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Mill Road

Mill Road

Cambridge's long east-side street of independent shops, churches, a mosque and a winter fair.

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From Gonville Place / East Road / Parkside To Cambridge ring road (A1134) Petersfield 17 places listed

Mill Road runs south-east from the edge of Parker's Piece, crosses the main railway line and reaches the city ring road. It passes through two wards, Petersfield and Romsey, which the railway divides. It is a busy road with many independent businesses, churches, a hospital and the Cambridge Central Mosque.

How it grew

Mill Road began as a quiet country lane out of the city, named for a windmill that once stood by the present Covent Garden corner. The railway changed it. After the university resisted a central station, development spread east instead, and the area's recorded population climbed from 252 at the 1801 count to 6,651 in 1831, then 11,848 by 1861 and 25,091 by 1891.

The two halves grew differently. Petersfield, west of the railway, was developed mainly by two colleges, Gonville and Caius and Corpus Christi, which is why many of its streets carry fellows' names; it has traditionally been thought of as the "gown" side. Romsey Town, to the east, was built up after the nineteenth-century inclosure acts, mostly as housing for railway workers in the decade after 1885, and gained the local nicknames "Red Romsey" and "Little Russia".

What to see

Near the junction with Gwydir Street, off the road, is the David Parr House, a terraced home preserved with its Arts and Crafts decoration. Mortimer Road, off the north-western end, leads to Hughes Hall, and Fenner's, the university cricket ground, lies behind it and has hosted first-class cricket since 1848.

Each December the Mill Road Winter Fair, which began in 2005, fills the road with stalls, music and open days at the local places of worship.

Sources: Wikipedia: Mill Road, Cambridge · Wikidata: Mill Road, Cambridge (Q136287)

On this street (Mill Road)

Pubs

Restaurants

Cafes

Shops

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