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Castle Hill in
The hill is the site of the original settlement, north of the Cambridge history
There is evidence of pre-Roman activity, but the Romans created a town called Duroliponte here. It was a convenient place to cross the river. At the time it was at the head of the navigable part of the river, then known as the
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 ...
, England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, is located in the 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 ...
ward of the city. Cambridgeshire County Council
Cambridgeshire County Council is the county council for non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county, which additionally includes the City o ...
's former headquarters, Shire Hall, are located directly adjacent to Castle Hill.
History
The hill is the site of the original settlement, north of the River Cam
The River Cam () is the main river flowing through Cambridge in eastern England. After leaving Cambridge, it flows north and east before joining the River Great Ouse to the south of Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely, at Pope's Corner. The total distanc ...
.There is evidence of pre-Roman activity, but the Romans created a town called Duroliponte here. It was a convenient place to cross the river. At the time it was at the head of the navigable part of the river, then known as the
River Granta
The River Granta is the name of two of the four tributaries of the River Cam, although both names are often used synonymously. The Granta starts near the village of Widdington in Essex, flowing north past Audley End House to merge with the ot ...
. St Peter's Church, located halfway up the hill, has some pieces of Roman tile in its walls.
In the Anglo Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a 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 their origins to Ge ...
period, the hill was used for defence. In 1068, the Normans
The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...
built Cambridge Castle
Cambridge Castle, locally also known as Castle Mound, is located in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. Originally built after the Norman conquest of England, Norman conquest to control the strategically important route to the north of England, ...
on the hill. The castle is no longer extant; only the castle mound and some groundworks remain.
See also
* Castle Street, southwest of Castle Hill * Honey Hill, also to the southwestReferences
{{Coord, 52.2128, N, 0.1128, E, display=title, region:GB_type:landmark Parks and open spaces in Cambridge History of Cambridge Hills of Cambridgeshire