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

marketplace A marketplace, market place, or just market, 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 ...

in central

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 ...

. Operating as a marketplace since

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

times, a daily outdoor market with stalls continues to run there.

Description

The

market square A market square (also known as a market place) is an urban square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world. A market square is an open area where market stalls are tradit ...

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. east towards Sidney Street * 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
,

(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 Scho ...

* 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, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

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, Cambridge, St Andrew's Street, Corn Exchange Street, and Petty Cury, ...

, 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 t ...

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 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 ...

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 road, 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, Cambridge, Regent Street and ...

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

Celebrating the history and mysteries of Cambridge Market
{{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