Photo RGL 2016

The Cattle Market, Cherry Hinton Road, Cambridge

Historical notes on the Cattle Market

Cambridge Cattle Market moved here in the 1890s from its previous site on Castle Hill.  This became the finest cattle market in East Anglia as well as the venue for the most popular easter Bank Holiday market in the region. The site was closed in 1976 when the city council decided to realize the value of the area for development.

The pens at the market could accommodate 700 bullocks and 2,000 sheep or pigs, Hundreds of cattle were moved by ship and train to the market every week from Ireland and Scotland. The steamers with Irish cattle destined for Cambridge sailed every weekend and this was why Monday was chosen as market day. (CWN)

1912 06 07
Mr I.G. Elworthy told a meeting at Morley School that he had been one of the first members of Cherry Hinton parish council in 1894. When he first came there were only 50 houses but the district had developed enormously and the need for a recreation ground was very urgent. With the enormous increase of motor traffic it became more and more dangerous for children to play in the streets. The Council should purchase a site between Cherryhinton Road and Mill Road and in the meantime the Cattle Market field should be laid out as a temporary playground. It could be planted with trees like Christ’s Pieces and would preserve the beauty of the district 12 06 07d & e
Credit: Mike Petty, Cambridge Cherryhinton Road Area Scrapbook 1897–1990.

1951 05 02
Big traffic hold-ups in Hills Road last March – when a large sale of implements and store pigs at the Cattle Market resulted in vehicles at one time taking 50 minutes to get from Hyde Park Corner – has lead to proposals for improvements. Immediate steps include the provision of a temporary entrance in Rustat Road.
Credit: Mike Petty, Cambridge Cherryhinton Road Area Scrapbook 1897–1990.

1951 06 20
Cambridge councillors heard that the cattle market has become one of the most important cattle centres in the country as a result of the great increase in the amount of business transacted since the war. Problems had arisen because of the serious congestion of traffic in Hills Road when large sales are held and the need for better facilities for traders and customers. It was not designed for holding large sales of agricultural machines nor for the provision of parking accommodation for upwards of 1,200 motor vehicles.
Credit: Mike Petty, Cambridge Cherryhinton Road Area Scrapbook 1897–1990.

1960 04 19
The Cambridge Cattle Market on Easter Monday was like Petticoat Lane and indeed many of the numerous stall holders came from just that place. From early morning cars and people streamed over Hills Road Bridge to the market. All the policemen Cambridge could muster were sent to exert some form of control but were fighting an impossible battle. Farmers who generally flock to the market on Monday mornings were greatly outnumbered by whole families enjoying a day out in the warm sunny weather. 60 04 19a
Credit: Mike Petty, Cambridge Cherryhinton Road Area Scrapbook 1897–1990.

1965 03 27
The new corn market building on the Cattle Market site will replace the old Saturday corn market held in the Corn Exchange. Merchants have been advocating a move for 10 years and now it is hoped the market will revive. An encouraging number of people want to take stalls. The cost of desk or box in the new building is £10 a year. People who attend to buy or sell are charged £3 for an annual ticket. Visitors are admitted free. It will also provide a small new hall for the Cherryhinton Road – Hills Road district 65 03 27a
Credit: Mike Petty, Cambridge Cherryhinton Road Area Scrapbook 1897–1990.

1973 11 22
It was the Second World War which boosted the trade in used agricultural machinery at Cambridge cattle market. Now, after 30 years on the Hills Road site, it is hoped that the move to the new sales area down Milton Road will give a similar fillip to what is generally regarded as one of Europe’s outstanding second-hand implements market. The cattle market developed over the years and continued unchanged until 1966 when the advent of an £8,000 new corn market proved more or less a flop from the start and received negligible support from farmers and auctioneers. There have been frequent prophecies that the cattle market will eventually go the same way. Obstinately though, it refuses to die
Credit: Mike Petty, Cambridge Cherryhinton Road Area Scrapbook 1897–1990.

1990 01 26
Plans to develop the site of the old Cattle Market into a light industrial estate met an angry response. But now it has been transformed into the Clifton Road Industrial estate with 56 units providing jobs for several hundred people. There is ample car parking and good office accommodation. The estate is fronted by the attractive Clifton Court office complex. Situated alongside the railway station, close to the city centre with park and ride facilities on its doorstep it has good access to major roads. With its landscaping it provides an industrially useful estate and a pleasant working environment for employees 90 01 26c
Credit: Mike Petty, Cambridge Cherryhinton Road Area Scrapbook 1897–1990.

In 1996 plans for a new £15 million leisure complex on the site were published. The plans included a multiplex cinema, nightclub, bowling and themed restaurants.

Sources: Cambridge News (Cambridgeshire Collection)