Mill Road, Cambridge
Encyclopedia
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It runs southeast from near to Parker's Piece
Parker's Piece
Parker's Piece is a flat and very roughly square green common located near the centre of Cambridge, England. The two main walking and cycling paths across it run diagonally, and the single lamp-post at the junction is commonly known as Reality Checkpoint...
, at the junction with Gonville Place
Gonville Place
Gonville Place is a road in southeast central Cambridge, England. It forms part of the city's inner ring road. At the southwest end is the junction of Regent Street and Hills Road, where the road continues as Lensfield Road...
, East Road
East Road, Cambridge
East Road is a dual-carriageway road in the east of Cambridge, England. It is designated the A603 and forms part of Cambridge's inner ring road. The southwest end of East Road is next to Parker's Piece, at the junction with Parkside, Mill Road, and Gonville Place...
, and Parkside. It crosses the main railway line and links to the city's ring road
Ring road
A ring road, orbital motorway, beltway, circumferential highway, or loop highway is a road that encircles a town or city...
(the A1134). It passes through the wards of Petersfield and Romsey, which are divided by the railway line. It is a busy, cosmopolitan street home to many independent businesses, churches, a Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
temple and the city's mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
.
Near the northwestern end to the south in Mortimer Road off Mill Road is Hughes Hall
Hughes Hall, Cambridge
Hughes Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. It is often informally called Hughes, and is the oldest of the four Cambridge colleges which admit only mature students...
, one of the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
colleges. Behind Hughes Hall is Fenner's
Fenner's
Fenner's is the University of Cambridge's cricket ground.-History:Fenner's has hosted first-class cricket since 1848, and many of the world's great players have graced the wicket. The ground was established on land leased for the purpose by Francis Fenner, after whom the ground is named.Playing for...
, the cricket ground of the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, which has hosted first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
since 1848. To the north is Anglia Ruskin University
Anglia Ruskin University
Anglia Ruskin University is one of the largest universities in Eastern England, United Kingdom, with a total student population of around 30,000.-History:...
, formerly Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology (CCAT).
History
Mill Road was originally a quiet country lane leading to the southeast out of the city of Cambridge, named after the windmillWindmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
that stood at what is now the corner of Covent Garden. The coming of the railways in the mid-19th century brought about a rapid development of the eastern part of the city after Cambridge University repeatedly blocked attempts to build a more central station
Cambridge railway station
Cambridge railway station is a railway station serving the city of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located at the end of Station Road, off Hills Road, 1 mile south-east of the city centre...
. The population of the Mill Road area was listed as 252 in 1801, 6,651 in 1831, 11,848 in 1861 and 25,091 in 1891.
Petersfield and Romsey Town, the areas of Mill Road to either side of the railway bridge, developed in markedly different ways.
Petersfield, to the west of the railway, was originally developed by Gonville and Caius and Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Corpus Christi College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is notable as the only college founded by Cambridge townspeople: it was established in 1352 by the Guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary...
colleges
Colleges within UK Universities
In relation to universities, the term college normally refers to a part of the university which does not have degree-awarding powers in itself. Degrees are always awarded by universities, colleges are institutions or organisations which prepare students for the degree...
(a fact reflected in the naming of the area’s streets after college fellows). In 1838 the Cambridge Union Workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
was opened, a building subsequently to become the Mill Road Maternity Hospital and finally a sheltered housing scheme.
Romsey Town, east of the railway, started to be developed after the inclosure acts of the middle 19th century. Expansion of the railway network drove the building of housing for railway workers and the majority of the houses were built in the ten years after 1885.
Historically Petersfield has always been thought of by local residents as being on the 'Gown' side of the town and gown
Town and gown
Town and gown are two distinct communities of a university town; "town" being the non-academic population and "gown" metonymically being the university community, especially in ancient seats of learning such as Oxford, Cambridge, Durham and St Andrews, although the term is also used to describe...
divide, with many of the residents having been employed by the University. Romsey, on the other hand, remained predominantly working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
with a socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
tradition in its local politics, becoming known locally as 'Red Romsey' or 'Little Russia'.
Mill Road Winter Fair
The Mill Road Winter Fair is an annual fair on the first Saturday in December. Attendance has grown from 10,000 at the first fair in 2005 to at least 20,000 in 2009. Since 2009 part of Mill Road, including the bridge, has been closed to traffic for the duration of the fair. Regular activities include shop a window display competition, live music, folk dancing, a local history walk and open days at the road's churches, temple and mosque.Notable residents
The following live or have lived in the Mill Road area:- Douglas AdamsDouglas AdamsDouglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
— author. Born at Mill Road Maternity Hospital, 1952. - Syd BarrettSyd BarrettSyd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
— musician. Born at 60 Glisson Road, 1946. Attended Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology (now Anglia Ruskin UniversityAnglia Ruskin UniversityAnglia Ruskin University is one of the largest universities in Eastern England, United Kingdom, with a total student population of around 30,000.-History:...
) with David GilmourDavid GilmourDavid Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
, 1962-64. - Robert CarpenterRobert Carpenter (cricketer)Robert Pearson Carpenter was a noted English cricketer and umpire.A right-handed batsman and occasional wicket-keeper, he played for Cambridgeshire during its brief period as a first-class county in the 1850s and 1860s, as well as for the United All-England Eleven...
- cricketer. Born 18 November 1830 in Mill Road. - Susanna ClarkeSusanna ClarkeSusanna Mary Clarke is a British author best known for her debut novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell , a Hugo Award-winning alternate history. Clarke began Jonathan Strange in 1993 and worked on it during her spare time...
- author (Jonathan Strange & Mr NorrellJonathan Strange & Mr NorrellJonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is the 2004 first novel by British writer Susanna Clarke. An alternative history set in 19th-century England around the time of the Napoleonic Wars, it is based on the premise that magic once existed in England and has returned with two men: Gilbert Norrell and...
). - Rajani Palme DuttRajani Palme DuttRajani Palme Dutt , best known as R. Palme Dutt, was a leading journalist and theoretician in the Communist Party of Great Britain.-Early years:...
- communist ideologue and vice-chairman of the British Communist Party (CPGB). Born 1896 in 25 Mill Road, where his father Upendra Krishna Dutt had a medical practice. The building now houses the Petersfield Medical Practice. - Gordon FraserGordon FraserGordon Fraser was a British publisher and literary editor. He was educated at Cambridge. A student of F.R. Leavis, he founded, while still an undergraduate, The Minority Press which published chiefly essays of Leavis and works of other Cambridge students from 1930 to 1933...
— publisher. Lived at 274a Mill Road during the late 1930s. Dylan ThomasDylan ThomasDylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
attended a notorious week-long drunken party there in 1937 after coming to Cambridge to give a reading. - Fred HoyleFred HoyleSir Fred Hoyle FRS was an English astronomer and mathematician noted primarily for his contribution to the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis and his often controversial stance on other cosmological and scientific matters—in particular his rejection of the "Big Bang" theory, a term originally...
— astronomer and mathematician. Lived on Mill Road as an undergraduate in Emmanuel CollegeEmmanuel College, CambridgeEmmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary...
digs, 1933-35. - Tom KarenTom KarenTom Karen is a British industrial designer of Czech origin. He was Managing Director and Chief Designer of Ogle Design from 1962 until 1999. He oversaw design of the Bush Radio TR130 radio, the Raleigh Chopper, the Bond Bug, the Reliant Scimitar GTE, the Anadol A1 , an award-winning series of...
— designer of the Reliant Scimitar GTE, Bond BugBond BugThe Bond Bug was a small British two seat, three wheeled sports car of the 1970s. Following the purchase of Bond Cars Limited, Reliant commissioned Tom Karen of Ogle Design to design a fun car. It was a wedge-shaped microcar, with a lift-up canopy and side screens instead of conventional doors...
and Raleigh ChopperRaleigh ChopperThe Raleigh Chopper is a children's bicycle, a wheelie bike, manufactured and marketed in the 1970s by the Raleigh Bicycle Company of Nottingham, England. Its unique design became a true 70s cultural icon, and is fondly remembered by many who grew up in that period...
bicycle. - F.R. Leavis — notable British literary critic. Born above his father's music shop at 69 Mill Road, 1895.
- Tom SharpeTom SharpeTom Sharpe is an English satirical author, best known for his Wilt series of novels.Sharpe was born in London and moved to South Africa in 1951, where he worked as a social worker and a teacher, before being deported for sedition in 1961...
— author. Lived on Mill Road while lecturing in History at CCATAnglia Ruskin UniversityAnglia Ruskin University is one of the largest universities in Eastern England, United Kingdom, with a total student population of around 30,000.-History:...
between 1963 and 1972. - Amy WilliamsAmy WilliamsAmy Joy Williams MBE is an English skeleton racer and Olympic gold medallist. Originally a runner, she began training in skeleton after trying the sport on a push-start track at the University of Bath...
— 2010 Winter Olympics2010 Winter OlympicsThe 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
women's SkeletonSkeleton (sport)Skeleton is a fast winter sliding sport in which an individual person rides a small sled down a frozen track while lying face down, during which athletes experience forces up to 5g. It originated in St. Moritz, Switzerland as a spin-off from the popular British sport of Cresta Sledding...
gold medalist.