Cambridge beginnings

Although Cambridge is renowned world-wide for its University, there was a time when it was almost as famous for its trading links and annual Fair.  The centuries the River Cam provided a crucial physical link with other parts of East Anglia and the Continent of Europe.  Cambridge became an important distributions centre and seat of one of the largest Fairs in Europe.  The old Roman road that runs through the town also played a considerable role in shaping the Cam Bridge (now Magdalene Bridge).  The siting of the Cam Bridge was crucial to the development of the town, and the need to protect this river crossing resulted in the erection of a Roman fort overlooking the bridge. Thus for both geographic and strategic reasons Cambridge became a convenient stopping place for travellers and merchants.

As early as 43 AD the Romans built a fortified camp at Castle Hill, and in 300 AD they laid out a new Roman town.  They also built a system of canals that linked Cambridge with other Roman settlements in the Fen.  However, it was the Danes who really put Cambridge on the trading map when they arrived in 80 AD.  Interlinking waterways that connected with the River Cam offered river travel as far a King’s Lynn and the Wash.  When the Vikings arrived with their more sophisticated boats and established trading links with Asia and Europe, the town took off as an inland port and international trading centre.  The Danes built a settlement by the bridge and erected wharves there and then went on to urbanise Cambridge.  On the south side of the river, on the current site of St John’s College, they laid out symmetrically arranged streets and a new market place.  The Church of St Clements in Bridge Street, has Danish foundations.

The Cam Bridge