Downing Site and Tennis Court Road Cambridge. An Archaeological Desk Top Assessment

Abstract

This archaeological desk based assessment was commissioned by Arup Associates on behalf of the University of Cambridge to assess the potential for the survival of archaeological features within the Downing Site (TL 4514 5810) and Tennis Court Road Site (TL 4516 5775). Set adjacent to and close the historic city centre these two sites were formerly agricultural land prior to the expansion of Cambridge in the later 18th and 19th centuries, the Downing site once forming part of the extensive grounds of Downing College and Tennis Court Road situated upon the southern approach to the Medieval town, an area of known pre-Conquest Saxon activity. The Downing Site is also located to the southwest of the previously unknown Late Saxon early Medieval settlement features found during excavations ahead of the construction of the Grand Arcade shopping complex.