Magdalene Bridge used to be known as “Great Bridge” and marks the site of an important Roman era river crossing. During Roman times the River Cam could be navigated from the Wash, all the way to Cambridge and all routes met at this crossing point, for trade during peaceful times and also armies and supplies in times of war such as the English Civil War. The river continued to be an important trade route delivering goods to places such as Stourbridge Common for the Fair until the opening of the railway in 1845, which became the dominant route from the seaside in Norfolk at a place called ‘the Wash’.
This history trail is narrated by the poet Michael Rosen, with script researched by Helen Weinstein and the team at Historyworks. This recording is part of a series of Cambridge history trails which have lyrics inspired by 'history beneath our feat' performed by local schoolchildren, with poems by the top poet Michael Rosen and songs by the funny team at CBBC's songwriters commissioned by Historyworks.
During Roman times, the River Cam was fully navigable from the Wash out at the seaside as far as Cambridge and was the northernmost point where transport from East Anglia to the Midlands was practicable. Therefore, Magdalene Bridge marks the site of an important Roman era river crossing. It used to be known as “Great Bridge”. All routes, both local and long- distance, had to converge on this crossing point, giving it immense strategic importance in times of peace for trade and in times of war to control armies and supplies.
An essential service for the survival of Cambridge, was the grinding of grain to make bread to feed both town and gown. The Mills were water powered and situated beyond the Backs where the River Cam supplied water to the Mill Pond. Here there were two competing Mills, the Bishop’s Mill and the King’s Mill, with another rival mill, Newnham Mill, just around the corner. Most of the grain was transported in from the south by barge, and then sold to merchants who shipped it by River beyond Cambridge as flour, ready to be sold on to bakers.
The River was therefore the most important means of transport for goods and services for Cambridge and in the 12th century, King Henry I issued a writ saying that Cambridge was to be the key port in the County. This meant that Cambridge had a monopoly over local river trade so that market traders thrived at the expense of those in other towns further downstream.
But this all changed in 1845 with the opening of the railway to London, which dealt the river trade its death-blow. Up until then the River Cam was the essential travel and trading route by which Cambridge was fed and built with boats bringing fish and grain, meat and salt, coal and reeds, timber and stone. Many business people in Cambridge had been dependent on the River for their trade.
The early importance of the River to Cambridge is captured on the City’s Coat of Arms which shows three sailing boats on the River; the Great Bridge topped with Cambridge Castle; flanked by giant Seahorses showing the city’s trading and strategic significance in relation to the River and the route to the Great Ouse and trade routes overseas via the Wash. Our song called ‘Seahorses’ is on the website for you to listen to and sing along to.
The biggest Fair in Europe, called Stourbridge Fair, also had boosted trade using the River from when it started in 1211 under a special charter from King John, and up to its heyday in the 1600s to 1800s. It ran for several weeks every September using the meadows between Stourbridge and the Leper Hospital with traders camping out all the way back along the River Cam to Fen Ditton. I’ve written a poem about all the numerous wares and foods and entertainments and you can view the film of it (shot on location at Stourbridge Fair) on the website.
As the population of Cambridge surged with businesses and housing, plus the University growing, there was a problem with sewage and smells in the River Cam. Not only did this cause discomfort to breathing and health problems, it also spread diseases, such as typhoid and cholera. The terrible stench and state of the river was noticed alike by poor and rich, worker and monarch.
On a visit to Cambridge in 1843, Queen Victoria asked, “What are those pieces of paper floating in the river?” Rather than saying they were book and newspaper pages used as toilet paper, the tactful answer was, “Those Ma’am are notices for the students to say that bathing is forbidden!”. By the end of the Victorian era, the River Cam was finally cleaned when the pumping station was built on Riverside in 1894 through which the sewage from the city was pumped out to the village of Milton, powered by steam pressure. It was only then that leisure became the main activity on the River Cam instead of traders, with punts and rowing boats, replacing barges and sailing skips.
But the Cambridge University Boat Club was founded in 1827 and the first competitions called ‘Bumping Races’ started in Cambridge in 1828, so these students were rowing in raw sewage during the early days. This form of racing developed of chasing crews along the Cam because the river was too narrow for the boats to race side by side. It must have been difficult for the students to be using the river when it was still the main place where the Colleges put their sewage, but the river experience was transformed with the building of pipes and the pumping station by the end of the Victorian era. This was when swimming in the River became possible with pleasure spots created at Coe Fen and Sheeps Green, where bathers preferred to bathe upstream where the River was cleanest.
Dave Cohen, the CBBC’s Horrible Histories songwriter has written some funny songs about the River Cam which you can listen to and sing along to using our website.