Cambridge - A Few Interesting Facts

Front of the college Peterhouse on Trumpington Street. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cambridge is a world famous city and largely for one reason, its university  The institution does indeed dominate the town’s history and continues to shape its profile today; and as a result the town has had a notable impact on the wider culture and wealth of the country for the last 800 years. The following article provides a handful of interesting facts about the city that you may or may not have known already, and that give an idea of its stature.

The Old University
As mentioned, Cambridge and its university are essentially synonymous - the reason that the city has such a global profile. The university is not only one of the top five in the world but can claim an almost unrivalled heritage being as it is the second oldest in the English speaking world, and the third oldest that is still in existence in entirety - behind only Oxford and Bologna. In fact, the institution owes its very existence to a decamping from Oxford in the first place following disputes there between the scholars and the locals. This first groups of incoming scholars can be dated back to 1209 although the university didn't receive its royal charter until 1231. The first of its colleges that we still know today can even be traced back to the 13th century with the founding of Peterhouse college by the Bishop of Ely in 1284.

Scientific Soccer
The modern game of football may have been given its moniker by the other university in Oxford but Cambridge can be considered to have been instrumental in its development. Arguably the first ever game of what we would recognise as football or soccer was played in the centre of the city on Parker’s Piece - a park still popular with locals and students alike. The game in 1848 was the first to use the Cambridge Rules which went on to be a prime influence behind the first ever of set of standardised association football rules 15 years later. What’s more, many of the fundamental tactics that shape the way the game is played to this day can be attributed to the university’s team. The Combination Game, as it came to be known, promoted the idea of each player having a position on the pitch, and a role in the therefore in the team, as well as reliance on the passing of the ball in place of dribbling and charging. These revolutionary changes are taken for granted now but were labelled ‘scientific’ in the 19th century and many have credited their development to the Cambridge University side of 1882.

Granting of City Status
Cambridge had been granted a town charter as far back as the 12th century, however, due in part perhaps to a number of episodes - like the one in which it found itself on the wrong side of the peasant’s revolt in the 14th century leading in turn to a revised charter and more control placed in the hands of the university - as well as the lack of a cathedral, it took until the mid 20th century to gain city status. To the surprise of many who assume that Cambridge is a typical Cathedral city, it still doesn't have a Cathedral and instead falls within the diocese of Ely.

Grant being the Operative Word
It may be well know that the town’s name can be ascribed to its position at the bridge over the famous River Cam - the iconic scene of punting students on a sunny afternoon - but what is perhaps not so well known is that the river actually owes its current name to the town and not vice versa. The Anglo-Saxon name for the river was Granta and the name for the town therefore was Grantabrycge, meaning Bridge over the River Granta. Indeed the Anglo-Saxon abbreviation for the town, as seen on coins minted there, used to be Grant. However, this name has been subsequently corrupted down the centuries to arrive at the modern ‘Cambridge’, whilst the river has since borrowed the ‘Cam’ back. The name Granta is still used to refer to the river in some contexts, including a couple of its tributaries, and traces can be seen in modern place-names such as Grantchester - a village on Cambridge’s outskirts (which is allegedly home to the highest concentration of Nobel Prize winners in the world).