Cambridge ( ) is a
city
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
and
non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''s ...
in the county of
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...
, England. It is the
county town
In Great Britain and Ireland, a county town is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county, and the place where public representatives are elected to parliament. Following the establishment of county councils in ...
of Cambridgeshire and is located on the
River Cam, north of
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. As of the
2021 United Kingdom census
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, Numeral (linguistics), numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest Positive number, positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in o ...
, the population of the City of Cambridge was 145,700; the population of the wider built-up area (which extends outside the city council area) was 181,137.
[ (2021 census)] There is archaeological evidence of settlement in the area as early as the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
, and Cambridge became an important trading centre during the
Roman and
Viking
Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...
eras. The first
town charters were granted in the 12th century, although modern city status was not officially conferred until 1951.
The city is well known as the home of the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, which was founded in 1209 and consistently ranks among the best universities in the world. The buildings of the university include
King's College Chapel,
Cavendish Laboratory, and the
Cambridge University Library, one of the largest
legal deposit libraries in the world. The city's skyline is dominated by several
college buildings, along with the spire of the
Our Lady and the English Martyrs Church, and the chimney of
Addenbrooke's Hospital.
Anglia Ruskin University, which evolved from the Cambridge School of Art and the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology, also has its main campus in the city.
Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology
Silicon Fen or
Cambridge Cluster, which contains industries such as
software
Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications.
The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...
and
bioscience
''BioScience'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. It was established in 1964 and was preceded by the ''AIBS Bulletin'' (1951–1 ...
and many start-up companies born out of the university. Over 40 per cent of the workforce have a higher education qualification, more than twice the national average. The
Cambridge Biomedical Campus, one of the largest biomedical research clusters in the world, includes the headquarters of
AstraZeneca and the relocated
Royal Papworth Hospital.
Cambridge produced the first 'Laws of the Game' for
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
and was the site of the first game, which was held at
Parker's Piece. The
Strawberry Fair music and art festival and Midsummer Fair are held on
Midsummer Common, and the annual
Cambridge Beer Festival takes place on
Jesus Green. The city is adjacent to the
M11 and
A14 roads.
History
Prehistory
Settlements have existed around the Cambridge area since
prehistoric times. The earliest clear evidence of occupation is the remains of a year-old farmstead discovered at the site of
Fitzwilliam College. Archaeological evidence of occupation through the
Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
is a settlement on
Castle Hill from the
1st century BC
The 1st century Before Christ, BC, also known as the last century BC and the last century Common Era , BCE, started on the first day of 100 BC, 100 BC and ended on the last day of 1 BC, 1 BC. The Anno Domini, AD/BC notation does not ...
, perhaps relating to wider cultural changes occurring in southeastern Britain linked to the arrival of the
Belgae
The Belgae ( , ) were a large confederation of tribes living in northern Gaul, between the English Channel, the west bank of the Rhine, and the northern bank of the river Seine, from at least the third century BC. They were discussed in depth b ...
.
Roman
The principal
Roman site is a small fort (')
Duroliponte on
Castle Hill, just northwest of the city centre around the location of the earlier
British village. The fort was bounded on two sides by the lines formed by the present
Mount Pleasant, continuing across
Huntingdon Road into Clare Street. The eastern side followed Magrath Avenue, with the southern side running near to
Chesterton Lane and
Kettle's Yard before turning northwest at Honey Hill. It was constructed around AD 70 and converted to civilian use around 50 years later. Evidence of more widespread Roman settlement has been discovered, including numerous farmsteads and a village in the Cambridge district of
Newnham.
Medieval
Following the
Roman withdrawal from Britain around 410, the location may have been abandoned by the
Britons, although the site is usually identified as , as listed among the 28
cities of
Britain in the ''
History of the Britons'' attributed to
Nennius. Evidence exists that the
invading Anglo-Saxons had begun occupying the area by the end of the century. Their settlement – also on and around Castle Hill – became known as Grantebrycge ("
Granta-bridge". By
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...
, the settlement's name had changed to "Cambridg koe", deriving from the word 'Camboricum', meaning 'passage' or 'ford' of stream in a town or settlement, and the
lower stretches of the
Granta changed their name to match.))
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
grave goods have been found in the area. During this period, Cambridge benefited from good trade links across the hard-to-travel fenlands. By the 7th century, the town was less significant and described by
Bede
Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...
as a "little ruined city" containing the burial site of
Æthelthryth (Etheldreda).
Cambridge sat on the border between the
East
East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...
and
Middle Anglian kingdoms, and the settlement slowly expanded on both sides of the river.
The ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' reports that
Vikings
Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...
arrived in 875; they imposed Viking rule, the
Danelaw, by 878.
Their vigorous trading habits resulted in rapid growth of the town. During this period, the town's centre 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 return to power, building churches, such as
St Bene't's Church, as well as wharves, merchant houses, and a
mint which produced coins with the town's name abbreviated to "Grant".
In 1068, two years after the
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
of England,
William the Conqueror
William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...
erected a
castle
A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
on Castle Hill, the
motte of which survives.
Like the rest of the newly conquered kingdom, Cambridge fell under the control of the King and his deputies.
Cambridge's first town charter was granted by
Henry I between 1120 and 1131. It granted the town monopoly of waterborne traffic and hithe tolls and recognised the
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
...
court.
The distinctive
Round Church dates from this period. In 1209, Cambridge University was founded by Oxford students fleeing from hostility. The oldest existing college,
Peterhouse, was founded in 1284.
Cambridge had a significant
Jewish community in the middle ages, centred on what is now known as All Saints Passage, then known as the Jewry. A synagogue stood nearby. In January 1275,
Eleanor of Provence expelled Jews from all of the towns within her dower lands, and the Jews of Cambridge were ordered to relocate to
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
.
In 1349, Cambridge was affected by the
Black Death
The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
. Few records survive but 16 of 40 scholars at
King's Hall died.
The town north of the river was severely impacted, being almost wiped out. Following further depopulation after a second national epidemic in 1361, a letter from the Bishop of Ely suggested that two parishes in Cambridge be merged as there were not enough people to fill even one church.
With more than a third of English clergy dying in the Black Death, four new colleges were established at the university over the following years to train new clergymen, namely
Gonville Hall,
Trinity Hall,
Corpus Christi, and
Clare.
In 1382, a revised town charter effected a "diminution of the liberties that the community had enjoyed", due to Cambridge's participation in the
Peasants' Revolt. This charter transferred supervision of baking and brewing, weights and measures, and
forestalling and regrating, from the town to the university.
King's College Chapel was begun in 1446 by
King Henry VI.
Built in phases by a succession of kings of England from 1446 to 1515 — its history intertwined with the
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fo ...
— the chapel was completed during the reign of
King Henry VIII.
The building would become synonymous with Cambridge, and currently is used in the logo for the
Cambridge City Council.
Early modern

Following repeated outbreaks of pestilence throughout the 16th century, sanitation and fresh water were brought to Cambridge by the construction of
Hobson's Conduit in the early 1600s. Water was brought from Nine Wells, at the foot of the
Gog Magog Hills to the southeast of Cambridge, into the centre of the town.
Cambridge played a significant role in the early part of the
English Civil War
The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
as it was the headquarters of the
Eastern Counties Association, an organisation administering a regional
East Anglian army, which became the mainstay of the Parliamentarian military effort before the formation of the
New Model Army.
In 1643 control of the town was given by Parliament to
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
, who had been educated at
Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge. The town's castle was fortified and garrisoned with troops and some bridges were destroyed to aid its defence. Although
Royalist forces came within of the town in 1644, the defences were never used, and the garrison was stood down the following year.
Early-industrial era
In the 19th century, in common with many other English towns, Cambridge expanded rapidly, due in part to increased life expectancy and improved agricultural production leading to increased trade in town markets.
The
Histon and Impington Inclosure Act 1801 (
41 Geo. 3. (U.K.) c. ''112'' ), the
Trumpington Inclosure Act 1801 (
41 Geo. 3. (U.K.) c. ''128'' ), and the (
47 Geo. 3 Sess. 2. c. ''60'' ) enabled the town to expand over surrounding open fields.
The railway came to Cambridge in 1845 after initial resistance, with the opening of the
Great Eastern Railway's London to Norwich line. The station was outside the town centre following pressure from the university to restrict travel by undergraduates. With the arrival of the railway and associated employment came development of areas around the station, such as
Romsey Town. The rail link to London stimulated heavier industries, such as the production of brick, cement and
malt
Malt is any cereal grain that has been made to germinate by soaking in water and then stopped from germinating further by drying with hot air, a process known as "malting".
Malted grain is used to make beer, whisky, malted milk, malt vinegar, ...
.
20th and 21st centuries
From the 1930s to the 1980s, the size of the city was increased by several large
council estates. The biggest impact has been on the area north of the river, which are now the estates of
East Chesterton,
King's Hedges, and
Arbury where
Archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
Rowan Williams lived and worked as an assistant priest in the early 1980s.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Cambridge was an important centre for defence of the east coast. The town became a military centre, with an
RAF training centre and the regional headquarters for
Norfolk
Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
,
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
,
Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
,
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...
,
Huntingdonshire,
Hertfordshire, and
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...
established during the conflict.
The town itself escaped relatively lightly from German bombing raids, which were mainly targeted at the railway. 29 people were killed and no historic buildings were damaged. In 1944, a secret meeting of military leaders held in Trinity College laid the foundation for the allied invasion of Europe.
During the war Cambridge served as an
evacuation centre for over 7,000 people from London, as well as for parts of the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
.
Cambridge was granted its
city charter in 1951 in recognition of its history, administrative importance and economic success.
Cambridge does not have a cathedral, traditionally a prerequisite for city status, instead falling within the Church of England
Diocese of Ely. In 1962, Cambridge's first shopping arcade, Bradwell's Court, opened on Drummer Street, though this was demolished in 2006. 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. This latter project was controversial at the time.
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.
Governance

There are two main tiers of local government covering Cambridge, at
district
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
and
county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
level:
Cambridge City Council and
Cambridgeshire County Council. Since 2017, both authorities have been members of the
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority. The
leader of the city council is the city's representative on the combined authority, which is led by the directly-elected
Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. The district covers most of the city's urban area, although some suburbs extend into the surrounding
South Cambridgeshire district. The city council's headquarters are in the
Guildhall, a large building in the market square.
Westminster
The
parliamentary constituency of Cambridge covers most of the city;
Daniel Zeichner (
Labour) has represented the seat since the
2015 general election. The seat was generally held by the
Conservatives until it was won by Labour in 1992, then taken by the
Liberal Democrats in 2005 and 2010, before returning to Labour in 2015. A southern area of the city, Queen Edith's ward and Cherry Hinton ward, falls within the
South Cambridgeshire constituency, whose MP is
Pippa Heylings (
Lib Dems), first elected in 2024.
The University of Cambridge formerly had two seats in the House of Commons; Sir
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...
was one of the most notable MPs. The
Cambridge University constituency was abolished under 1948 legislation, and ceased at the dissolution of Parliament for the
1950 general election, along with the other
university constituencies.
Administrative history
Cambridge was an
ancient borough
An ancient borough was a historic unit of lower-tier local government in England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the co ...
. Its earliest known
municipal charter was issued by
Henry I in the early 12th century. A subsequent charter from
King John in 1207 permitted the appointment of a mayor; the first recorded mayor, Harvey FitzEustace, served in 1213. Until the 20th century, the borough covered the same area as Cambridge's fourteen
ancient parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
es. The borough did not include Cambridge Castle, which was in the neighbouring parish of
Chesterton.
[
The borough was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. The borough's responsibilities were primarily judicial and regulatory rather than providing public services or infrastructure. A separate body of improvement commissioners was established in 1788 to maintain the city's streets, and the commissioners were gradually given other local government functions relating to sewers and public health. The commissioners were abolished in 1889 and their functions taken on by the borough council.
The borough was enlarged in 1912 to take in Chesterton to the north and some areas from neighbouring parishes to the south. It was extended again in 1934 to take in Cherry Hinton, Trumpington, and parts of several other neighbouring parishes. The borough was awarded city status in 1951. In 1974, Cambridge was made a ]non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''s ...
; it kept the same boundaries, which had last been expanded in 1934, but there were changes to the council's responsibilities.
Geography and environment
Cambridge is situated about north-by-east of London and east of Birmingham. The city is located in an area of level and relatively low-lying terrain just south of the Fens, which varies between above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
. The town was thus historically surrounded by low-lying wetlands that have been drained as the town has expanded.
The underlying geology of Cambridge consists of gault clay and Chalk Marl, known locally as Cambridge Greensand, partly overlaid by terrace gravel. A layer of phosphatic nodules ( coprolites) under the marl was mined in the 19th century for fertiliser; this became a major industry in the county, and its profits yielded buildings such as the Corn Exchange, Fulbourn Hospital, and St. John's Chapel until the Quarries Act 1894 and competition from America ended production.
The River Cam flows through the city from the village of Grantchester, to the southwest. It is bordered by water meadows within the city such as Sheep's Green as well as residential development. Like most cities, modern-day Cambridge has many suburbs and areas of high-density housing. The city centre of Cambridge is mostly commercial, historic buildings, and large green areas such as Jesus Green, Parker's Piece and Midsummer Common. Some of the roads in the centre are pedestrianised.
Population growth has seen new housing developments in the 21st century, with estates such as the CB1 and Accordia schemes near the station, and developments such as Great Kneighton, formally known as Clay Farm, and Trumpington Meadows currently under construction in the south of the city. Other major developments currently being constructed in the city are Darwin Green (formerly NIAB), and University-led developments at West Cambridge and North West Cambridge, ( Eddington).
The entire city centre, as well as parts of Chesterton, Petersfield, West Cambridge, Newnham, and Abbey, are covered by an Air Quality Management Area, implemented to counter high levels of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere.
Climate
The city has an oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...
(Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
: ''Cfb''). Cambridge has an official weather observing station, at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden, about south of the city centre. In addition, the Digital Technology Group of the university's Department of Computer Science and Technology maintains a weather station on the West Cambridge site, displaying current weather conditions online via web browsers or an app, and also an archive dating back to 1995.
The city, like most of the UK, has a maritime climate highly influenced by the Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...
. Located in the driest region of Britain, Cambridge's rainfall averages around per year, around half the national average. The driest recent year was in 2011 with of rain at the Botanic Garden and at the NIAB site. This is just below the semi-arid precipitation threshold for the area, which is 350 mm of annual precipitation. Conversely, 2012 was the wettest year on record, with reported. Snowfall accumulations are usually small, in part because of Cambridge's low elevation, and low precipitation tendency during transitional snow events.
Owing to its low-lying, inland, and easterly position within the British Isles, summer temperatures tend to be somewhat higher than areas further west, and often rival or even exceed those recorded in the London area. Cambridge also often records the annual highest national temperature in any given year – in July 2008 at NIAB and in August 2007 at the Botanic Garden are two recent examples. Other years include 1876, 1887, 1888, 1892, 1897, 1899 and 1900. The absolute maximum stands at recorded on 19 July 2022 at Cambridge University Botanic Garden. Before this date, Cambridge held the record for the all-time maximum temperature in the UK, after recording on 25 July 2019. Typically the temperature will reach or higher on over 25 days of the year over the 1981–2010 period, with the annual warmest day averaging over the same period.
The absolute minimum temperature recorded at the Botanic Garden site was , recorded in February 1947, although a minimum of was recorded at the now defunct observatory site in December 1879. More recently the temperature fell to on 11 February 2012, on 22 January 2013 and on 20 December 2010. The average frequency of air frosts ranges from 42.8 days at the NIAB site, to 48.3 days at the Botanic Garden per year over the 1981–2010 period. Typically the coldest night of the year at the Botanic Garden will fall to . Such minimum temperatures and frost averages are typical for inland areas across much of southern and central England.
Sunshine averages around 1,500 hours a year or around 35% of possible, a level typical of most locations in inland central England.
Ecology
The city contains three Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), at Cherry Hinton East Pit, Cherry Hinton West Pit, and Travellers Pit, and ten Local Nature Reserves (LNRs): Sheep's Green and Coe Fen,
Coldham's Common, Stourbridge Common, Nine Wells, Byron's Pool, West Pit, Paradise, Barnwell West, Barnwell East, and Logan's Meadow.
Green belt
Cambridge is completely enclosed by green belt as a part of a wider environmental and planning policy first defined in 1965 and formalised in 1992. While some small tracts of green belt exist on the fringes of the city's boundary, much of the protection is in the surrounding South Cambridgeshire and nearby East Cambridgeshire districts, helping to maintain local green space, prevent further urban sprawl
Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...
and unplanned expansion of the city, as well as protecting smaller outlying villages from further convergence with each other as well as the city.
Demography
At the 2011 census, the population of the Cambridge contiguous built-up area (urban area) was 158,434, while that of the City Council area was 123,867.
In the 2001 Census held during University term, 89.44% of Cambridge residents identified themselves as white, compared with a national average of 92.12%. Within the university, 84% of undergraduates and 80% of post-graduates identified as white (including overseas students).
Cambridge has a much higher than average proportion of people in the highest paid professional, managerial or administrative jobs (32.6% vs. 23.5%)[ONS 2001 Census (Approximated Social Grade – Workplace Population, Cambridge local authority)] and a much lower than average proportion of manual workers (27.6% vs. 40.2%). In addition, 41.2% have a higher-level qualification (e.g. degree, Higher National Diploma, Master's or PhD), much higher than the national average proportion (19.7%).
Centre for Cities identified Cambridge as the UK's most unequal city in 2017 and 2018. Residents' income was the least evenly distributed of 57 British cities measured, with its top 6% earners accounting for 19% of its total income and the bottom 20% for only 2%, and a Gini coefficient of 0.460 in 2018.
Historical population
Local census 1749
Census: Regional District 1801–1901
Civil Parish 1911–1961
District 1971–2011
Ethnicity
Religion
Economy
The town's river link to the surrounding agricultural land, and good road connections to London in the south meant Cambridge has historically served as an important regional trading post. King Henry I granted Cambridge a monopoly on river trade, privileging this area of the economy of Cambridge. The town market provided for trade in a wide variety of goods and annual trading fairs such as Stourbridge Fair and Midsummer Fair were visited by merchants from across the country. The river was described in an account of 1748 as being "often so full of erchant boatsthat the navigation thereof is stopped for some time". For example, 2000 firkins of butter were brought up the river every Monday from the agricultural lands to the northeast, particularly Norfolk
Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
, to be unloaded in the town for road transportation to London. Changing patterns of retail distribution and the advent of the railways led to a decline in Cambridge's importance as a market town.
Cambridge today has a diverse economy with strength in sectors such as research and development, software consultancy, high value engineering, creative industries, pharmaceuticals and tourism. Described as one of the "most beautiful cities in the world" by ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' in 2010, with the view from The Backs being selected as one of the 10 greatest in England by National Trust chair Simon Jenkins. Tourism generates over £750 million for the city's economy.
Cambridge and its surrounds are sometimes referred to as Silicon Fen, an allusion to Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...
, because of the density of high-tech businesses and technology incubators that have developed on science parks around the city. Many of these parks and buildings are owned or leased by university colleges, and the companies often have been spun out of the university. Cambridge Science Park, which is the largest commercial R&D centre in Europe, is owned by Trinity College; St John's is the landlord of St John's Innovation Centre. Technology companies include Abcam, CSR, ARM Limited, CamSemi, Jagex and Sinclair. Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
has located its Microsoft Research UK offices in West Cambridge, separate from the main Microsoft UK campus in Reading, and also has an office on Station Road.
Cambridge was also the home of Pye Ltd, founded in 1898 by W. G. Pye, who worked in the Cavendish Laboratory; it began by supplying the university and later specialised in wireless telegraphy equipment, radios, televisions and also defence equipment. Pye Ltd evolved into several other companies including TETRA radio equipment manufacturer Sepura. Another major business is Marshall Aerospace located on the eastern edge of the city. The Cambridge Network keeps businesses in touch with each other.
Transport
Air
Cambridge City Airport has no scheduled services and is used mainly by charter and training flights and by Marshall Aerospace for aircraft maintenance. London Stansted Airport, about south via the M11 or direct rail, offers a broad range of international destinations.
Cycling
The city lies on fairly flat land and has the highest level of cycle use in the UK. According to the 2001 census, 25% of residents travelled to work by bicycle. Furthermore, a survey in 2013 found that 47% of residents travel by bike at least once a week.
Railway
Cambridge railway station was opened in 1845. Trains run to and (via the Fen Line), (via the Breckland Line), , , , , , , and .
The station has direct rail links to London with termini at (via the Cambridge Line and the East Coast Main Line), (on the West Anglia Main Line) and (on the Thameslink line). Fast trains to London King's Cross run every half-hour during peak hours, with a journey time of 53 minutes, and these are supplemented by semi-fast trains to Brighton via London St Pancras, and slow trains to London King's Cross. The station's original line to London was to , via .
A second railway station, Cambridge North, opened on 21 May 2017; it was originally planned to open in March 2015. A third railway station, , near Addenbrooke's Hospital is now under construction; it is expected to open in 2025. The former station of , for Cherry Hinton, operated when it was separate village to Cambridge.
Several railway lines were closed during the 1960s, including the Cambridge and St Ives branch line, the Stour Valley Railway, the Cambridge to Mildenhall railway and the Varsity Line to Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
.
Road
Areas outside the centre are car dependent causing traffic congestion in the drivable parts of centre. The M11 motorway from east London terminates to the north-west of the city where it joins the A14, a road from the port of Felixstowe
Felixstowe ( ) is a port town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, containe ...
to Rugby. The A428 connects the city with the A1 at St Neots as the A421 (via Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district.
Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...
and Milton Keynes) on to Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
. The A10 connects via Ely to King's Lynn to the north and the historic route south to the City of London
The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
.
Buses
Cambridge has five Park and Ride
A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail transport, r ...
sites, all of which operate seven days a week and are aimed at encouraging motorists to park near the city's edge. Since 2011, the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway has carried bus services into the centre of Cambridge from St Ives, Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...
and other towns and villages along the routes, operated by Stagecoach in the Fens and Whippet. The A service continues on to the railway station and Addenbrookes, before terminating at a new Park and Ride in Trumpington. Since 2017, it has also linked to Cambridge North railway station.
Service 905 provides a connection with Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
, although passengers wishing to continue beyond Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district.
Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...
have to change to service X5; both services are operated by Stagecoach East and run daily.
Future plans
In February 2020, consultations opened for a transport system known as the Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro. It would have connected the historic city centre and the existing busway route with the mainline railway stations, Cambridge Science Park and Haverhill. In May 2021 the newly elected mayor said he was focused instead on a "revamped bus network" but would not yet abandon the work done. , the Greater Cambridge Partnership is consulting on plans comprising: transforming the bus network; investing in other sustainable travel schemes; and introducing a Cambridge Congestion Charge as part of a Sustainable Travel Zone.
In 2024, Cambridge Connect proposed repurposing the planned route of the canceled metro as a light railway. Known as the Isaac Newton line, it would connect the mainline railway stations with Cambourne, the guided busway station at Trumpington, Haverhill, Addenbrookes Hospital, and a new station in Cambridge city centre.
Education
Cambridge's two universities, the collegiate University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
and the local campus of Anglia Ruskin University, serve around 30,000 students, by some estimates. Cambridge University stated its 2020/21 student population was 24,270, and Anglia Ruskin reports 24,000 students across its two campuses (one of which is outside Cambridge, in Chelmsford) for the same period. ARU now (2019) has additional campuses in London and Peterborough. State provision in the further education sector includes Hills Road Sixth Form College, Long Road Sixth Form College, and Cambridge Regional College. The Open University had a presence in the city between 1979 and 2018.
Both state and private schools
A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their financial endowme ...
serve Cambridge pupils from nursery to secondary school age. State schools are administered by Cambridgeshire County Council, which maintains 251 schools in total, 35 of them in Cambridge city. Netherhall School, Chesterton Community College, the Parkside Federation (comprising Parkside Community College and Coleridge Community College), North Cambridge Academy and the Christian inter-denominational St Bede's School provide comprehensive secondary education. Many other pupils from the Cambridge area attend village colleges, an educational institution unique to Cambridgeshire, which serve as secondary schools during the day and adult education centres outside of school hours. Independent schools in the city include The Perse School, Stephen Perse Foundation, Sancton Wood School, St Mary's School, Heritage School and The Leys School. The city has one university technical college
A university technical college (UTC) is a type of secondary school in England that is sponsored by a Universities in the United Kingdom, university and has close ties to local business and industry.
University technical colleges specialise in su ...
, Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology, which opened in September 2014.
Sport
Football
Cambridge played a unique role in the invention of modern football: the game's first set of rules were drawn up by members of the university in 1848. The Cambridge Rules were first played on Parker's Piece and had a "defining influence on the 1863 Football Association rules", which again were first played on Parker's Piece.
The city is home to Cambridge United
Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...
, who play at the Abbey Stadium. Formed in 1912 as Abbey United, they were elected to the Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...
in 1970 and reached the Second Division in 1978, although a serious decline in them in the mid-1980s saw them drop back down to the Fourth Division and almost go out of business. Success returned to the club in the early 1990s when they won two successive promotions and reached the FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
quarter finals in both of those seasons and, in 1992, they came close to becoming the first English team to win three successive Football League promotions which would have taken them into the newly created FA Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football ...
; however, they were beaten in the play-offs and another decline set in. In 2005, they were relegated from the Football League and, for the second time in twenty years, narrowly avoided going out of business. After nine years of non-league football, they returned to the Football League in 2014 by winning the Conference National play-offs.
Cambridge United WFC is a women's only football club based in Cambridge. The team compete in the FA Women's National League South East. The club plays home games at St Neots Town's Rowley Park stadium and the Abbey Stadium.
Cambridge City, of the Northern Premier League Division One Midlands, now play in neighbouring St Ives. Formed in 1908 as Cambridge Town, the club were Southern Premier League champions in 1962–63, the highest they have finished in the English football pyramid. After a legal dispute with their landlords, the club left their City Ground stadium in 2013 to groundshare at Histon's Bridge Road ground. The club have plans to open their own new ground in Sawston in 2024.
Cricket
Parker's Piece was used for first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...
matches from 1817 to 1864. The University of Cambridge's cricket ground, Fenner's, is located in the city and is one of the home grounds for minor counties team Cambridgeshire CCC. The Cambridgeshire Cricket Association operates an amateur club cricket league with six adult divisions, including numerous clubs in the city, plus junior divisions. Most of the university colleges also operate their own teams, and there are several casual village cricket teams that play in the city suburbs.
Rugby
The city is represented in both codes of Rugby football
Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league.
Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845. Forms of football in which the ball ...
. Rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
club Cambridge R.U.F.C. were founded in 1923 and play in the RFU Championship at their home ground, Grantchester Road, in the south-west corner of the city. Cambridge Lions represent the city in rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
and are members of East Rugby League.
Watersports
The River Cam, which runs through the city centre, is used for boating. The university and its colleges are well known for rowing and the Cambridgeshire Rowing Association, formed in 1868, organises competitive rowing on the river outside of the university. Rowing clubs based in the city include City of Cambridge RC, Cambridge '99 RC, Cantabrigian RC and Rob Roy BC. Parts of the Cam are used for recreational punting, a type of boating in which the craft is propelled by pushing against the river bed with a quant pole.
Cambridge Swimming Club, Cambridge Dive team and City of Cambridge Water Polo Club are all based at Parkside Swimming Pool.
Parkour/freerunning
Home and training ground to many influential traceurs, Cambridge is well known for its vibrant, and at times high-profile, parkour
Parkour () is an athletic Training#Physical training, training discipline or sport in which practitioners (called ''traceurs'') attempt to get from one point to another in the fastest and most efficient way possible, without assisting equipment ...
and freerunning scene.
Other sports
Cambridge is home to two real tennis courts (out of about 50 in the world) at Cambridge University Real Tennis Club. Cambridgeshire Cats play American football
American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
at Coldham's Common. Cambridge Royals are members of the British Baseball Federation's Triple-A South Division. Cambridge has two cycling clubs: Team Cambridge and Cambridge Cycling Club. Cambridge & Coleridge Athletic Club is the city's track and field club, based at the University of Cambridge's Wilberforce Road track. Cambridge Triathlon
A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...
Club is based at Impington Village College. Cambridge Handball
Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...
Club compete in the men's England Handball National Super 8 League and the women's England Handball National Super 7 League. There are three field hockey clubs; Cambridge City Hockey Club, Cambridge South Hockey Club and Cambridge Nomads.
The city is also represented in polo by Cambridge Polo Club, based in Barton, just outside the city. The Romsey Town Rollerbillies play roller derby
Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played on an oval track by two teams of five skaters. It is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leaguesA Roller Derby league is synonymous with an individual club or team in other team sports, as ...
in Cambridge. Cambridge Parnells GAA represent the area in Gaelic football
Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...
, playing out of Coldham's Common and participating in the Hertfordshire GAA Championship. Speedway
Speedway may refer to:
Racing Race tracks
*Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida.
*Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta.
*Indianapolis Motor Spe ...
racing was formerly staged at a greyhound stadium in Coldhams Lane.
Varsity sports
Cambridge is known for the sporting events between the University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
and the University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
, especially the rugby union Varsity Match and the Boat Race, though many of these do not take place within either Cambridge or Oxford.
Culture
Theatre
Cambridge's main traditional theatre is the Arts Theatre, a venue with 666 seats in the town centre. The theatre often has touring shows, as well as those by local companies. The largest venue in the city to regular hold theatrical performances is the Cambridge Corn Exchange with a capacity of 1,800 standing or 1,200 seated. Housed within the city's 19th century former corn exchange building the venue was used for a variety of additional functions throughout the 20th century including tea parties, motor shows, sports matches and a music venue with temporary stage. The City Council renovated the building in the 1980s, turning it into a full-time arts venue, hosting theatre, dance and music performances.
The newest theatre venue in Cambridge is the 220-seat J2, part of Cambridge Junction in Cambridge Leisure Park. The venue was opened in 2005 and hosts theatre, dance, live music and comedy The ADC Theatre is managed by the University of Cambridge, and typically has 3 shows a week during term time. It hosts the Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club which has produced many notable figures in British comedy. The Mumford Theatre is part of Anglia Ruskin University, and hosts shows by both student and non-student groups. There are also a number of venues within the colleges.
Museums
Within the city there are several notable museums, some run by the University of Cambridge Museums consortium and others independent of it.
The Fitzwilliam Museum is the city's largest, and is the lead museum of the University of Cambridge Museums. Founded in 1816 from the bequeathment and collections of Richard, Viscount FitzWilliam, the museum was originally located in the building of the Perse Grammar School in Free School Lane. After a brief housing in the University of Cambridge library, it moved to its current, purpose-built building on Trumpington Street in 1848. The museum has five departments: Antiquities; Applied Arts; Coins and Medals; Manuscripts and Printed Books; and Paintings, Drawings and Prints. Other members of the University of Cambridge Museums are the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, The Polar Museum, The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, Museum of Classical Archaeology, The Whipple Museum of the History of Science, and the University Museum of Zoology.
The Museum of Cambridge, formerly known as the Cambridge & County Folk Museum, is a social history
Social history, often called history from below, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. Historians who write social history are called social historians.
Social history came to prominence in the 1960s, spreading f ...
museum located in a former pub on Castle Street. The Centre for Computing History, a museum dedicated to the story of the Information Age
The Information Age is a historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during the Industrial Revolution, to an economy centered on information technology ...
, moved to Cambridge from Haverhill in 2013. Housed in a former sewage pumping station, the Cambridge Museum of Technology has a collection of large exhibits related to the city's industrial heritage.
Music
Popular music
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...
are the most notable band with roots in Cambridge. The band's former songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Syd Barrett was born and lived in the city, and he and another founding member, Roger Waters
George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...
, went to school together at Cambridgeshire High School for Boys. David Gilmour, the guitarist who replaced Barrett, was also a Cambridge resident and attended the nearby Perse School. Bands that were formed in Cambridge include Clean Bandit, Henry Cow, the Movies, Katrina and the Waves, the Soft Boys, Ezio the Broken Family Band, Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats, and the pop-classical group the King's Singers, who were formed at the university. Solo artist Boo Hewerdine is from Cambridge, as are drum and bass
Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...
artists (and brothers) Nu:Tone and Logistics
Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...
. Singers Matthew Bellamy, of the rock band Muse
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...
, Tom Robinson, Olivia Newton-John and Charli XCX
Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is a British singer and songwriter. She began posting songs on Myspace in 2008 before entering the London rave scene. Signing a recording contract with Asylum Re ...
were born in the city. 2012 Mercury Prize winners Alt-J
Alt-J (stylised as alt-J, real name Δ) are an English indie rock band formed in 2007 in Leeds. Their lineup includes Joe Newman (guitar/lead vocals), Thom Sonny Green (drums), Gus Unger-Hamilton (keyboards/vocals), and formerly Gwil Sainsbury ...
are based in Cambridge.
Live music venues hosting popular music in the city include the Cambridge Corn Exchange, Cambridge Junction, the Portland Arms, and The Blue Moon.
Classical music
Started in 1991, the annual Cambridge Music Festival takes place each November. The Cambridge Summer Music Festival takes place in July.
Contemporary art
Cambridge contains Kettle's Yard gallery of modern and contemporary art and the Heong Gallery which opened to the public in 2016 at Downing College. Anglia Ruskin University operates the publicly accessible Ruskin Gallery within the Cambridge School of Art. Wysing Arts Centre, one of the leading research centres for the visual arts in Europe, is associated with the city, though is located several miles west of Cambridge. Artist-run organisations including Aid & Abet, Cambridge Art Salon, Changing Spaces and Motion Sickness also run exhibitions, events and artists' studios in the city, often in short-term or temporary spaces.
Festivals and events
Several fairs and festivals take place in Cambridge, mostly during the British summer. Midsummer Fair dates back to 1211, when it was granted a charter by King John. Today it exists primarily as an annual funfair with the vestige of a market attached and is held over several days around or close to midsummers day. On the first Saturday in June Midsummer Common is the site for Strawberry Fair, a free music and children's fair, with various market stalls. For one week in May, on Jesus Green, the annual Cambridge Beer Festival has been held since 1974.
Launched in 1977 Cambridge Film Festival is the third-longest-running film festival in the UK.
Presented annually each autumn by the Cambridge Film Trust, the Festival showcases a selection of around 100, predominantly independent and specialised, films and embeds them within a programme of special events, Q&As, and talks.
Cambridge Folk Festival is held annually in the grounds of Cherry Hinton Hall. The festival has been organised by the city council since its inception in 1964. The Cambridge Summer Music Festival is an annual festival of classical music, held in the university's colleges and chapels. The Cambridge Shakespeare Festival is an eight-week season of open-air performances of the works of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, held in the gardens of various colleges of the university.
The Cambridge Science Festival, typically held annually in March, is the United Kingdom's largest free science festival. The Cambridge Literary Festival, which focusses on contemporary literary fiction and non-fiction, is held bi-annually in April and November. Between 1975 and 1985 the Cambridge Poetry Festival was held biannually. Other festivals include the annual Mill Road Winter Fair, held the first Saturday of December, the E-luminate Festival, which took place every February from 2013 to 2018, and The Big Weekend, a city outdoor event organised by the City Council every July.
Three Cambridge Free Festivals held in 1969, 1970, and 1971 that featured artists including David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
, King Crimson
King Crimson were an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald (musician), Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield. Guitarist Fripp remained the only constant member throughout the ...
, Roy Harper, Spontaneous Combustion, UFO and others are believed by the festival organiser to have been the first free multiple-day rock music festivals held in the UK.
Literature and film
The city has been the setting for all or part of several novels, including Douglas Adams' '' Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency'', Rose Macaulay's '' They Were Defeated'', Kate Atkinson's '' Case Histories'', Rebecca Stott's ''Ghostwalk'' and Robert Harris' ''Enigma'', while Susanna Gregory wrote a series of novels set in 14th century Cambridge. Gwen Raverat, the granddaughter of Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
, talked about her late Victorian Cambridge childhood in her memoir '' Period Piece'', and '' The Night Climbers of Cambridge'' is a book written by Noel Symington under the pseudonym "Whipplesnaith" about nocturnal climbing on the colleges and town buildings of Cambridge in the 1930s.
Fictionalised versions of Cambridge appear in Philippa Pearce's '' Tom's Midnight Garden'' and '' Minnow on the Say'', the city renamed as Castleford, and as the home of Tom Sharpe
Thomas Ridley Sharpe (30 March 1928 – 6 June 2013) was an English satire, satirical novelist, best known for his ''Wilt (novel), Wilt'' series, as well as ''Porterhouse Blue'' and ''Blott on the Landscape,'' all three of which were adapted fo ...
's fictional college in '' Porterhouse Blue''.
The ITV TV series ''Granchester'' was partly filmed in Cambridge. For Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, establishing shots of J. Robert Oppenheimer's time at Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
were filmed in Cambridge, featuring King's College along the River Cam.
Television
News and television programmes are broadcast from the BBC Look East (West) studio in Cambridge.
Radio
Local radio stations are BBC Radio Cambridgeshire on 96.0 FM, Heart East on 103.0 FM, Cambridge 105 on 105 FM, Star Radio on 100.7 FM and Cam FM on 97.2 is a student run-radio station at the University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
and Anglia Ruskin University.
Newspapers
The city's local newspapers are ''Cambridge News
The ''Cambridge News'' (formerly the ''Cambridge Evening News'') is a British daily newspaper. Published each weekday and on Saturdays, it is distributed from its Milton base. In the period December 2010 – June 2011 it had an average daily c ...
'', '' Cambridge Independent'' and '' Varsity'', the student newspaper of the University of Cambridge.
Public services
Cambridge is served by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, with several smaller medical centres in the city and a teaching hospital at Addenbrooke's. Located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Addenbrooke's is one of the largest hospitals in the United Kingdom and is a designated regional trauma centre.
The East of England Ambulance Service covers the city and has an ambulance station on Hills Road. The smaller Brookfields Hospital stands on Mill Road. Cambridgeshire Constabulary provides the city's policing; the main police station is at Parkside, adjacent to the city's fire station, operated by Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service.
Cambridge Water Company supplies water services to the city, while Anglian Water
Anglian Water Services Limited is a water company that operates in the East of England. It was formed in 1989 under the partial privatisation of the water industry. It provides water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment to the area formerly ...
provides sewerage services. For the supply of electricity, Cambridge is part of the East of England
East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact ...
region, for which the distribution network operator
A distribution network operator (DNO), also known as a distribution system operator (DSO), is the operator of the electric power distribution system which delivers electricity to most end users. Each country may have many local distribution netwo ...
is UK Power Networks. The city has no power stations, though a five-metre wind turbine, part of a Cambridge Regional College development, can be seen in King's Hedges. The Cambridge Electric Supply Company had provided the city with electricity since the early twentieth century from Cambridge power station. Upon nationalisation of the electricity industry in 1948 ownership passed to the British Electricity Authority and later to the Central Electricity Generating Board
The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s.
It was established on 1 Januar ...
. Electricity connections to the national grid rendered the small 7.26 megawatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...
(MW) coal fired power station redundant. It closed in 1965 and was subsequently demolished; in its final year of operation it delivered 2771 MWh of electricity to the city.
Following the Public Libraries Act 1850 the city's first public library, located on Jesus Lane, was opened in 1855. It was moved to the Guildhall in 1862, and is now located in the Grand Arcade shopping centre. The library was reopened in September 2009, after having been closed for refurbishment for 33 months, more than twice as long as was forecast when the library closed for redevelopment in January 2007. As of 2018 the city contains six public libraries, run by the County Council.
The Cambridge City Cemetery is located to the north of Newmarket Road.
Religion
Cambridge has a number of churches, some of which form a significant part of the city's architectural landscape. Like the rest of Cambridgeshire it is part of the Anglican
Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
Diocese of Ely.
Great St Mary's Church has the status of "University Church". Many of the university colleges contain chapels that hold services according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
, while the chapel of St Edmund's College is Roman Catholic. The city also has a number of theological colleges training clergy for ordination
Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...
into a number of denominations, with affiliations to both the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University.
Cambridge is in the Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia and is served by the large Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
Our Lady and the English Martyrs Church at the junction of Hills Road and Lensfield Road, St Laurence's on Milton Road, St Vincent De Paul Church on Ditton Lane and by the church of St Philip Howard, in Cherry Hinton Road.
There is a Russian Orthodox
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
church under the Diocese of Sourozh who worship at the chapel of Westcott House, the Greek Orthodox Church
Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Christianity in Greece, Greek Christianity, Antiochian Greek Christians, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christian ...
holds services at the purpose-built St Athanasios church under the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain, while the Romanian Orthodox Church share St Giles' with the Church of England.
There are two Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
churches in the city. Wesley Methodist Church was built in 1913, and is located next to
Christ's Pieces. The Castle Street Methodist Church is the oldest of the two, having been built in 1823, and was formerly a Primitive Methodist church.
There are three Quaker Meetings in Cambridge, located on Jesus Lane, Hartington Grove, and a Meeting called "Oast House" that meets in Pembroke College.
An Orthodox synagogue and Jewish student centre is located on Thompson's Lane, operated jointly by the Cambridge Traditional Jewish Congregation and the Cambridge University Jewish Society, which is affiliated to the Union of Jewish Students. The Beth Shalom Reform synagogue which previously met at a local school, opened a purpose-built synagogue in 2015. There is also a student-led egalitarian minyan which holds services on Friday evenings.
Cambridge Central Mosque is the main place of worship for Cambridge's community of around 4,000 Muslims. Opened in 2019, it is described as Europe's first eco-friendly mosque and is the first purpose-built mosque within the city. The Abu Bakr Jamia Islamic Centre on Mawson Road and the Omar Faruque Mosque and Cultural Centre in Kings Hedges are additional places of Muslim worship.
Cambridge Buddhist Centre, which belongs to Triratna Buddhist Community, was opened in the former Barnwell Theatre on Newmarket Road in 1998. There are also several local Buddhist meditation groups from various Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
including Samatha Trust and Buddha Mettā Society.
A Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
shrine was opened in 2010 at the Bharat Bhavan Indian cultural centre off Mill Road.
A Sikh
Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...
community has met in the city since 1982, and a Gurdwara
A gurdwara or gurudwara () is a place of assembly and place of worship, worship in Sikhism, but its normal meaning is "place of guru" or "home of guru". Sikhism, Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths and rel ...
was opened in Arbury in 2013.
Coat of Arms
Twinned cities
Cambridge is twinned with two cities. Like Cambridge, both have universities and are also similar in population; Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
, Germany since 1965, and Szeged
Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...
, Hungary since 1987.
Panoramic gallery
See also
* List of bridges in Cambridge
* List of churches in Cambridge
* Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies
* :Buildings and structures in Cambridge
* :Organisations based in Cambridge
* :People from Cambridge
Explanatory notes
References
Further reading
* Barwell, Noel (1910),
Cambridge
', Blackie & Son Limited
*
* Rawle, Tim (author and photographer), John Adamson (editor). ''Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
'' (new ed. with foreword by William Bortrick). Cambridge: The Oxbridge Portfolio (2016), 204 pp. .
External links
Cambridge City Council
*
Greater Cambridge Partnership
Cambridgeshire Association for Local History
Cambridgeshire Community Archives
Visit Cambridge
the official tourism website for Cambridge
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Cities in the East of England
County towns in England
Non-metropolitan districts of Cambridgeshire
Towns in Cambridgeshire
Unparished areas in Cambridgeshire
Boroughs in England
Former civil parishes in Cambridgeshire