History

Settlements have existed around the Cambridge area since before the Roman Empire. The earliest clear evidence of occupation is the remains of a 3,500-year-old farmstead discovered at the site of Fitzwilliam College. There is further archaeological evidence through the Iron Age, a Belgic tribe having settled on Castle Hill in the 1st century BC.

Roman times

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.

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.  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 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. After the Viking period the Saxons enjoyed a brief return to power, building St Bene’t’s Church in 1025, which still stands in Bene’t Street.

Beginnings of the university

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

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.