Market Hill (aka the Market Square) is the location of the

marketplace A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...

in central

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Operating as a marketplace since Saxon times, a daily outdoor market with stalls continues to run there.

Description

The market square commands a central location in Cambridge. It is connected via the following streets (clockwise from the north): * Rose Crescent (pedestrianised), north towards Trinity Street *

Market Street Market Street may refer to: *Market Street, Cambridge, England *Market Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia * Market Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia *Market Street, Manchester, England *Market Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia ...

. east towards Sidney Street *

Petty Cury Petty Cury is a pedestrianised shopping street in central Cambridge, England.Petty Cury
,

(pedestrianised), east towards the junction of Sidney Street and St Andrew's Street * Guildhall Street, south towards Guildhall Place and Wheeler Street *

Peas Hill Peas Hill is a street in central Cambridge, England.Peas Hill
, Cambridge City Council. I ...

(partially pedestrianised), south towards Wheeler Street and

Bene't Street Bene't Street is a short, historic street in central Cambridge, England, the name being derived from St Benedict. There is a junction with King's Parade to the north and Trumpington Street to the south at the western end of the street. Free S ...

* St Mary's Passage (pedestrianised), west towards

King's Parade King's Parade is a street in central Cambridge, England.St Mary's Street, west also towards King's Parade On the west side of Market Hill is Great St Mary's, the

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

Church, with its tower on

King's Parade King's Parade is a street in central Cambridge, England.Cambridge Guildhall Cambridge Guildhall is a civic building in the centre of the historic city of Cambridge, England. It includes two halls, ''The Large Hall'' and ''The Small Hall'', and is used for many disparate events such as comedy acts, conferences, craft fai ...

, built in the 1930s. To the southeast are the Grand Arcade and

Lion Yard The Lion Yard shopping centre is a covered shopping centre in the city centre of Cambridge, England. Construction work on the centre, which is bounded by St Andrew's Street, Corn Exchange Street, and Petty Cury, commenced in 1970 and the dev ...

, two shopping centres. The current Market Square was mainly filled with buildings originally and was not cleared until 1849 when a major fire occurred.

Hobson's Conduit

The Market Place branch of

Hobson's Conduit Hobson's Conduit, also called Hobson's Brook, is a watercourse that was built from 1610 to 1614 by Thomas Hobson and others to bring fresh water into the city of Cambridge, England from springs at Nine Wells, a Local Nature Reserve (), near the ...

was completed in 1614. This branch brought fresh water to the Market fountain in the centre of the Market Place. Following the fire in 1849, the Market Square was redeveloped and in 1855 a Gothic Revival gabled fountain was erected and the original structure of Hobson's Conduit was moved to the corner of

Lensfield Road Lensfield Road is a road (part of the A603) in southeast central Cambridge, England. It runs between the junction of Trumpington Street and Trumpington Road to the west and the junction of Regent Street and Hills Road to the west. It continues ...

and Trumpington Road in south Cambridge in 1856. Most of the fountain was demolished in 1953. Flow to this branch was cut off in 1960 during construction of the Lion Yard shopping centre development and has never been restored.

Peasants' Revolt of 1381

During the 1381 Peasants' Revolt, a mob led by the Mayor of Cambridge destroyed the university's ledgers in Market Square on 16 June. One Margery Starre led the crowd in a dance to the rallying cry "Away with the learning of clerks, away with it!".

References

External links

A Picture of Cambridge Market Hill
(1929) {{coord, 52.2054, N, 0.1191, E, display=title, region:GB_type:landmark Streets in Cambridge Tourist attractions in Cambridge Parks and open spaces in Cambridge Retail markets in England *Market Hill