Fort St George Cambridge

Fort St George, Cambridge

History of Fort St George, Midsummer Common

This Grade II listed building dates in part from the 16th century. It was supposed to bear a resemblance to the East India Company’s Fort St George at Madras, India.

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Fundraising for a new bridge — 23 February 1905
A meeting of Chestertonians was held in furtherance of the scheme for constructing a bridge across the Cam at the Fort St George. The Council has accepted the necessity of a bridge and will spend £500 provided another £200 is raised by private subscription. It was not a large sum for such a district. Inhabitants should remember that once it was built they would save further expense on ferries. Several promises were made on the spot and various college boat clubs will be approached. 05 02 23a

Credit: Mike Petty Archive, Cambridge Chesterton Road Area Scrapbook, reference 05 02 23a

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The Fort St George ferry was probably the busiest of all the river crossings, running from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. In the 1920s the fare was halfpenny each way. A bridge replaced it in 1927.

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Ferry raised and then sinks again — 8 April 1927
The Cam Conservators reported they had got the Fort St George ferry up, but it sank again. It was impossible to do anything with the boat and impossible to get another one. They had agreed to employ a man to do the work but could not undertake the risk. At lunchtime too many people crowded on to the boat and a man could not order them off. The Conservators had carried on the ferry at a loss for years. They had a contract to take the people across the water and had to do something. Chesterton people felt they had been badly treated.

Credit: Mike Petty Archive, Cambridge Chesterton Road Area Scrapbook, reference 1927 04 08

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Wikipedia article at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_St_George_In_England

1959 Royal Commission on Historical Monuments Survey of Cambridge: the walls are of plastered timber-framing in part refaced or rebuilt in brick; the roofs are tiled. It was built in the 16th cent. on a T-shaped plan, the cross range having been to the S. … sketch dated 1827 in the inn shows that it stood on an island between the river and a cut to a lock close SE.

Enid Porter in Cambridgeshire Customs and  Folklore p223 described the traditional games of ringing the Bull still played at the time at the Fort St George and the Blue Ball in Grantchester.

A iron ring, about 2 inches in diameter is suspended from the ceiling some distance in front of an iron hook fixed in the wall at a height of about 6 feet from the floor.

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1904 CDN 19 Nov 1904: Several ferries crossed the river between Cambridge and Chesterton. But this posed problems: No reasonable person expects to find a ferryman on duty after ten at night and is reconciled to the necessity of grinding himself across the few yards of water.