Cambridge (Kaim'brij), county town of Cambridgeshire, lies on the Cam, 58 miles N. by E. of London, and 76 NE. of Oxford. Two important Roman roads, Akernan Street and the Via Devana, here cross the valley of the Cam, and were guarded by the station Camboritum, the outlines of which can still be clearly traced on the north side of the river. In its centre is the partly artificial mound, now known as Castle Hill, which is probably a relic of a yet older British city. The Saxon town of Grantabrygge occupied the site of Camboritum, and it was here that the Norman castle was built. The present town, as distinguished from the university, has not many features of interest. It possesses a guildhall, corn exchange, free public library, and jail. There is also a fine county hospital founded under the will of Dr Addenbrooke in 1743, and an extensive recreation ground named Parker's Piece. Of the churches St Benedict's or Benets has a tower which is a fine specimen of the so-called Saxon architecture, and the church of the Holy Sepulchre is the oldest of the four round churches in England, having been built in 1101 in imitation of the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. It was restored by the Camden Society in 1841. The parish church of Great St Mary's is also the church of the university, at which all academic services are held. In 1887-90 there was built a fine R. C. church, with a spire 215 feet high. The country round Cambridge is somewhat flat and dull; but on the west side the grounds known as ' the Backs' of the colleges are very beautiful, consisting of gardens, meadows, and avenues. The Cam flows through them, and is crossed by nine bridges. Above Cambridge the Cam is a small but picturesque stream. Below Cambridge it is dull and ugly, but is used for boat-racing. Since 1885 the borough of Cambridge has sent one member to parliament, instead of two as formerly. Pop. (1851) 27,815; (1871) 30,078; (1901) 47,737, of whom 38,393 were within the municipal borough.

The university, dating from about the 12th century, comprises the following colleges in the order of their antiquity: St Peter's, Clare, Pembroke, Caius, Trinity Hall, Corpus Christi, King's, Queens', St Catharine's, Jesus, Christ's, St John's, Magdalene, Trinity, Emmanuel, Sidney Sussex, Downing, Selwyn. Ridley Hall (a theological training-college), Westminster (Presbyterian) College, and Girton and Newnham colleges for women are no part of the university. Teachers number 120, students 3000. Chief among college buildings are King's (1441), with its noble Perpendicular chapel; Trinity, with its courts, its hall, and its library by Wren; and John's, with its splendid new chapel (1869) by Scott. There are also the library, Senate house, Fitzwilliam museum, observatory, union, etc. See works by J. Bass Mullinger (2 vols. 1873-84), and Willis and Clark (4 vols. 1889), besides Humphry's short Guide (5th ed. 1890).

Among its 'wranglers' (those who constitute the first-class after the public mathematical honour examinations) have been the great English mathematicians for many generations.

But amongst the eminent men Cambridge has sent forth have been men as various as Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, Parker, Tillotson, Tenison, Jeremy Taylor, Isaac Barrow, Paley, Cudworth, Wollaston, Bentley, Porson, Lord Bacon, Harvey, Sir Isaac Newton, Lord Burghley, Falkland, Strafford, Oliver Cromwell, Pitt, Palmerston, Fuller, Pepys, H. Walpole, Wilberforce, Macaulay, Thackeray, Lytton, Darwin, Marlowe, Fletcher, Spenser, Milton, Ben Jonson, Waller, Herrick, Dryden, Cowley, Gray, Byron, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Tennyson.

Cambridge

Cambridge, a city of Massachusetts, virtually a suburb of Boston (q.v.), from which it is separated by the Charles River, is principally distinguished as the seat of Harvard University; it was the home from 1836 of Longfellow, who lived in a house formerly occupied by Washington. Cambridge was first settled in 1630, and is therefore one of the oldest towns in New England. It early became noted for its printing industry, and the manufacture of books is now one of its leading industries; besides which there are large manufactories of furniture, glass, ironware, tinware, bricks, chemicals, net and twine, sugar, soap, and rubber. Within the limits of the city are comprised the different localities of Old Cambridge, or Cambridge proper, which is distinctively the seat of the university; East Cambridge or Lechmere Point, a manufacturing district; Cambridgeport, where is located the city hall, numerous churches, several banks, a convent, and some manufactories; and North Cambridge, which is principally devoted to residences. Here Washington assumed command in 1775. The famous cemetery of Mount Auburn is partly in Cambridge and partly in Watertown. Pop. of Cambridge (1870) 39,364; (1900) 91,886.