Anglo-Saxon and early Norman Cambridge

The other settlement was on the lower ground south and east of the river, centred roughly in the St Benet church area. They were united under Mercian rule as a port called Grantabrycge in the ninth century. The Anglo-Saxon bridge was probably built by King Offa (756 - 793).

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that after the great Danish army wintered in Repton in 873/4, part of it came to Grantebrycge led by the kings Godrum, Oscytel and Anwynd. They'd passed through in 870 but this time stayed a whole year.

A few years later it came under Danish rule, which lasted 40 years. During this time the town acquired various Scandinavian features such as government by "lawmen" and a lasting aversion to outside interference. The Danes settled mainly to the south of modern Quayside, in the Holm, as indicated by the dedication of St Clement's church there - common in Danish settlements. They are also described as Irish merchants so may have originated from the Viking port of Dublin.

In 921 the town swore allegiance to the English king (Edward the Elder), which subsequently helped earn it recognition as the county town. The town minted coins from the tenth century until the Conquest.

There was a final visit of looting and burning by the Danes in 1010.

With its good trading links to the Continent and a market, Cambridge became prosperous. The Great Bridge (now Magdalene Bridge) was the last river crossing downriver to the mouth at King's Lynn. Merchants founded St Benet's Church about 1025. The churches from modern St John's Street to King's Parade probably were all founded before 1066 and by merchants in this area, above the main docks.

The first Norman Sheriff Picot treated the place (then known as Cantebrigge or Grentebrige) as his own, knocking down 27 houses to build a castle (probably of wood), seizing land, building mills and raising taxes. However his wife persuaded him to found St Giles Church just below the castle, which grew to become Barnwell Priory.

Various religious orders and hospitals became established, such as Leper Hospital and the Hospital of St John.

Domesday Book entry

The Burgum de Grentebrige was a Hundred - the subdivision of a county of roughly a hundred households (also known as wapentakes - weapon-takes - in the Danelaw). In the borough there were ten wards before 1066 but two were merged for the survey as 27 houses had been destroyed for the castle.

Dwellings	Derelict	Paying no dues	Remarks
54	2	18	The ward in the castle area; various Norman noblemen and their tenant burgesses are mentioned
48	2	13	Another Norman mentioned; Bridge ward
41	11	0
45	24	0	Abbot of Ely had a church, probably St Botolph's
50	1	0
37	0	3	Frenchmen are the non-payers
37	0	1	A priest is the non-payer
32	3	0

It goes on to record some of the demands made by Sheriff Picot:

• Ploughs: previously lent by burgesses to the sheriff three times a year; now demanded nine times
• Carts: previously not loaned; now an imposed due
• Common pasture taken away by him - now claimed back
• Picot created 3 mills on common land, 2 in the Borough, and destroyed many houses; the Abbot of Ely and Count Alan also created mills.

The Isle of Ely, including the area up to Wisbech, was a separate county.