Cambridge Market
An outdoor market on Market Hill that has traded in the same spot since Saxon times, open every day of the year bar three.
Cambridge Market fills the square on Market Hill, in the middle of the city, between the church of Great St Mary's on the west side and the Guildhall on the south. Trading here goes back to Saxon times, and the daily open-air market carries on there.
What is on sale
Cambridge City Council runs the market and describes it as open seven days a week, closing only on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. Stalls sell street food and ingredients from a wide range of cuisines, alongside art, plants, clothes, jewellery, books and music. Across its market sites the council says it supports around 200 independent traders. Trading hours on the council's page are 10:00 to 16:00.
A square with a past
The square was packed with buildings until a major fire in 1849 led to its clearance. A Gothic Revival fountain went up in 1855, replacing an earlier conduit-fed fountain, and most of it was pulled down in 1953. On 16 June 1381, during the Peasants' Revolt, a crowd led by the town's mayor destroyed the university's ledgers here. The Cambridge Guildhall on the south side dates from the 1930s.
Practical notes
The nearest car park is Grand Arcade, and there are covered cycle parks at Grand Arcade, Queen Anne Terrace and Park Street. Several bus stops are nearby. On Saturdays, the All Saints Garden market on Trinity Street sells handmade goods under the same city-centre management.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
