History of Cambridge

There is archaeological evidence that life existed in Cambridge during the Bronze and Iron Ages. In fact, an old farmstead from around 1,500 BC was found on the site of Fitzwilliam College. The Romans used Cambridge for strategic purposes during their invasion of Britain in the first century AD. Castle Hill was seen as the ideal place to defend the River Cam against British tribal attacks. This Roman settlement is known as Duroliponte and it linked Colchester with Essex and was the crossing point for the Via Devana. This area remained important until the 5th century AD when it was abandoned because the Roman Empire was on the brink of collapse in the West.

Working in Cambridge

There is not much doubt that Cambridge would be little more than a beautiful town by the River Cam if it wasn’t for its world famous university. As it stands, roughly 10% or 8,000 of the city’s jobs come directly from the university. Aside from lecturing jobs, there are maintenance and cleaning jobs, service staff and much more as Cambridge University is almost like a mini city in itself. In fact, the University is routinely placed in the top three educational institutions in the world and it attracts the most gifted international students as well as those from closer to home.

Living in Cambridge

Cambridge is a relatively small city with a population of just over 125,000 but is famous for being home to one of the world’s most prestigious universities. The university is known for a horde of famous graduates and its grounds also contain the well-renowned Cavendish Laboratory. Approximately 20% of the population are students so as you can probably already tell, there are a number of amenities and leisure activities on offer. Cambridge is occasionally known as Silicon Fen because of the high density of technological incubators and high-tech businesses located there. Companies such as Microsoft, Abcam and Sinclair have offices in the city. Cambridge may be small in terms of population but is massive in terms of employment and entertainment opportunities.

Top 10 Places

Cambridge is of course known for its university but if you were to Google search ‘places to visit in Cambridge’, you will be met with dozens of options. This is quite remarkable when you consider the size of Cambridge relative to other cities in the UK. Below we are looking at the top 10 as we see it but there are many more worthwhile attractions.

10 Top Companies

The city of Cambridge is the administrative headquarters for the entire county of Cambridgeshire. The city is just 50 miles from London and has a range of jobs in the public sector, most notably in the University. However, there are also retail sector jobs with hi-tech employment also on offer thanks to the region’s Silicon Fen region. Here are 10 of the best companies to work in the city of Cambridge, in no particular order.