, by analogy with the name Cambridge. The University, formed 1209, uses a Latin adjective cantabrigiensis (often contracted to "Cantab") to mean "of Cambridge", but this is obviously a back-formation from the English name.

[edit]Beginnings of the university

In 1209, students escaping from hostile townspeople in Oxford fled to Cambridge and formed a university there.[6] The oldest college that still exists, Peterhouse, was founded in 1284.[7] One of the most well-known buildings in Cambridge, King's College Chapel, was begun in 1446 by King Henry VI.[8] The project was completed in 1515 during the reign of King Henry VIII.

Pembroke College was the third college to be founded in the University of Cambridge.

Cambridge University Press originated with a printing licence issued in 1534. Hobson's Conduit, the first project to bring clean drinking water to the town centre, was built in 1610 (by the Hobson of Hobson's choice). Parts of it survive today. Addenbrooke's Hospital was founded in 1766. The railway and Cambridge station were built in 1845. According to legend, the University dictated their location: well away from the centre of town, so that the possibility of quick access to London would not distract students from their work. However, there is no written record of this notion.

[edit]Twentieth century

From the 1930s to the 1980s the size of the city was greatly increased by several large council estates planned to hold London overspill.[citation needed] The biggest impact has been on the area north of the river, which are now the estates of Arbury, East Chesterton and King's Hedges, and there are many smaller estates to the south of the city.

In 1962 Cambridge's first shopping arcade, Bradwell's Court, opened on Drummer Street, though this was demolished in 2006.[9] Other shopping arcades followed at Lion Yard, which housed a relocated Central Library for the city, and the Grafton Centre which replaced Victorian housing stock which had fallen into disrepair in the Kite area of the city. Both of these projects met strong opposition at the time.[10][11]

The city gained its second University in 1992 when Anglia Polytechnic became Anglia Polytechnic University. Renamed Anglia Ruskin University in 2005, the institution has its origins in the Cambridge School of Art opened in 1858 by John Ruskin. The Open University also has a presence in the city, with an office operating on Hills Road.

Despite having a university, Cambridge was not granted its city charter until 1951. Cambridge does not have a cathedral, traditionally a prerequisite for city status, instead falling within the Church of England Diocese of Ely. Many of the buildings in the centre are colleges affiliated to the University of Cambridge, including King's College and Magdalene College. Colleges such as Trinity College and St John's College own significant land both in Cambridge and outside: Trinity is the landlord for the Cambridge Science Park,[12] and also the port of Felixstowe; St John's is the landlord of St John's Innovation Centre next door to the Science Park, and many other buildings in the city centre.[13]

Cambridge City Council plans to renew the area around the Corn Exchange concert hall, and plans for a permanent ice-skating rink are being considered after the success of a temporary one that has been on Parker's Piece every year for the past few years.[citation needed] New housing and developments have continued through the 21st century, with estates such as the CB1[14] and Accordia schemes near the station,[15] and developments such as Clayfarm[16] and Trumpington Meadows[17] planned for the south of the city.