The history of Cambridge began in the first century BC, when an Iron Age tribe established a settlement on
Castle Hill. A ford was built at the foot of the hill to cross the River Cam, originally known as Granta, the
river upstream of Silver Street Bridge still retains its old name.
Later the Romans took over this site which was an important crossing point, marking the meeting place
of the Roman Roads, in particular the Via Devana which linked Colchester to Chester. It was the Normans
who built a castle here as a base for fighting Hereward the Wake, the Saxon rebel. …
