The street across the river bridge, saved from redevelopment and still lined with 16th-century buildings.
Magdalene Street runs from the Castle Hill end of the city, near the junction of Northampton Street and Chesterton Lane, down to Bridge Street at Thompson's Lane. It used to be the north-western part of Bridge Street itself, and takes its present name from Magdalene College, which stands just north of the river bridge. St John's College lies just to the south.
The street crosses the Cam on Magdalene Bridge, also called the Great Bridge. The site is the original crossing from which Cambridge takes its name. A ford came first, built up into causeways by the Romans, followed by timber bridges through the Anglo-Saxon period and later. In 1754 James Essex replaced the last of them with a stone bridge. What stands now is a cast-iron span of 1823 by Arthur Browne of Norwich, listed at Grade II in 1969 and strengthened after repair work in 1982.
Once the Fens had been drained in the seventeenth century, the Cam stopped being a tidal river, and the north bank drifted away from the growing town on the far side. Its isolation and poverty kept the Victorian builders away. As late as the 1930s the college could not afford a scheme to demolish the street as far as the bridge, and the street was later conserved, with the college's help, as one of the city's oldest. Some houses are sixteenth-century and many are listed.
At the north-western end the street begins by Castle Hill; the high ground on that bank helped to guard the crossing. For the other side of the bridge, continue along Bridge Street and on to St John's Street.
Historical names: Bridge Street (north-western part)
Sources: Wikipedia: Magdalene Street · Wikidata: Magdalene Street (Q6729934)
Authentic vintage football shirts from across the decades, with a Cambridge United corner, on Magdalene Street.
A clothing store on Magdalene Street, with collections for women and men.
An independent vinyl shop on Magdalene Street, stocking new releases as well as long-standing favourites.
A Magdalene Street shop selling its own handmade soap and bath range alongside local pottery and nature-inspired gifts.
