Mill Road, Cambridge

Mill Road was originally a quiet country lane leading to the southeast out of the city of Cambridge, named after the windmill 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 the University of Cambridge repeatedly blocked attempts to build a more central station.{{cite journal|author=Gray, Adrian|title=Cambridge's quest for a central station|journal=Journal of the Railway and Canal Historical Society|volume=22|pages=22–4|year=1976}} 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.Ronald D. Gray, Derek Stubbings, Cambridge street-names: their origins and associations. Cambridge University Press, 2000. {{ISBN|0-521-78956-7}}, {{ISBN|978-0-521-78956-1}}.

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 colleges (a fact reflected in the naming of the area's streets after college fellows). In 1838 the Cambridge Union Workhouse was opened, a building subsequently to become the Mill Road Maternity Hospital[http://www.addenbrookes.org.uk/serv/nonclin/archive/mill_road.htm Mill Road, Maternity Hospital] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100201181739/http://www.addenbrookes.org.uk/serv/nonclin/archive/mill_road.htm |date=1 February 2010 }}, Cambridge University Hospitals. and finally Ditchburn Place, a sheltered housing scheme.[http://www.creatingmycambridge.com/history-stories/ditchburn-place/] History Stories Mill Road Cemetery adjoins the Petersfield part of Mill Road to the north and David Parr House, a preserved terraced house decorated in the Arts and Crafts style, is close to the junction of Mill Road and Gwydir Street.

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.Alan Brigham and Colin Wiles, [http://www.cih.org/branches/east/publications/bringing-it-all-back-home.htm Bringing it all back home] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929185733/http://www.cih.org/branches/east/publications/bringing-it-all-back-home.htm |date=29 September 2011 }}. CIH, 2006.

Historically Petersfield has always been thought of by local residents as being on the 'Gown' side of the town and gown divide, with many of the residents having been employed by the University. Romsey, on the other hand, remained predominantly working class with a socialist tradition in its local politics, becoming known locally as 'Red Romsey' or 'Little Russia'.

File:Mill Road, Cambridge, England 01.jpg|Mill Road, looking toward the city.

File:Bridge mural on Mill Road, Cambridge, England.jpg|Railway bridge mural.

File:cmglee_Cambridge_Romsey_Mill_from_Coleridge_Road.jpg|Romsey Mill Centre

File:cmglee_Cambridge_Mosque_look_out.jpg|Cambridge Central Mosque atrium, looking towards Mill Road

File:Mill_Road_Winter_Fair_2013_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3775900.jpg

The Mill Road Winter Fair[http://www.millroadwinterfair.org Mill Road Winter Fair] is an annual fair on the first Saturday in December. Attendance grew from 10,000 at the first fair in 2005[https://archive.today/20120720203056/http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_cambridge/displayarticle.asp?id=287442 Report of First Fair], Cambridge Evening News to at least 20,000 in 2009.[https://archive.today/20120722010723/http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_home/displayarticle.asp?id=469245 Report of 2009 Fair], Cambridge Evening News Since 2009 part of Mill Road, including the bridge, has been closed to traffic for the duration of the fair. Regular activities include a shop window display competition, live music, folk dancing, a local history walk and open days at the road's churches, temple and mosque.[http://www.millroadwinterfair.org/events/all Winter Fair timetable 2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204224035/http://www.millroadwinterfair.org/events/all |date=4 December 2010 }} The fair was founded by Suzy Oakes.{{Cite news |last=Spencer |first=Alex |date=10 November 2022 |title=New site for Mill Road temple arch in Cambridge approved |work=Cambridge Independent |url=https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/new-site-for-mill-road-temple-arch-in-cambridge-approved-9283075/ |access-date=14 November 2022}}

The Gateway from India is an intricate temple archway that was carved by hand in Rajasthan, over a period of five years. In 2006, it was installed in the Bharat Bhavan Hindu temple, inside the library building on Mill Road.{{Cite web |last=Middleton |first=Siobhan |date=2023-08-10 |title='£1m' Indian archway saved from being thrown away can be seen in Cambridge |url=https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/1-million-indian-archway-saved-27494003 |access-date=2023-08-27 |website=CambridgeshireLive |language=en}} Following repossession of the temple by Cambridgeshire County Council in 2020, the archway was bought by hairdresser Piero D'Angelico, a member of Mill Road Traders' Association for £1. Subsequently installed in public gardens in Ditchburn Place. It was opened in September 2023 in the presence of local dignitaries.

The following live or have lived in the Mill Road area:

• Douglas Adams — author. Born at Mill Road Maternity Hospital, 1952.Hitchhiker: A Biography of Douglas Adams (Paperback) — M.J. Simpson. Coronet Books 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-340-82489-4}}.[https://archive.org/details/hitchhikerbiogra00simp/page/6 p.6]
• Syd Barrett — musician. Born at 60 Glisson Road, 1946. Attended Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology (now Anglia Ruskin University) with David Gilmour, 1962–64. Worked as a postman at Mill Road Sorting Office.Crazy diamond: Syd Barrett & the dawn of Pink Floyd — Mike Watkinson and Pete Anderson. Omnibus Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-7119-8835-8}}, {{ISBN|978-0-7119-8835-4}}.Syd Barrett & Pink Floyd: Dark Globe - Julian Palacios Plexus, 2010. {{ISBN|0-85965-431-1}}, {{ISBN|978-0-85965-431-9}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=DvgH58uEPFAC&dq=lived%20in%20mill%20road%20cambridge&pg=PA49 p.49]
• Richard Berengarten (aka Burns), poet and founder of the Cambridge Poetry Festival.{{cite web |url=http://www.berengarten.com/site/Cont.html |title=Berengarten.com |access-date=3 April 2014}}
• Allan Brigham — local historian and tour guide. Lived in Cockburn Street, off Mill Road.{{cite web |last1=Alan |first1=Macfarlane |title=Allan Brigham born 1951 |url=https://livesretold.co.uk/allan-brigham |website=LivesRetold.co.uk |access-date=13 September 2020}}
• Robert Carpenter — cricketer. Born 18 November 1830 in Mill Road.{{cite book |last=Case|first=Roy|title=The Victorian Pioneers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1b2tDQAAQBAJ&q=Carpenter&pg=PP87 |access-date=2017-08-04 |year=2016 |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=978-1524664589}}
• Susanna Clarke — author (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell).{{cite web |url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cambridge/New-chapter-on-screen-for-Susannas-book.htm |title=New chapter on screen for Susanna's book |publisher=Cambridge News |access-date=8 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926024332/http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cambridge/New-chapter-on-screen-for-Susannas-book.htm |archive-date=26 September 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}
• Rajani Palme Dutt — communist ideologue and vice-chairman of the British Communist Party (CPGB). Born 1896 in 25 Mill Road, where his father Upendra Krishna Dutt had founded a medical practice around 1890.Rajani Palme Dutt Collection, People's History Museum, Manchester. The building now houses the [http://www.petersfieldmedicalpractice.co.uk/ Petersfield Medical Practice].
• Gordon Fraser — publisher. Lived at 274a Mill Road during the late 1930s. Dylan Thomas attended a notorious week-long drunken party there in 1937 after coming to Cambridge to give a reading.Graham Chainey, A literary history of Cambridge. CUP Archive, 1995. {{ISBN|0-521-47681-X}}, {{ISBN|978-0-521-47681-2}}.
• David Gilmour — musician. Lived in a flat on Mill Road while playing in Joker's Wild, his first band.{{cite book |last=Blake |first=Mark |title=Comfortably Numb: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hKXhLoWCPQ8C&q=joker%27s+wild+david+gilmour+mill+road&pg=PA35 |access-date=2013-02-07 |year=2008 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0-306-81752-6 |page=34 }}
• Colin Greenland — Science fiction author (Take Back Plenty).{{cite web |url=http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/misc/cg.htm |title=Profile - Colin Greenland|publisher=Infinity Plus |access-date=9 December 2013}}
• Timothy Gowers — Mathematician.
• Fred Hoyle — astronomer and mathematician. Lived on Mill Road as an undergraduate in Emmanuel College digs, 1933–35.Conflict in the cosmos: Fred Hoyle's life in science - Simon Mitton. National Academies Press, 2005. {{ISBN|0-309-09313-9}}, {{ISBN|978-0-309-09313-2}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=3wY15XsXhDYC&dq=inauthor%3A%22Simon%20Mitton%22&pg=PA28 p.28]
• Tom Karen — designer of the Reliant Scimitar GTE, Bond Bug and Raleigh Chopper bicycle.{{cite web |url=http://www.fxmagazine.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=41&storycode=3009&c=2 |title=Tom Karen |publisher=FX Magazine |access-date=8 March 2010}}
• Mary Kingsley — Ethnographist, writer and explorer. Lived at 7, Mortimer Road.A Voyager Out: The Life of Mary Kingsley - Katherine Frank. Tauris Parke Paperbacks, 2005. {{ISBN|1-84511-020-X}}, {{ISBN|978-1-84511-020-8}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=q4MkSqMk8SYC&dq=lived+in+mill+road+cambridge&pg=PA40 p.40]
• F. R. Leavis — notable British literary critic. Born above his father's music shop at 68 Mill Road, 1895.Cambridge: A Cultural and Literary History - Martin Garrett. Signal Books, 2004. {{ISBN|1-902669-79-7}}, {{ISBN|978-1-902669-79-3}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=2-gCqtMfi-YC&q=98 p.98]
• David Parr - decorative artist in the Arts and Crafts and Gothic Revival styles, lived at 186 Gwydir Street, just off Mill Road, from 1886 to 1927 {{cite web |title=David Parr House |url=https://davidparrhouse.org/ |website=David Parr House|access-date=5 January 2022}}
• Shahida Rahman - English author, writer and publisher. Born at Mill Road Maternity Hospital, 1971{{cite web |title=Shahida Rahman interview: 'My mother may have been the first Bengali woman in Cambridge' |url=https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/shahida-rahman-interview-my-mother-may-have-been-the-first-bengali-woman-in-cambridge-9157463/ |website=Cambridge Independent| access-date=14 November 2022}}
• Tom Robinson — Singer-songwriter and radio presenter. Born at Mill Road Maternity Hospital, 1950.{{cite web|url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Tom-Robinson-interview-Things-deplorable-s-better/story-28070560-detail/story.html|title=Tom Robinson interview: 'Things can still be deplorable, but it's much better now than in the 70s'|publisher=Cambridge News|access-date=30 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151030134956/http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Tom-Robinson-interview-Things-deplorable-s-better/story-28070560-detail/story.html|archive-date=30 October 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}
• Ronald Searle — Artist and satirical cartoonist. Creator of St Trinian's School. Lived at 6, Petersfield as a child and then at 29 Collier Road while studying at The Cambridge School of Art (now Anglia Ruskin University).{{cite web|url=http://ww2.anglia.ac.uk/ruskin/en/home/faculties/alss/deps/csoa/news/2007-8_news_archive/ronald_searle_rip.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150306031553/http://ww2.anglia.ac.uk/ruskin/en/home/faculties/alss/deps/csoa/news/2007-8_news_archive/ronald_searle_rip.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 March 2015|title=Ronald Searle 1920–2011|publisher=Anglia Ruskin University|access-date=13 March 2015}}
• Tom Sharpe — author (Wilt). Lived on Mill Road while lecturing in History at CCAT between 1963 and 1972.
• Amy Williams — 2010 Winter Olympics women's Skeleton gold medalist.
• Bee Wilson — Food writer, journalist and historian.{{cite web |url=https://msmarmitelover.com/2020/03/the-long-lunch-interview-bee-wilson-the-way-we-eat-now.html |title=The Long Lunch Interview: Bee Wilson, the Way We Eat Now |access-date=2020-03-25}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Mill Road, Cambridge}}

• [http://www.mill-road.com/ Mill Road community website]
• [http://www.millroadwinterfair.org Mill Road Winter Fair website]
• [http://www.cambridgemosque.com/ Abu Bakr Jamia mosque]

{{Authority control}}

Category:Shopping streets in Cambridge

Category:History of Cambridge

Category:Hughes Hall, Cambridge