Castle Mound
The Norman castle mound on Castle Hill, where Cambridge's earliest settlement grew.
Castle Hill rises in the Castle ward of Cambridge, north of the River Cam, and is where the town's story starts. It was the site of the original settlement, and there is evidence of activity here before the Romans arrived. The Romans then built a town called Duroliponte on the hill, which suited them as a crossing point at the head of the navigable river, at that time called the Granta. Roman tile can still be seen in the walls of St Peter's Church, which stands part-way up the slope.
A Norman fortress
Later, in Anglo-Saxon times, it served defensive purposes, and the Normans raised Cambridge Castle there in 1068. Nothing of the castle remains standing; the surviving features are the mound and some groundworks. Shire Hall, formerly the headquarters of Cambridgeshire County Council, stands directly next to the hill.
Practical notes
Check locally for access to the mound and for what can be seen from the top. Castle Street runs to the south-west of the hill.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
