The River Cam () is the main river flowing through

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in eastern

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. After leaving Cambridge, it flows north and east before joining the

River Great Ouse The River Great Ouse ( ) is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the ...

to the south of Ely, at Pope's Corner. The total distance from

to the sea is about and is navigable for punts, small boats, and rowing craft. The Great Ouse also connects to England's canal system via the

Middle Level Navigations The Middle Level Navigations are a network of waterways in England, primarily used for land drainage, which lie in The Fens between the River Nene, Rivers Nene and Great Ouse, and between the cities of Peterborough and Cambridge. Most of the a ...

and the

River Nene The River Nene ( or ) flows through the counties of Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk in Eastern England from its sources in Arbury Hill in Northamptonshire. Flowing Northeast through East England to its mouth at Lutt ...

. In total, the Cam runs for around from its furthest source (near Debden in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

) to its confluence with the Great Ouse.

Name

The original name of the river was the ''Granta'' and (unusually) its present name derives from the city of Cambridge () rather than the other way around: After the city's present name developed in

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...

, the river's name was backformed to match. This was not universally applied, however, and the upper stretch of the river continues to be informally known as the

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

. It has been said''Bedders, Bulldogs and Bedells: A Cambridge Glossary'', (1995), Frank Stubbings, Cambridge University Press, , p. 19 that the river is the "Granta" above the

Silver Street Bridge Silver Street Bridge, officially known as Small Bridge is the sixth river Cam bridge overall and the second bridge on its middle stream in Cambridge. In 1959 the concrete bridge with the design by Sir Edwin Lutyens replaced an 1841 cast iron bridg ...

(in Cambridge) and the "Cam" below it. The Rhee tributary is also formally known as the Cam,Ordnance Survey of Great Britain. 1:25000 and the Granta has a tributary on its upper stretch also known as the Granta. On Ordnance Survey maps, the two main tributaries' alternative names are recognised: "River Cam or Granta" and "River Cam or Rhee". The Cam has no connection with the much smaller

River Cam The River Cam () is the main river flowing through Cambridge in eastern England. After leaving Cambridge, it flows north and east before joining the River Great Ouse to the south of Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely, at Pope's Corner. The total distanc ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

The lower river

An organisation called the Conservators of the River Cam was formed in 1702, charged with keeping the river navigable. The Conservators are responsible for the two

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

s in and north east of Cambridge:

Jesus Lock Jesus Lock is a lock (canal), lock on the River Cam in the north of central Cambridge, England. This is Lock No. 1 on the navigable portion of the River Cam. The stretch between Jesus Lock and Baits Bite Lock is much used for

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

. There are also many residential boats on this stretch, their occupants forming a community who call themselves the Camboaters. Navigation on the lowest section of the Cam, below and including Bottisham Lock, is the responsibility of the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

From Jesus Lock and the Backs to Grantchester (middle and upper river)

The stretch above Jesus Lock is sometimes known as the middle river (with the section above the Mill Pond being referred to as the upper river). Between Jesus Lock and the Mill Pond, it passes through

the Backs The Backs is a picturesque area to the east of Queen's Road in the city of Cambridge, England, where several colleges of the University of Cambridge back on to the River Cam with their grounds covering both banks of the river. In 2013, Nationa ...

below the walls of many of the colleges. This is the section of river most popular with tourists, with its picture-postcard views of elegant bridges, green lawns and graceful willows. This stretch also has the unusual feature of the remains of a submerged towpath: the riverside colleges did not permit barge horses on the Backs, so the beasts waded up the Cam to the mill pulling their loads behind them. Access for mechanically powered boats is prohibited above 'La Mimosa' Pub (at the upstream end of

Jesus Green Jesus Green is a park in the north of central Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, north of Jesus College. Jesus Ditch runs along the southern edge Jesus Green. On the northern edge of Jesus Green is the River Cam, with Chesterton Road (the ...

) between 1 April and 30 September, when the middle and upper river are open only to manually propelled craft. The most common of these are the flat-bottomed punts. Between 1 October and 31 March powered boats are allowed as far as Mill Pool, but few people take advantage of this, as there are very few public mooring places along the Backs, and the river is too narrow and the bridges too low to afford easy passing or turning for many boats. Cam punt slipway

Punts and canoes can be manhandled around the

weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

above the Mill Pool by means of the rollers, a slipway from lower to upper level. From the Mill Pool and its weir, the river can be followed upstream through Grantchester meadows to the village of

Grantchester Grantchester () is a village and civil parish on the River Cam or Granta (river), Granta in South Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about south of Cambridge. Name The village of Grantchester is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as ''Granteset ...

and Byron's Pool, where it is fed by many streams.

Tributaries

The two principal tributaries of the Cam are the

and the Rhee, though both are also known as the Cam.

Rhee

The Rhee begins just off the High Street ( Ashwell Springs), at Ashwell in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. Running north out of Ashwell, it forms the county boundary between

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

and Hertfordshire for around two kilometres, then the boundary between Bedfordshire and

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

for a further kilometre. At this point its course turns east and from here until it merges with the Granta it forms the parish boundary between a succession of villages, though until it reaches Barrington it remains at a distance of around a kilometre from any settlement of any size. Just after flowing under the Roman

Ermine Street Ermine Street is a major Roman road in England that ran from London (''Londinium'') to Lincoln ('' Lindum Colonia'') and York ('' Eboracum''). The Old English name was ''Earninga Strǣt'' (1012), named after a tribe called the ''Earninga ...

, it crosses the avenue of

Wimpole Hall Wimpole Estate is a large estate containing Wimpole Hall, a country house located within the civil parish of Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, England, about southwest of Cambridge. The house, begun in 1640, and its of parkland and farmland are owned ...

and a few kilometres later it receives the waters of the minor River Mel that runs through

Meldreth Meldreth is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England, located around south-west of Cambridge. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census, the population of the parish was 1,783. History A large Bronze Age hoard was fou ...

. It runs along the southern edge of the village of Barrington, where it still powers a water mill known as Bulbeck Mill. At

Harston Harston is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England, located around 5 miles (8 km) south of Cambridge. In 2011, it had a population of 1,740. Village Sign The village sign was erected in th ...

it passes Harston Mill, the site of a water mill from at least the 11th century until the need for mill died out in the mid-20th century, and the parish church of All Saints. It then touches the eastern edge of the village of

Haslingfield Haslingfield (''haiz''-ling-field) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, South Cambridgeshire, England. The village is about six miles south-west of Cambridge, between Harston, Barton, Cambridges ...

before joining the Granta at Hauxton Junction. From source to its confluence with the Granta it is in length.

Granta

The longer tributary, the Granta, starts in the parish of Debden to the east of the village of Widdington in

. After initially running south west to descend from the hills of

Uttlesford Uttlesford is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Essex, England. Its council is based in the town of Saffron Walden. The district also includes the town of Great Dunmow and numerous villages, including Stansted Mountfitchet ...

, it turns north just west of the village of Henham. From there until

Great Shelford Great Shelford is a village located approximately to the south of Cambridge, in Cambridgeshire, in eastern England. In 1850 Great Shelford parish contained bisected by the River Cam. The population in 1841 was 803 people. By 2001, this had g ...

it largely follows the course of the

West Anglia Main Line The West Anglia Main Line is one of the two main line railways that operate out of (the other being the Great Eastern Main Line to Ipswich and Norwich). It runs generally north through Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Harlow, Bishop's Stortford and ...

railway. Its northward journey passes first through Newport, where it is joined by the streams known as Wicken Water and Debden Water. A couple of miles later it forms a picturesque addition to views of the stately home as it flows past the front of

Audley End House Audley End House is a largely early 17th-century country house outside Saffron Walden, Essex, England. It is a prodigy house, known as one of the finest Jacobean houses in England. Audley End is now one-third of its original size, but is st ...

, and is also joined by the stream known as Fulfen Slade. It then skirts the edges of a number of villages as it moves into Cambridgeshire, successively Littlebury, Little Chesterford, Great Chesterford, Ickleton,

Hinxton Hinxton is a village in South Cambridgeshire, England. The River Cam runs through the village, as does the Cambridge to Liverpool Street station, Liverpool Street railway, though the village has no station. Hinxton parish's southern boundarie ...

Duxford Duxford is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, about south of Cambridge. It is part of the Hundred Parishes area. History The village formed on the banks of the River Cam, a little below its emergence from the hills of north Essex. One of t ...

and

Whittlesford Whittlesford is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, and also the name of an old hundred. The village is situated on the Granta branch of the River Cam, seven miles south of Cambridge. Whittlesford Parkway railway station serves the village. L ...

, powering a number of water mills along the way. Forming the boundary between

and Little Shelford, it turns west to flow past Hauxton to merge with the Rhee a mile south of Grantchester at Hauxton Junction. From source to its confluence with the Rhee it is in length.

Other tributaries

A further tributary, also known as the Granta, runs from south of Haverhill to join the larger Granta south of

. Another minor tributary is Bourn Brook which has its source near the village of

Eltisley Eltisley is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England, on the A428 road about east of St Neots and about west of the city of Cambridge. The population in 2001 was 421 people, falling slightly to 401 at the 2011 Census. Hist ...

, west of Cambridge, running east through Caxton,

Bourn Bourn is a small village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England. Surrounding villages include Caxton, Eltisley and Cambourne. It is 8 miles (12 km) from the county town of Cambridge. The population of the parish was 1,015 at t ...

and Toft to join the Cam at Byron's Pool.

Literature

The Reeve's Tale "The Reeve's Tale" is the third story told in Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Canterbury Tales''. The reeve, named Oswald in the text, is the manager of a large estate who reaped incredible profits for his master and himself. He is described in the ...

" from

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

's ''

Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' () is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. The book presents the tales, which are mostly written in verse (poetry), verse, as part of a fictional storytellin ...

'' begins: The mill formerly stood by Brasley Bridge on Grantchester Road. The mill pond is extant and the foundations of the mill can be seen when the water is low. Byron's Pool is named after the poet,

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

, who is reputed to have swum there. It was certainly a bathing place for

Rupert Brooke Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915The date of Brooke's death and burial under the Julian calendar that applied in Greece at the time was 10 April. The Julian calendar was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar.) was an En ...

and the Cambridge

neo-Pagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some common simila ...

s. Brooke used to canoe from Cambridge to lodgings in Grantchester, which included the Old Vicarage. His homesick poem of 1912 evokes the river: : Oh! there the chestnuts, summer through, : Beside the river make for you : A tunnel of green gloom, and sleep : Deeply above; and green and deep : The stream mysterious glides beneath, : Green as a dream and deep as death. : ... : To smell the thrilling-sweet and rotten : Unforgettable, unforgotten : River-smell, and hear the breeze : Sobbing in the little trees. : Say, do the elm-clumps greatly stand : Still guardians of that holy land? : The chestnuts shade, in reverend dream, : The yet unacademic stream? —"

The Old Vicarage, Grantchester "The Old Vicarage, Grantchester" is a light poem by the English Georgian poet Rupert Brooke (1887–1915), written in Berlin in 1912. Initially titled "The Sentimental Exile", Brooke, with help from his friend Edward Marsh, renamed it to the ...

", ''Collected Poems'' (1916) One of Brooke's contemporaries, Gwen Darwin, later Raverat, grew up in the old mill by the Mill Pond. Her book, ''

Period Piece Period may refer to: Common uses * Period (punctuation) * Era, a length or span of time *Menstruation, commonly referred to as a "period" Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or r ...

'', is a memoir of a childhood messing about on the river. The mill house is now part of

Darwin College Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a capital city in Australia, ...

. Children's author

Philippa Pearce Ann Philippa Pearce OBE FRSL (22 January 1920 – 21 December 2006) was an English author of children's books. Best known of them is the time-slip novel '' Tom's Midnight Garden'', which won the 1958 Carnegie Medal from the Library Associati ...

, who lived in Great Shelford until her death in December 2006, featured the Cam in her books, most notably ''

Minnow on the Say ''Minnow on the Say'' is a Television in Canada, Canadian children's adventure television series which aired on CBC Television in 1960. It is based on the 1955 Minnow on the Say (novel), novel of the same title by Philippa Pearce, who later wrote ...

''. The river is renamed the River Say, with Great and Little Shelford becoming Great and Little Barley, and Cambridge becoming "Castleford" (not to be confused with the real town of the same name in West Yorkshire). River Cam is referred to as "Camus, reverend Sire" in line 103 of

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...

pastoral The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...

elegy An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

Lycidas "Lycidas" () is a poem by John Milton, written in 1637 as a pastoral elegy. It first appeared in a 1638 collection of elegies, ''Justa Edouardo King Naufrago'', dedicated to the memory of Edward King, a friend of Milton at Cambridge who drown ...

''. Edward King, in whose memory the elegy was composed, was a fellow student at Cambridge.

Use for recreation

Like many rivers, the Cam is extensively used for several forms of recreational activity. These include angling, swimming and various kinds of boating. Suicide Sunday 2012 cardboard boat race

Angling

The water is not murky and is clean enough from its source to its confluence with the Great Ouse to support fish. The fishing rights on the west bank are leased annually to the Cambridge Fish Preservation and Angling Society. The Cam below Bottisham Sluice may still hold

burbot The burbot (''Lota lota''), also known as bubbot, mariah, loche, cusk, freshwater cod, freshwater ling, freshwater cusk, the lawyer, coney-fish, lingcod, or eelpout, is a species of coldwater ray-finned fish native to the subarctic regions of ...

, a fish thought to be extinct in English waters since the early 1970s. The last known burbot caught in Britain was in 1969, on the Cam, and in 2010 a fisherman reported spotting two in the Great Ouse. Above Hinxton and Great Chesterford the river holds a stock of wild brown trout, though it is also stocked by the Audley Fly Fishers club and other angling societies who own the rights.

Boating

All boats require a navigation licence from either the Conservators of the River Cam or the Environment Agency. There are public moorings just below Jesus Lock on both sides of the river and on the western bank just north of the bridge at Clayhithe (both with a maximum stay of 48 hours), and unofficial moorings on the railings adjoining Riverside in Cambridge (unlimited stay, but usually fully occupied) which are under review by

Cambridge City Council Cambridge City Council is the local authority for Cambridge, a non-metropolitan district with city status in the United Kingdom, city status in Cambridgeshire, England. The council has been under Labour Party (UK), Labour majority control since ...

and likely to be reduced to eight or nine formalised residential moorings, or removed altogether. The moorings on the commons in Cambridge (Jesus Green,

Midsummer Common Midsummer Common is an area of common land in Cambridge, England. It lies northeast of the city centre on the south bank of the River Cam. The common borders the River Cam and houseboats are often moored on the common's bank. The boathouses ...

and Stourbridge Common) are reserved by the City Council for holders of its long-term mooring permits. There are also some privately owned moorings. There is a public

slipway A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving smal ...

next to the garden of the Green Dragon pub in Water Street, Chesterton. This is occasionally used for launching small boats.

Punting

Punting is the most popular form of boating on the stretch of the river between Jesus Lock and Grantchester. Several of the colleges own punts, and they can also be hired from various companies, either with or without a person to operate them. The colleges and at least one private operator also own punts which are available for members of the public to travel on.

Canoeing

Canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian. A few of the recreational ...

and

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

, both recreational and competitive, are popular at all times of year, especially on the section above the Mill Pond towards Grantchester. Both Cambridge Canoe Club (on Sheep's Green) and Cambridge University Canoe Club (just upstream from Newnham) are based here.

Powered boating

Powered boats may navigate as far upstream as La Mimosa restaurant (next to Jesus Green) all year round, and as far as the Mill Pool between 1 October and 31 March.

Rowing

The lower river between Jesus Lock and Baits Bite Lock is the training and racing home of the Cambridge University Combined Boat Clubs' university and college, and the

Cambridgeshire Rowing Association The Cambridgeshire Rowing Association (CRA) is based in Cambridge, UK. It is the administrative body for non-college rowing in Cambridge and since 1868 has organised races such as the CRA Bumps as well as looking after the interests of local ro ...

's town, rowing teams. The Cambridge

Lent Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...

May May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, May in the Southern Hemisphere is the ...

and Town Bumps rowing races, where boats set off at regular intervals, and the object is to catch and touch (that is, 'bump') the boat in front, are held here.

Sailing

The Cam Sailing Club was founded in 1899. It is based at Clayhithe near

Waterbeach Waterbeach is a village north of Cambridge on the edge of The Fens, in the South Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. It was designated a "new town" in 2018. History Early periods Waterbeach is on the Car Dyke, a Roman waterway ...

and organises sailing races most weekends between March and November.

Swimming

Swimming on the upper reaches, between Byron's Pool and King's Mill Weir, is popular in the summer, and people bathe at Grantchester Meadows all year round. Hardy bathers take part in the New Year's Day swim.

Navigation

Cambridge had been an

inland port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers publ ...

due to its location on the River Cam prior to the draining of

the Fens The Fens or Fenlands in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a system o ...

. As the university colleges rose in importance, the course of the river through the town, known as the Backs, was moved further to the east to accommodate their new buildings. A report conducted in 1618 by Richard Atkyns highlighted the problems caused by sandbanks above Clayhithe and

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

s obstructing navigation. An order made by the parliamentary committee of the association in 1643 regulated use of the river for trade, but the biggest change was the construction of Denver Sluice on the River Great Ouse, which reduced river levels on the lower river as tidal waters were excluded from the Ouse. Both the university and the Corporation of Cambridge complained to Parliament in 1697 that the trade route to the town from

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

had been severely impaired.''The Canals of Eastern England'', (1977), John Boyes and Ronald Russell, David and Charles, In 1699, the corporation sought to obtain an act of Parliament which would allow them to improve the river from Clayhithe to Queens Mill at Cambridge. The River Cam Navigation Act 1702 ( 1 Ann. St. 2. c. 11) was obtained on 27 February 1702Joseph Priestley, (1831), ''Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain''
and created the Conservators of the River Cam, a legal body with authority to charge tolls for use of the river, which ranged from four

shillings The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence ...

(20p) a ton for wine to one

penny A penny is a coin (: pennies) or a unit of currency (: pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. At present, it is ...

(0.4p) per person for passengers. The conservators, of which there were a maximum of eleven, had powers to mortgage the tolls, in order to raise capital for improvements to the river immediately. This they did, and built sluices at Jesus Green, Chesterton, Baits Bite and Clayhithe. Most of the tolls were collected at Clayhithe. Prior to 1722, Denver sluice had been destroyed, and although Cambridge Corporation opposed its reconstruction, it was rebuilt by 1750. The river entered a period of steady profitability, with toll receipts rising from £432 in 1752 to over £1,000 by 1803. In 1835 they peaked at £1,995, and then declined slightly until 1846. The conservators also raised some revenue from rents on the public houses which they owned adjacent to each of the sluices. Another act of Parliament, the River Cam Navigation Act 1813 ( 53 Geo. 3. c. ccxiv), was obtained on 21 July 1813 which allowed the Conservators to alter the tolls and charge penalties, while the South Level Act 1827 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. xlvii) created Commissioners who had responsibility for the river below

Bottisham Bottisham is a village and civil parish in the East Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England, about east of Cambridge, halfway to Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,983, including Ch ...

. This act also appointed the vice-chancellor of the university and the mayor as navigation commissioners. The conservators built locks at Baits Bite and Bottisham, and removed the sluice at Chesterton. The river was sufficiently profitable that the conservators were able to contribute £400 towards the cost of rebuilding the Great Bridge, now called the Magdalene Bridge, in 1823, and a further £300 for the rebuilding of the Small Bridge, now Silver Street Bridge, in 1841. A year later they constructed a house at Clayhithe, which cost £880, and included a large room for meetings and banquets. Just three years later the

Eastern Counties Railway The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was an English railway company incorporated in 1836 intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then extend to Norwich and Yarmouth. Construction began in 1837 on the first at the London end. Co ...

reached Cambridge, and the navigation declined rapidly. Receipts dropped from £1,393 in 1846 to £367 in 1850, and were just £99 in 1898. Most commercial carrying on the river had stopped by

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, although Banhams operated two steam tugs and three barges until the late 1930s, carrying gas water from Cambridge Gasworks to King's Lynn, where it was used in the manufacture of fertiliser. The last recorded passenger services had ceased nearly 100 years earlier, in 1839 and were started again in 2008 with the passenger vessel moored on Jesus Green. Traffic using the river today consists of private cruisers making the journey to Jesus Lock, with the section above Baits Bite lock regularly in use by the University rowing clubs, both for practice and for races. Motorised craft can navigate along the Backs in winter, but headroom is severely restricted. The Conservators of the River Cam now have an office in the former lock-keepers cottage at Baits Bite, while the house at Clayhithe is now the residence of the foreman of the conservators. The conservators are still responsible for the river above Bottisham lock, while the lower river has been managed by the

since its creation in 1995.''The River Great Ouse and tributaries'', (2006), Andrew Hunter Blair, Imray Laurie Norie and Wilson, The three locks are all of different sizes. Bottisham and Baits Bite locks are both fully automated, with a vertical guillotine gate at the upstream end and traditional mitre gates at the downstream end. Jesus lock is manually operated, and has mitre gates at both ends. Boat sizes are restricted to by the length of Bottisham lock, and to by the width of Baits Bite lock. Jesus lock is only wide. The navigable lodes of Reach, Swaffham Bulbeck and Bottisham, the last of which is no longer navigable, can be reached from the River Cam.

Flooding

The Cam is normally a placid river but

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

ing does occasionally happen. The most recent serious floods were in 2001, first in February and again on 22–23 October,Photographs of the October 2001 Cam floods
on th

site and then in February 2009. The Environment Agency is responsible for managing water levels and issuing flood warnings for the entire river.

Maps

*Pope's Corner, *Bottisham Lock, *Baits Bite Lock, *Chesterton, *Midsummer Common, *Jesus Green, *Jesus Lock, *Upstream end of Jesus Green, *River Cam at Cambridge, near Magdalene College, *The Backs, *Silver Street Bridge, *Mill Pond, *Sheep's Green, *Grantchester, *Byron's Pool,

References

External links

Conservators of the River CamFirst and Third Trinity Boat Club guide to the CamCambridge Fish Preservation and Angling Society
(on the Camboaters website) {{authority control Geography of Cambridge Tourist attractions in Cambridge

Cam Cam or CAM may refer to: Science and technology * Cam (mechanism), a mechanical linkage which translates motion * Camshaft, a shaft with a cam * Camera or webcam, a device that records images or video In computing * Computer-aided manufacturin ...

Rowing in Cambridge