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John has been to Cambridge to see the castle, the mound of which still survives. Although a graduate of Peterhouse and now a Visiting Professor of Architecture, associated with the Ax:son Johnson Centre for the Study of Classical Architecture at Downing College, Clive comes new to this early history but many stories of more recent times. Together the pair mull over the development of this remarkable city, famous for one of the most beautiful ensembles of buildings in England.
The castle reminds those who might have forgotten – or never knew – how important this fenland settlement was to William the Conqueror in the Norman period. Scholars arrived from Oxford in the 13th century, to establish what became the university. It rose to glory under the patronage of Henry VII, his mother Lady Margaret Beauford and his son Henry VIII. King’s College Chapel was finished in this era; Trinity College, St John’s College and Christ’s College were all founded. It is not only the buildings that give Cambridge its character but the open landscape of the Backs, one of the triumphs of the Picturesque.
Today Cambridge is a boom town, thanks to the knowledge economy associated with the university’s record in scientific and mathematical research. There has been rapid growth in housing, served by two new railway stations, Cambridge North and Cambridge South. Can the qualities for which Clive and John love the place survive the pressure?