THE PROVINCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

LXIX.—BEDFORDSHIRE, CAMBRIDGESHIRE, AND HUNTING- DONSHIRE :—THE TOWNS.

CAMBRIDGE is situated on the river Cam, fifty and a half miles (by road) N. by E. from London, in nearly the centre -of the southern district of the county. In Domesday Book it is called Grentebrige, from the river whose ancient name was -Granta, which name is still retained by it above Cambridge. We have spoken of the remains of entrenchments on the north bank of the river and the Castle side of the town, which are believed to indicate the site of a former Roman station. The- best antiquaries seem (as we have said) inclined to identify this site with the Cannonrr um of the Antonine Itinerary, but there is a little doubt on the subject, independently of any arguments to be derived from the Itinerary itself. Bede, in speaking of the miracles connected with zEdilthryda, the Virgin Queen of Ecgfrid, King of the Northumbrians, says that her sister Saxburg, who succeeded her as Abbess of Elgy (Ely), when 2Edilthryda had been buried sixteen years (A.D. 695), resolved to take up her bones and, putting theta into a new coffin, to transfer them into the church. Accordingly, she ordered some of the brothers to provide a stone to make a coffin. They accordingly went a board ship (because the district (regio) of Elgy is compassed one very side with water and marshes, and has no large stones), and came to a little abandoned (desolata)civitas, situated not far from thence, which in the language of the Angles is called Grantacaestir; and presently near the walls of the civitasthey found a white marble coffin, most beautifully wrought and most deftly covered with a lid of the same sort of stone. Con- sidering, therefore, that God had prospered their journey, they returned thanks to Him, and carried it to the monastery." Now, this deserted little town, which the Angles called Grantacaestir, might very well correspond with the site assigned to the Roman station of CAMBORITUM, at the north end of the present town of Cambridge ; but there exists three miles to the south-west of that town, but also on the north bank of the Grranta or Cam, a village now called Granchester (in Domesday Survey and other ancient records called Gransete, Grauncate, and Grauntesethe), which, as far as similarity of sound is concerned, certainly appears to have the best claim to be identified with the little deserted civitas of the seventh century, and which, by the termination of its name in chester (castra), seems to claim a Roman origin. As we possess no further evidence on the subject, we can only leave the matter doubtful. As, however, there is no mention made of any traces of Roman occupation having been found at Granchester, and there are such at Cambridge, it is possible that " Granchester " may have been nothing more than a name given to a village of later growth, preserving the memory of that once given to the deserted civitas in its immediate vicinity.

However this may be, Cambridge or Grentebrige does not appear in history as a Saxon town until we hear of its being burned by the Northmen in 871. It was made one of their principal stations, and in 875 three of their generals wintered there with an army, and they seem to have occupied it on various occasions down to the year 921. The Northinen in the town having submitted to Edward the Elder, he repaired the place, and, as some think, erected halls there for students and appointed pro- fessors. Whether Cambridge had been even before this (if then) a seat of learning is wholly unknown. Bede tells us that Sigebert, King of the East Angles in the seventh century, with the advice of Felix the Bishop, instituted within his kingdom a school for learn- ing, in imitation of what he had seen in France. Some suppose this to have been the origin of the University of Cambridge, and it veryprobably was in one sense, that is, it probably determined the erection of a seat of learning in the Eastern Counties ; but whether its first site was at Cambridge or elsewhere it is impossible to say, the presumption being rather against that site, as Sigebert would probably choose in preference the capital town of East Anglia, where he himself resided. Whenever the students first assembled at Cambridge, it is certain they resided in apartments hired of the townsmen, and afterwards in inns or hostels, where they lived in community, under a principal, at their own charge. In 1010 the Danes destroyed the town of Cambridge. In the time of Edward the Confessor there were 373 mansurz or houses in the town. The burgesses then gave the Sheriff the use of their carrucw or

carts three times a year. When the Isle of Ely was held against the Conqueror by the relics of the Saxon forces, William built a castle on the site of the old Roman station and the Danish fortress, enlarging the latter site by pulling down twenty-seven houses. This, according to Ordericus Vitalis, was

in 1068. At the time of Domesday Survey ninety-two of the mansurx paid no customary rent. Some of them had been wasted and some were privileged. Cambridge was then rated at a whole

hundred, divided into ten wards ; yet twenty-nine burgesses only

are enumerated as belonging to the town, besides a priest and three Francigenm. The Sheriff then demanded carts from the burgesses nine times a year. In 1088 the town and county were laid waste

with fire and sword by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrews- bury, then in arms in support of the claims of Robert Courthose.

In 1092 a house of Austin Canons was established in Cambridge. Henry I. exempted the town from the jurisdiction of the Sheriff,

on condition of the burgesses paying the sum of 101 marks annually into the Exchequer, which was the rent that had been till that time paid by the Sheriff. The townsmen, however, had to pur- chase the confirmation of this privilege, in the succeeding reign, by a payment of 300 marks and one mark of gold. In 1109 the Abbot of Croyland, having sent some learned monks, well versed in philosophy and the sciences, to his manor of Cottenham, they repaired to the neighbouring town of Cambridge, where a great number of scholars flocked to their lectures, which they arranged after the manner of the University of Orleans. This, according to some writers, was the first introduction of a regular system of academical education at Cambridge. A Benedictine nunnery, dedicated to St. Radegund, was established there somewhere about the year 1130. In 1174 there was a great fire at Cam- bridge, which did considerable injury to the parish churches, and destroyed that of the Holy Trinity. Cambridge was one of the castles which the Chancellor, William Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, was allowed to retain in his own hands, under the agreement between him and Earl (afterwards King) John, during King Richard's absence in Palestine. John, in the first year of his reign, in consideration of 250 marks, granted the townsmen of Cambridge the same privileges as the King's free and demesne burgesses ; and the next year granted them a merchant guild with extensive privileges, and in 1207 the liberty of being governed by a provost, to be chosen annually by themselves. This government Henry III. altered to one by a mayor and bailiffs, and granted the town many valuable privileges. The farm and custody of the castle had been granted by King John in 1208 to Fulk, son of Theobald. The King was at Cambridge on the 16th of September, 1216, about a month before his death, and on his departure entrusted the defence of the castle to Faukes de Brent. It was, however, soon taken by the Barons, who held a council there with Louis, the French Prince, on John's death.

In the fifteenth of Henry III. the first known Charter was granted to the University of Cambridge. Ily this the privilege is

given of appointing certain persons Called taxers to regulate the rent of lodgings for the students, which had been raised to an exorbitant height by the townsmen. This was about fifty years before the foundation of Peter House, the first endowed college.

In 1249 we have the first record of serious discord between the townsmen and the students, and these dissensions were renewed again and again frequently in subsequent years. In 1261 there were also dissensions in the University between the Northern and Southern men, so that many of the more studious scholars withdrew for quiet to Northampton, where a University was for a time established. From 1266 to 1270 Cambridge suffered much from the attacks of the inhabitants of the Isle of Ely, who on one occasion plundered and burnt the town, which was relieved by Henry III. with an army. In 1294 there was a great fire at Cam- bridge, which damaged St. Mary's Church and many houses. In 1295 the borough first sent two burgesses to Parliament. A priory of Black Friars had been founded in the town about the year 1275, and its site came after the dissolution of the monasteries into the hands of Sir Walter Mildmay, the founder of Emmanuel College, which is built thereon. In 1381 the civil turmoils which agitated the south-eastern counties of England affected Cambridge also, and the townsmen are said to have destroyed the charters of the University and those of Corpus Christi College. On this Richard II. deprived them of their charter, and bestowed the privileges they had enjoyed upon the University. In 1388 a Parliament was held at Cambridge. The townsmen regained their charter of incorporation in the next reign, but with abridged privileges. The mayor is required, on entering into office, to take an oath to main- tain the liberties, privileges, and customs of the University. The charter has been confirmed by various Sovereigns, from Henry IV.

downwards. In the contest for the Crown after the death of Edward VI., D udley, Duke of Northumberland, marched to Cambridge with an army, hoping to seize the Princess Mary, who was at Sir John Huddleston's house at Sanston. But she escaped into Suffolk, and the Duke, being deserted by the greater part of his army, retreated to Cambridge, and there tried to make his peace.by proclaiming Mary as Queen. But he was arrested the same night in King's College. The existence of the University brought several English Sovereigns in succession to visit Cam- bridge ; and Elizabeth, James I., and Charles I. were all received there with great state and pageant. A less agreeable visitor was the plague, which raged so violently in Cambridge in 1630 that the summer assizes were held at Royston and the Commencement was postponed. In April and November, 1640, Oliver Cromwell was returned as one of the burgesses to represent the town in Parliament, the townsmen being sturdy anti-Courtiers, antagonism

to the University, perhaps, contributing to this result. On the breaking out of the Civil War the University and several of the colleges attempted to send their plate to the King, to be melted down for his service, but most of it was either stopped or seized by Cromwell and his relatives and co-operators in the Eastern Counties. In 1643 he secured the town for the Parliament by placing in it a garrison of 1,000 men, and it remained faithful to that cause during the remainder of the Civil War, the University being remodelled and its learning revived under the Chancellor appointed by the Parliament, the Earl of Manchester. Richard Cromwell afterwards succeeded to the Chancellorship, which he resigned on his downfall from the Protectorship. The first stone of St. Mary's (the University) Church was laid in 1478, the body of the church finished in 1519, and the tower completed in 1608. St. Benedict's, or St. Benet's, is one of the few remaining examples of Anglo-Saxon Church architecture. The Round. Church of St. Sepulchre (restored in 1843) was consecrated in. 1101. There were formerly 77 ancient edifices in the town, con- sisting of guilds, priories, convents, hostels, &c. The castle was. suffered to go to decay as early as the reign of Henry IV., and its. last important relic, the Gate House, was pulled down some years ago to make way for the County Court. There have long been. fairs and an abundant market at Cambridge, the chief support of the town being the University. Corn, brawn, and Stilton cheese are considerable articles of trade. By means of locks the Cam is. navigable up to Cambridge, and by it the town is supplied with coals. A conduit was erected in 1614. The population of the town in 1861 was 26,361, a decrease of 1,454 during the preced- ing ten years.

Besides Cambridge, the county has one city, Ely, and flyer market towns— Wisbech (population, 9,276), March (population, 3,600), Thorney (population of parish, 2,219), Linton (population of parish, 1,833), and Soham (population of parish, 4,278), not to mention Newmarket (which is partly in Suffolk, under which we. have spoken of it), and Royston, which is partly in Hertfordshire.

Ely, the capital of the division of Cambridgeshire which is. called the Isle of Ely, in the northern part of the county, is. situated on a considerable eminence, near the river Ouse, sixteen. miles N.N.E. from Cambridge. It grew up round an abbey founded in early Saxon times. The Northmen pillaged and destroyed it in 870, and its revenues were annexed to the Crown. In 970 Edgar granted the Isle to Ethelwold,. Bishop of Winchester, who rebuilt the monastery, and pro- vided it with monks. It became the centre of a most gallant struggle against William the Conqueror ; but the isle was at last obliged to submit, and many of the inhabitants were put to the. sword, and most of the valuable furniture and jewels of the monas- tery seized, but restored through the firmness of the Abbot, Theodwin. Henry I. made Ely a bishopric in 1107. Henry VIII. converted the conventual church into a cathedral. The architec- ture of this building is of very various ages, the most ancient part— the transept—dating from William Rufus and Henry I. The length of the cathedral is 517 feet, and the western tower is 270 feet bight. The town consists principally of one long street, and there is a grammar school founded by Henry VIII. The Church of St. Mary's is partly Norman, partly Early English ; that of the Holy Trinity, formerly the Lady Chapel of the Cathedral, was com- menced in the reign of Edward II., and is one of the most perfect buildings of that age. The soil in the vicinity of the city, being very fertile, supplies much fruit, vegetables, and butter to the London market. There is a considerable manufactory for earthen- ware and tobacco pipes, and there are several mills in the isle for the preparation of oil. Lime-burning is carried on, and there are several breweries. The river Ouse gives the city water communi- cation, and there are several fairs for corn, cattle, hops, Cottenhain cheese, &c. The government of the city and isle was formerly. vested in the Bishop of Ely ; but in the reign of William IV. it was given to the Crown, which appoints a Custos Rotulorum for the isle. The population in 1851 was 6,176; in 1861, 6,179.