Remember Cambridge
Open For Bookings May 2024
So far we have seen that Cambridge was a prospering town before the University arrived. But then its fortunes declined slightly in the centuries after Cambridge University was founded as the economy of England shifted and Cambridge ceased being a centre of trade. But as the world began to modernise from the sixteenth century, Cambridge’s economy turned around and it was once more becoming a thriving town. At the same time the University found itself at the centre of important scientific discoveries.
Towards the end of the fifteenth century the fortunes of Cambridge began to improve once more. There were still some ‘wastelands’ recorded in the town but as more and more colleges were founded, land started to be used and more work was provided for craftsmen and labourers.
By the second half of the sixteenth century there were even complaints about properties being sub-divided too much due to the number of people in the town. Overcrowding makes a huge contrast to the complaints about empty space of earlier years. Maps made in the sixteenth century show that almost all streets were lined with properties. But the town remained small, and much like today, was filled with orchards and green open spaces. Thus, you were never more than five minutes from a common or open farmland.
In some ways, sixteenth century Cambridge was perhaps not that different today. Many of the college buildings still in the city centre would have already been constructed. Plus, today large areas of Cambridge are still used as common land for grazing cattle, much like they would have been centuries ago!
But growth and prosperity in the town was brought to an abrupt halt by the outbreak of the English Civil War. Cambridge had a complex relationship with the civil war. Oliver Cromwell (leader of the Parliamentarian Army) was a popular local man, born nearby in Ely, and recently elected as Member of Parliament for Cambridge. But… the university itself was very much a royalist institution, with many of its colleges founded by previous kings and queens.
When war broke out, Cromwell and his army were based just north of Cambridge, near Huntingdon. The colleges remained fiercely loyal to the crown and attempted to answer the King’s call for gold to finance his war. The colleges gathered together some gold-plate to send to the King and his army. Cromwell and his army heard about this and marched on Cambridge to stop the money reaching the King and helping fund his war. However, the colleges managed to sneak some of the plate out of the city to meet the Royal Army. But Cromwell arrived before it was all sent.
Cromwell and his Parliamentarian Army then set up camp in Cambridge within the picturesque colleges. King’s College Chapel is rumoured to have been used as a stable for the horses. Inscriptions made by some of the soldiers can still be seen on the inside walls. They also strengthened their position by destroying bridges to prevent the enemy managing to cross the river to their stronghold. The decision was made to only keep Clare Bridge (as it was the newest and thus the strongest and also because it was close to the chapel).
Ultimately, Cromwell and his Parliamentary army won the Civil War and the decision was made to execute the King. For a brief while the country was a Commonwealth, ruled by Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector, rather than a monarch. This was a strange time for the country, with strict Puritan laws (such as banning Christmas and games) enforced. Cromwell is said to have burned a bible inside Cambridge’s Great St. Mary’s Church. But the story of the Protectorate is a complex one told many times in other places and not a tale we can do justice to here…
One year after the monarchy was restored in 1660, ending the country’s time as a Protectorate, a new student arrived at Trinity College. This student began as a sub-sizar meaning he received his university education in return for performing valet duties for the college. He began studying at the university in 1661 and in 1664 he received a scholarship enabling him to stay for a further four years to complete his Masters. But despite that he was perceived by his teachers as simply an average student with nothing overly remarkable about him.
But just one year after receiving the scholarship, a rather familiar disaster struck. The great plague reached England and Cambridge University was forced to close and send all the students home. This particular student returned home to Woolsthorpe Manor where a series of discoveries made him one of Cambridge’s most famous alumni. Guessed who it is yet…?
If not, let me give you a bigger hint – this student’s most famous discovery relates to the apple tree at his home… It is of course, Isaac Newton. Many of you have probably heard the usual story of how he was sat under the apple tree when one of the apples fell on his head and he realised gravity was a thing. This unfortunately, is fake news. The real story does involve the apple tree but not a concussion! In the Covid-19 pandemic we have all sheltered at home with Netflix to amuse us. However, Isaac Newton was not so blessed with entertainment. He instead sheltered himself from the Plague by contemplating why apples fell in a straight line from the tree to the ground. It was through considering this that he came up with his theory of gravity.
Isaac Newton returned to Cambridge once the plague epidemic had petered out and completed his studies. He went on to become a lecturer at Trinity College. It was said that his lectures were so boring that he used to send students to sleep. In the end some students claimed that attending lectures that were so dull was a breach of their human rights and boycotted. But Newton was apparently undeterred and continued lecturing to completely empty lecture rooms.
Newton remained humble despite being considered as one of the greatest scientists to have ever lived. In a letter to his rival, Robert Hooke, in 1676 he attributed his success to “standing on the shoulders of giants”. In this analogy he argues that he was only capable of discovering what he did because of the work of his predecessors, such as Aristotle.
Isaac Newton is just one of the many incredible people to have studied and worked at Cambridge University across the 17th to 19th centuries. These men have made massive contributions to the emergence of the world as we know it. Men such as Thomas Clarkson and William Wilberforce who played key roles in the abolition of slavery.
But the journey was not yet complete for the development of Cambridge University. Our story still has about 150 years to go. 150 turbulent years for Cambridge that see the admission of women to the University, two World Wars and the expansion of the town into a small city that attracts millions of tourists each year.