New Town and Nineteenth-Century Suburbs

New Town and Nineteenth-Century Suburbs

The nineteenth century transformed Cambridge from a compact market and university town into a growing Victorian city. Population growth, the arrival of the railway in 1845, and increasing prosperity created a demand for new housing beyond the medieval core. New Town, developed from the early nineteenth century on former agricultural land south-west of the historic centre, was one of Cambridge’s first planned suburbs. Later Victorian expansion spread eastwards and southwards, creating the distinctive residential districts of Petersfield, Romsey Town and the Hills Road area. Together these suburbs changed the social geography of Cambridge, accommodating everyone from university academics and professionals to railway workers and artisans.

New Town developed around broad streets and substantial houses, reflecting the aspirations of the growing middle classes. Areas such as Panton Street, Tenison Road and Hills Road became home to merchants, professionals and university staff. Meanwhile, the arrival of the railway stimulated dense terraced housing developments in Petersfield and Romsey Town, where thousands of workers found homes within walking distance of Cambridge Station and local industries. The contrast between the more prosperous western suburbs and the working-class communities east of the railway became one of the defining features of Victorian Cambridge.

Capturing Cambridge contains many entries illustrating this expansion. Streets, schools, churches, public buildings and individual houses reveal how the city grew and how new communities developed their own identities. The suburb of Petersfield, for example, includes some of Cambridge’s best-preserved Victorian terraces, while New Town retains evidence of the city’s early nineteenth-century suburban ambitions.

New Town Cambridge
Petersfield Cambridge
Romsey Town Cambridge
Gwydir Street
Sturton Street
Bath House Gwydir Street
Mill Road Cemetery
David Parr House (186 Gwydir Street)
Devonshire Road
Tenison Road
Hills Road, Cambridge