CA18

Number 18

October 1991

GAMBRIDGEARGHITEGTURE

A review of current Architectural and Environmental Issues and events in the Cambridge area produced by theCambridge Association of Architects. The views in this newsletter are those of the individual contributors and not of the Association. Newsletter co-edited by David Raven and Colen Lumley. ’Cambridge Architecture Trumpington Mews, Trumpington, Cambridge. CB2 2LS

MISSED OPPORTUNITY Carl Rowland The City Council is producing its Local Plan for adoption next year and the draft has recently been published. Within this document isa section outlining its policies on the River Cam within the City's boundaries. This issue of Cambridge Architecture is dedicated to the B'ver Cam. arlier study by the City Council The River L'am, Environment and Conservation, published in 1973, described the many characteristics of the River from Bryon's Pool to Fen Ditton, by way of the water meadows of Granchester and Coe Fen, bringing the ‘rural scene’ to the doorstep of the more formal setting of the colleges at Silver Street bridge, then out again to the starkness of Stourbridge Common viaJesus Green and Midsummer Common. The relationship and form ofthe landscape adjoining the River is analysed ina complete way and one is made aware of the connections between theRiver and thespaces through which it flows.

The draft Local Plan does not seem tobuild upon this earlier work and its policies do not address many oftheimportant issues it raises.

For example, the 1973 report notes that the recreational uses on Jesus Green arenota response to their River setting and, perhaps, this is • missed opportunity. .raft Local Plan attempts to rationalise the Cams uses and limit their extent. Of course there isa sensible level above which chaos would ensue, but the Cam has historically been a busy stretch of River with large barges of coal and other goods once delivered to the King's Mill at Silver Street, the Colleges and Quayside.

The provision of further short and long stay moorings, perhaps in the form ofa marina, would allow river craft - some colourful, some tatty - to be viewed inbetter circumstances than at present. The potential problem of encouraging more river traffic to Cambridge could be controlled by other methods. Perhaps by not allowing barges and cruisers through Bates Lock unlessa temporary mooring has been booked ora permanent one secured.

The Council, in seeking with its polices to better the River environment, should not destroy its character of peaceful meadows, rhythmic blades, moored craft and “chaotic and noisy” punts.

The Local Plan recognises the river's popularity for different leisure uses and seeks to identify the particular problems that rowing, fishing, cruising, walking, swimming, punting, etc bring.

The Nancy and other boats unloading at Quayside, Cambridge about 1900 (Cambridge and Country Folk Museum)

The Council's policies, as set out in the draft Local Plan, can be summarised as below:— River Responsibility The fact that no one body hascharge of the river isa major problem. Responsibility is split between: the River-bank owners (for maintenance of thebank); Anglian Water (for drainage); the Cam Conservators (for navigation); and the National Rivers Authority (for quality and quantity of the water).

It goes on to stress that careful management and zoning of activities is required to relieve pressure on the River from theconflicting uses.

Indeed the section is then organised under the headings of these activities.

Walking A walk along the River within Cambridge is fragmented, detours away from theriverside footpath, and is badly signposted. The draft Local Plan puts forwarda policy to increase the length along which it is possible to walk by the River and improve signposting. The quite recent provision ofa walk-way from Quayside to Jesus Green is an example tobe emulated elsewhere in the City.

TOO James

SWimming The less polluted upper River is the area identified in the document asbeing most OpUlar for bathing, although the Council does not support swimming anywhere intheRiver because of thepoor quality of the water.

A string of barges being towed up the hacks past Clare Collegeby a horse using the sunken path (From an oldengraving by R. Ackerinann) Rowing The strong tradition of rowing on thelower River, with nineteen boat-houses between Saxon Road andJesus Green, is described as an important sport increasing in popularity. To relieve pressure on this stretch of the River from rowing theEastern Council forSport and Recreation's long standing object ofa “purpose built off River rowing course” is cited and supported. Other policies of the Council for rowing arethat no new boat-houses will be permitted and improvement toexisting ones must notlead to an increase in River usage.

Angling The Council supports measures to improve the enjoyment of theriver by anglers subject to minimising their effect on the River environment.

The problem of thelack of overall responsibility for the River is highlighted in the way thepolicies are set out and in their content.

The document offers no new overview of the River. This possibility was put forward asa choice” in the consultative document atan earlier stage in the formulation of the Local Plan but has not been developed.

Cruising Although navigable for cruisers up to the Mill Pond at Silver Street, it is rare for powered boats to be allowed up stream of Jesus Lock and this policy is to be maintained. Only 5-6 permanent and 9-10 short term moorings areto be found within the city. The Council seeks to continue to restrict the number ofshort term and ban further permanent moorings or marinas toreduce pressure on the lower River. The draft Local Plan believes, that the number oftouring craft visiting Cambridge will increase, and supports the retention of the servicing yard at Water Street, Chesterton, and proposals to provide basic services, but no moorings, at Cutter Ferry Close, Mariners Way. The Council promises to undertakea review of moorings on theRiver and to put forward proposals.

Punting The Cam is punted between Bryon's Pool and Jesus Lock, but this activity is concentrated between Silver Street and Magdelene Bridge.

The draft Local Plan describes this summer scene as congested, chaotic, noisy and potentially dangerous. Some control of the number ofpunts is noted as being necessary and the policy states that the number ofpunts stations will remain at its present level of five.

Con.servator.s of the River Cam on toitr of inspection 1887

MANY BOATS Bourke

In 1703 the navigation of the River Cam was curtailed by the newly built Denver Sluice. It became over grown with weeds and trees and in need ofa good tidy. The river was an important traffic artery carrying goods and passengers into the city and so by Act of Parliament in that year the Conservators of the River Cam were established to clean up the river and maintain it; with the authority to levy tolls on all who used it. This they still do.

Four timesa year the Conservators, drawn from city and county councillors, representatives from theuniversity and colleges, the National Rivers Authority meet toconsider raft races, lock-keepers cottages and applications to operate floating restaurants that would ply nightly up and down theBacks all summer long.

In June 1984 there was talk of winding the Conservators up. But it was opposed and defeated. It is surprising how smalla number of staff there is to carry out the work ofthe Conservators:a foreman and hisdeputy;a bailiff and two lock keepers, backed up by t*--••City Council officers. ( They look aftera five mile stretch of the river from Cambridge toClayhithe. The bailiff patrols the river from Laundress Green toJesus Lock while the hire punts are out. His punt is powered by an electric outboard motor (the only motorized craft permitted on this stretch of the river) passes among thelog-jammed hire punts, keepinga look out fortrouble. He hasa walkie-talkie to call the police for assistance.

Last year there werea few arrests. Youths, ‘bombing’ punts.

The punt hire situation isa bit out of hand.

Perhaps there are just too many boats on the river. The question of limiting the number of craft on the river is the main dilemma forthe Conservators. The Cam isa navigable waterway with public right of use. The authority of the Conservators only covers registration and navigation. They cannot bana boat or refuse to register any craft. Minimum construction standards have tobe met by River craft.

‘High Back’ Bridgefrom the north bank 1870 A new by-law setting quotas for hire punts raises problems of allocation and preference. In spirit with the times there has been some mention of competitive tendering for licences.

The Cam Conservators receive more complaints from thepublic about illegally moored house bo•'s than anything else. Yet this is outside authority. They do notown thebanks (except at Clayhithe). At last the Cambridge City Council has undertaken to draw upa mooring policy to empower police to impound illegally moored boats.

The primary concern of the Conservators in both long and short term is funding their activities. They have just completed the restoration work atJesus Lock which cost £70,000 which was paid for from sale of property. Apart from £4,000 annually for cleaning rubbish from theCam, they no longer receive financial support from theCity.

The next few years will bea time of readjustment, ‘slimming down’. The keeper at Jesus Lock retires this year. Bait's bite is already automated. New machines will make maintenance on theriver easier, and less labour intensive.

In the meantime there is, of course the problem of what todo with the lock-keeper's cottage at JGreen (who would wish to live in this cd setting without even space to parka car'!).

CITY MILLS Sherry Armstrong Few actual traces exist of the buildings and industry that formed this special area of Cambridge. The characteristics of the Mill Pond, as well asa few other indications, such as Mill Lane, leave no doubt as to theoriginal nature of this place.

i

Three mills are recorded in Cambridge by the time of the Domesday survey in 1086. The Newnham Mill stood where Sweeney Todds Restaurant is located today. The present building was actually constructed to replace the original mill in 1853 when it was destroyed by fire. The new building's use asa mill ceased in 1910 and it has been substantially altered since then as evidence by floor levels which do not correspond to windows. The water-wheel was under theeastern end and was removed many years ago, together with all the interior machinery and furnishings.

The other two mills were theKing's and the Bishop's, which stood side by side and actually under one roof. They were situated on adjacent races where thewater falls into the pool near Queens' College, in front of the Tap and Spile pub, known asThe Mill until recently.

A fourth watermill, known asZouche's Mill is referred to in 12th century documents, but its location has not been identified. It is thought to have been inNewnham, andpossibly had its races adjacent to those of Newnham Mill.

When thethree mills were operatinga strict hierarchy of use was imposed since neither the water supply nor the corn were unlimited.

King's Mill always had priority, followed by Bishop’s, while Newnham could only work when theothers were satisfied.

The river transport facilities that the mills offered made their wares and granaries important places of exchange. The resulting patterns of clusters of public houses near the mill sites and many narrow lanes running down tothequays on theriver, such as Mill Lane, are still the fabric of this district today.

The mill district was so important to Cambridge commerce that when proposals to builda railway station in Cambridge were putforward, three different different companies bid to establish stations near the mills on the river. Of

course none of these materialised due to the edict of the university that no railway should approach within one mile of Great St Mary's Church.

This development was to havea dramatic effect on the life of the mills. The Foster family, who by then owned all three mills, followed the inevitable change from river transport to rail transport and built granaries by the new train station. When theKing's and Bishop's Mills were condemned asunsafe in 1894, the Fosters erecteda new steam-driven mill at Station Road on thesite of the granaries.

The old premises by the river were not demolished until 1927. The Millers House, which stood behind King's Mill with several workers cottages in three acres of riverside gardens, passed into the ownership of Professor Arthur Caley, the founder of modern algebra, who renamed it Garden House. At thetime of hisdeath it formed thenucleus of the original Garden House Hotel. The only physical trace of King's and Bishop's Mills today, is the short strip of cobbled roadway from which thetwo mills were once served.

Who can predict if the use of the Mill Pond will remain recreational or if in an energy starved future the mills may be reinstated.

ONE

HOUSE

Jane Carmichael A recent addition to Cambridge's riverside can just been seen from theCam, peeping out from behind the99’s rowing club.A house designed by local architects for their own use features in the forthcoming exhibition organised by YAG for the CAA to be shown at the Architecture Gallery.

The exhibition aims toexplain the role of an architect; how he/she arrives at decisions and the various influencing factors. It will demonstrate the reasons for employing an architect and encourage people to think about both the building and design process. In short, it is hoped it will generally increase public awareness of design.

The exhibition tells the story ofa building from start to finish. The exhibition is purpose-built, with explanatory diagrams, drawings and models. Students from Cambridge Regional College joinery course are constructinga display structure as part of their course-work.

Entitled “One House” theexhibition opens on January l8th 1992 and runs for two weeks at theArchitecture Centre and subsequently at local schools. An exhibition not to be missed.

ARTEMIDE ARTELUCE KLOS CONCORD a

”

—

‹

LIGHTING LIGHTING SCHEfHES DESIGN ACD INSTALLATION

B UIL DI N G C O NT R AC T OR S & J O I N E R Y M A N UF AC T U R E R S

28 East Street Saffron Walden Essex CBI0I LS

EVENTS 18Nov.ember Elustrated talkzöy Röbin Spenc ’“

'

’ Speakers: ilichard MacCormac& E ä iiricna ckets. eich from S.Danischqwshy The Old Ba ker y, Wimpole Road, Great Eversden,C a rribridge CB3 Telephone No: Cambridge 263847 Fax No: Cambridge 262621 Directors: S.J.Brewer, C.A.Jackson, A.G.John. Com Reg No 2262411

7HR

(aimost futly booked) 18 and

- Arch. Cen tre

MARTIN C>E'NTRE

;N

-Lunchtime•lectures U.30pm - ö„ Ghaucer Rd 30 Octöber - Dr. iIe'mard. Stonehou & David Rootes

6 Noxember Nicholas Ö PR MONTOR•Y 13Noverüö'er•- Sei-Kwam

2

vembe

ü4Décembér--

Dr Mary Archer