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Three-story hotel exterior covered in ivy, featuring a glass entrance canopy, a curved corner section, and a metal fence.

University Arms Hotel

University Arms Hotel, Regent Street, New Greyhound

History of University Arms Hotel

According to Outside the Barnwell Gate, (Stokes, 1915) according to an 1808 map of Cambridge, there was a veterinary surgery occupying part of this site. The Down Your Way article (CWN 3.12.1981) contains a wealth of information about the hotel’s history.

A woman in a dark dress and straw hat walks along a pavement beside an ivy-covered building and a park entrance in Cambridge.

Parker’s Piece from Regent Street, corner of University Arms Hotel

 

A woman in a dark dress and straw hat walks along a pavement beside an ivy-covered building and a park entrance in Cambridge.A tan brick hotel corner overlooks a road junction with traffic lights, a blue car, and people walking toward Parker's Piece.

 

1833 Coaching inn built called the New Greyhound. It was run by W Bird from 1834 to 1847.

1839 John Barefoot (Robson’s directory)

1847 Hewitt sisters took over the inn.

1851 Mary Hewitt (Gardner’s)

1852 Marianne Hewitt (Slaters)


1861

Mari Anne Hewitt, inn keeper, 45, b Norfolk
Susan Hewitt, sister, housekeeper, 4, b Norfolk
Rebecca Hewitt, sister, barmaid, 32, b Norfolk
Frederick Bushby, boarder, fund holder, 63, b Yorkshire
Mary Ann Bower, housemaid, 39, b Norfolk
Emily Mann,  kitchenmaid, 20, b Norfolk
Caroline Copeman, chambermaid, 19, b Norfolk


1867 Miss Hewitt (Mathieson’s )


1871

Susan Hewitt, inn keeper, 60
Rebecca Hewitt, cook, 44
Ellen Hewitt, sister, book keeper, 52, b Norfolk
Frederic E Burkley, lodger, annuitant, 70 ,b Yorkshire
Sarah A Furrey, chambermaid, 24, b Norfolk
Mary A Norman, kitchen maid, 32, b Cottenham
Mariann Batterby, housemaid, 24, b Norfolk
Garwood B Palmer, lodger, merchant, 56, b Great Yarmouth
Bettsey Palmer, lodger, merchants wife, 53,  b Great Yarmouth
Drummond Grant, lodger, merchant, 57, b Stirling
Mary D Grant, lodger, merchants wife, 48,  b Ireland

1879 Miss Rebecca Hewitt (Post Office Directory)


1881

Rebecca Hewitt, innkeeper
Ellen Hewitt, sister, annuitant, 44, b  Norfolk
Ellen Orridge, niece, 22, b Suffolk
Frederick E Bushby, boarder, 80, b York
Eliza Haylock, domestic servant, 35, b Sawston
Eleanor Davidson, chambermaid, 15, b Hunstanton
William Bailey, waiter (Inn Servant), 16, b Chesterton


1888 Miss Rebecca Hewitt (Kellys Directory)


1891

Marcus Bradford, 25, hotel keeper, b Cambridge

(CWN 3.12.1981) Marcus Dennis Bradford took over the tenancy  (leased from Jesus College) in 1891 from the two elderly Misses Hewitt. [Marcus’ father was caterer to Clare College in 1865.] The only stock he found was half a cask of brown sherry. There was a range of stables containing several coaching horses and a large coach yard. Until the beginning of WWI there were two full time coachmen; regular clients were the High Sheriff and those who wanted to get from the railway station around town.


A multi-story hotel stands behind a park with bare trees, where several people sit on benches on the grassy foreground.

University Arms Hotel

 

A multi-story hotel stands behind a park with bare trees, where several people sit on benches on the grassy foreground.Large multi-story stone hotel buildings face an open green space, framed by mature leafless trees and a path in the foreground.

 

1901

Marcus Bradford, widower, 35, hotel proprietor, b Cambridge

Alfred R, 6, b Cambridge

Dorothy E, 5, b Cambridge

John O Mackenzie, visitor, 90, W S Edinburgh, b Edinburgh

Joanna Mackenzie, visitor, 57, b Glasgow

Jeanie Anderson, visitor, widow, ladies maid, 30, b Falkirk

Julie M Ward, 36, b Kent

Walter J Coward, 62, HM Inspector of schools, b Jamaica

Joan Pietsch, 22, waiter, b Germany

Sarah A Pearson, 39, housemaid, b Linton

Kate Montrose, 28, housemaid, b Perthshire

Elizabeth S Norden, 21, housemaid, b Hants

Louisa Heffer, 29, housemaid, b Cambridge

Janet M Bilton, 23, housemaid, b Bottisham

Florence A Haggins, 26, bookkeeper, b Cumberland

Violet M Smith, 24, governess, b Surrey

Annie Camden, 29, assistant housekeeper, b Norfolk

Mary A Hellings, 45, housekeeper, b Wales


Ivy-covered University Arms Hotel seen from across a grassy common, with figures walking on a path in the foreground.

University Arms (date unknown)

Street view of the ivy-covered University Arms Hotel with its metal portico, horse-drawn carriages, and people on the sidewalk.

University Arms Hotel (after 1906 when portico was built) (Cambridgeshire Collection)

 

Street view of the ivy-covered University Arms Hotel with its metal portico, horse-drawn carriages, and people on the sidewalk.A cream-coloured stone portico with MMXVII carved above the entrance stands on a busy street with pedestrians and vehicles.

 

Street scene featuring the University Arms Hotel with its entrance canopy, adjacent shops, parked vehicles, and pedestrians.

University Arms Hotel (MoC68.72)

1913

University Arms Hotel, Marcus D Bradford proprietor

Around this time the architect George Banyard was involved in design of part of the hotel. Mackays of East Road supplied much of the ironmongery and steelwork. The balconies on the hotel were designed by Isabella Mackay, artist, engraver and miniaturist. She lived at 143 Cherry Hinton Road until 1976.

Soldiers and civilians sit on grass in front of tents and a brick building, with a small dog and a standing child nearby.

Outside University Arms Hotel, Parker’s Piece, August 1914 (Cambridgeshire Collection)


7/3/1935 Police guarded the closed gates of the University Arms Hotel while Sir Oswald Mosley was at a dinner organised by the University Fascist Society. Outside a meeting organised by the University Socialist Society was held on Parker’s Piece with speeches by John Comford, Maurice Comford and Maurice Dobb. Then a torchlight procession by 200 undergraduates shouting anti-Fascist slogans such as ‘We want Mosley dead or alive’ and singing ‘The Internationale’ marched to Peas Hill where more speeches were made before a Proctor arrived and they dispersed. (Cam.News)


1962

University Arms Hotel, M N & J Bradford managing director


1964

A printed document for a 1964 Master Butchers Association ball featuring a bull emblem and details of the event location.

University Arms Hotel, 1964, Master Butchers Association

President was D S Traylen

A printed document for a 1964 Master Butchers Association ball with handwritten inscriptions in Spanish on the left panel.

University Arms Hotel, 1964, Master Butchers Association

A printed menu from the University Arms Hotel, featuring handwritten inscriptions and signatures in blue and black ink.

University Arms Hotel, 1964, Master Butchers Association


A modern brick hotel building with angular, protruding window bays stands on a street corner, beside an older classical facade.

University Arms Hotel (MoC156.70)


2021

Sketching Cambridge by Michael Large

 

Three-story hotel exterior covered in ivy, featuring a glass entrance canopy, a curved corner section, and a metal fence.The cream-colored facade of the University Arms Hotel features a large stone entrance portico with arches over a sidewalk.

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