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Cambridge History |
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Cambridge is one of Britain’s most famous university towns and retains a strong sense of history that is evident in every area of daily life, from the gowns and mortar boards of its students to the cobbled streets which are home to award-winning museums such as The Kettle’s Yard Museum and the famous Fitzwilliam Museum [map], which can be found at Trumpington Street. It’s easy to forget that Cambridge even existed before the university but a quick walk around the traditional market squares and the beautiful River Cam confirms that the city has a long history and an important place in Britain’s past. The River Cam was once known as Granta and its resources were first capitalised on by the Iron Age Belgic tribe, who chose the area around Castle Hill to settle and build a community. This was in the first century BC and they stayed and raised generations here until AD40 when the Romans took over the site and it became a crossing point for the Via Devana, which linked Colchester with the Roman legions in Lincoln. The Saxons followed and then the Normans who, under the rule of William The Conqueror, built a castle on a high mound as a base to fight Saxon rebel Hereward the Wake. An area of William’s castle still stands today and is a favourite with visitors keen to glimpse into the past. The first scholars arrived in Cambridge in 1209 but it was another 75 years before the idea for a college was formed. It was Hugh De Balsham, Bishop of Ely, who founded Peterhouse. This was followed by Clare, Pembroke, Gonville, Caius, Trinity Hall and Corpus Christi in the first half of the 14th century. Ten more colleges were founded in the 15th and 16th century and the last college was founded in the 1970s. Cambridge inspired many dreamy scholars to wax lyrical and some of the city’s most famous commentators include the poets Brooke, Byron, Newton and Rutherford. |
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