Mill Road and Gwydir Street
From Parker's Piece along Mill Road, past a Victorian cemetery and an Arts and Crafts house to the first purpose-built mosque in Cambridge.
Mill Road runs south-east from near Parker's Piece, crosses the railway and passes through the Petersfield and Romsey wards. It is a busy road with many independent businesses, churches and the Cambridge Central Mosque. The route leaves the road for the side streets to reach the cemetery and the David Parr House.
The route
Start: Parker's Piece
About 25 acres of flat grass, bounded by Park Terrace, Parkside, Gonville Place and Regent Terrace. Mill Road begins near its edge.
2. Mill Road
The road takes its name from a windmill that once stood by the present Covent Garden corner. Petersfield, west of the railway, was developed mainly by Gonville and Caius and Corpus Christi colleges, which is why many of its streets carry fellows' names.
The cemetery opened in 1848 on a former cricket ground and has been a Grade II listed site since 2001. Arthur Cayley, Sir George Stokes and James Challis are among those buried here. It is also a City Wildlife Site, with more than 110 plant species recorded. You can enter from Mill Road, via Norfolk Street, or across the Gwydir Street industrial estate.
David Parr bought 186 Gwydir Street in 1886 and decorated the rooms by hand until 1926. A charity bought the house in 2014, and the first public visitors came in May 2019. It has been Grade II* listed since 2020. Visits are by ticket, and booking is required.
A freehouse at 85-87 Gwydir Street. It pours up to 14 real ales and seven real ciders at one time, and food is served daily.
The first purpose-built mosque in Cambridge opened to visitors on 24 April 2019. It was designed by Marks Barfield Architects, the practice behind the London Eye. A garden with trees and a water feature faces Mill Road, and four tree-shaped timber columns hold up the entrance canopy. It is an active place of worship, so dress and behave respectfully inside.
Practical notes
- Check each stop's page for opening times and any tickets or booking before you set out.
- The mosque is in the Romsey area, east of the railway, so the last stretch follows Mill Road across the railway.
- The distance and time in the sidebar are estimates, worked out from the straight lines between stops with an allowance for street detours.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
