EVERYTHING WHAT YOU NEEDTO DREAM...
Cambridge
KNOWLEDGE OF Cambridge
Chapels, colleges, alleyways, laboratories, libraries; all have a tale to tell. If only the stones could speak – and they do! Henry VIII clutching a chair leg; the grave of Captain Cook’s wife, so far from her husband; Christopher Wren’s first building; the Washington family’s coat-of-arms (which inspired the Stars and Stripes). All can be found if you know where to look.
Coming out of the railway station, you join Hills Road. Taking this northward, you follow in the footsteps of Roman legions marching from Colchester. They continued their path till they reached the river, which was forded and later bridged. The crossing point (now Magdalene Street Bridge) with nearby hill (Castle Hill) proved an ideal place to settle, and the town of Durolipons was born.
After the Romans, others came and went: Vikings, Anglo-Saxons and Normans, all remembered in the local parish names (St Clement, St Bene’t and St Giles reflect three different Christian cultures, and the Anglo-Saxon tower of St Bene’t’s is now the oldest surviving building in the city). The centre of the town moved south to the current market area. With an 11th-century population of some 1,600, Cambridge was one of eastern England’s largest towns.
Growth continued into the 13th century. In 1209, King John declared Cambridge a royal borough; a merchant’s guild was established, and regular fairs were held on Midsummer Common. Many goods were transported by boat, and Cambridge’s wharf trade boomed. Though already an important market town, simultaneous developments were about to change the city’s destiny forever.
In the early 13th century, riots in Oxford – and later Paris – caused many of these cities’ scholars to flee, fearing for their lives. For reasons unknown, many headed to Cambridge. These students – most of them young men in their early teens – would gather in groups for lessons in grammar, rhetoric and logic, all taught in Latin. The education lacked formality or ceremony; indeed the learners were an unruly lot, but this indiscipline soon prompted teachers and townsfolk to impose some form of order. Students were gathered in hostels, and rules established.
In 1284, the Bishop of Ely, Hugh de Balsham, founded Peterhouse to house a Master and six Fellows. This was the first of the Cambridge colleges. Over the next 70 years, seven more followed. The Old Court of Corpus Christi College is the oldest surviving university building, and gives the visitor an idea of the style of colleges at this time. The town and its nascent university survived plague, peasant uprisings and fire, and in the 15th century, more colleges were founded. The founders live on today, immortalised in the college names and heraldry.
Coming out of the railway station, you join Hills Road. Taking this northward, you follow in the footsteps of Roman legions marching from Colchester. They continued their path till they reached the river, which was forded and later bridged. The crossing point (now Magdalene Street Bridge) with nearby hill (Castle Hill) proved an ideal place to settle, and the town of Durolipons was born.
After the Romans, others came and went: Vikings, Anglo-Saxons and Normans, all remembered in the local parish names (St Clement, St Bene’t and St Giles reflect three different Christian cultures, and the Anglo-Saxon tower of St Bene’t’s is now the oldest surviving building in the city). The centre of the town moved south to the current market area. With an 11th-century population of some 1,600, Cambridge was one of eastern England’s largest towns.
Growth continued into the 13th century. In 1209, King John declared Cambridge a royal borough; a merchant’s guild was established, and regular fairs were held on Midsummer Common. Many goods were transported by boat, and Cambridge’s wharf trade boomed. Though already an important market town, simultaneous developments were about to change the city’s destiny forever.
In the early 13th century, riots in Oxford – and later Paris – caused many of these cities’ scholars to flee, fearing for their lives. For reasons unknown, many headed to Cambridge. These students – most of them young men in their early teens – would gather in groups for lessons in grammar, rhetoric and logic, all taught in Latin. The education lacked formality or ceremony; indeed the learners were an unruly lot, but this indiscipline soon prompted teachers and townsfolk to impose some form of order. Students were gathered in hostels, and rules established.
In 1284, the Bishop of Ely, Hugh de Balsham, founded Peterhouse to house a Master and six Fellows. This was the first of the Cambridge colleges. Over the next 70 years, seven more followed. The Old Court of Corpus Christi College is the oldest surviving university building, and gives the visitor an idea of the style of colleges at this time. The town and its nascent university survived plague, peasant uprisings and fire, and in the 15th century, more colleges were founded. The founders live on today, immortalised in the college names and heraldry.
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