The Medieval rivalry that divided residents in Cambridge

There is a lamppost in the city that resembles the long-standing rivalry

Cambridge is a city universally known for its university. Some of the world’s smartest people throughout history have attended the University of Cambridge, ranging from scientists Stephen Hawking and Charles Darwin, to beloved actors such as Sacha Baron Cohen and Emma Thompson.

Those who have attended the university are considered to be of another class, due to how smart they must have been to attend the prestigious educational institution. However, in the past, there has been a strong conflict between those attending the university and people who live in Cambridge.

This long-standing tension between the townspeople and people from the University of Cambridge is known as the “towns vs gowns”, and is a conflict which began in the medieval period. When the first students arrived in 1209, the town was a well-established market town and thrived on buying and selling goods that were carried on the River Cam and River Ouse.

Following the grant of a Royal Charter, the university gained jurisdiction over the town. A part of this was about policing over the town. The university and town had been granted shared peace-keeping under the charter, however this is when tensions grew. The townspeople resented the power that the university had been given.

The royal charter of 1561 would have caused more tension, as it gave the university the right to search “by day and by night, in the town and suburb, and in Barnwell and Sturbridge”. The university was also granted the right to imprison people at their own discretion.

This same charter reinforced the control of essentials by the university and victuals sold at markets and fairs within a five mile radius. The control of essentials was difficult for people in the town to deal with.

With the town being a successful market town, traders and merchants were angry that they didn’t have control over the exchange of goods. Today in Parker’s Piece stands a lamppost that symbolises the conflict.

It’s called Reality Checkpoint, and it is a large cast iron lamppost in the middle of the green space that lays at the intersection of the park’s diagonal path. It marks the boundary between the university’s “bubble” and the “real world”.