From Roman crossing to riverside quarter
Quayside has been a working part of Cambridge for two thousand years — first as a river crossing, then a trading port, and now the city's busiest punting station.
The Romans establish a river crossing at what is now Quayside, at the point where a road linking Colchester to Chester meets the River Cam — the reason Cambridge exists where it does.
Danish traders settle the area, then known as "the Hulme" — an island in marshy ground — and by the 10th century Cambridge is recorded as a port on par with Norwich and Ipswich.
The city's oldest surviving pub opens its doors beside Quayside, serving the merchant traders who worked the wharves.
The current cast-iron Magdalene Bridge is built, replacing earlier wooden and stone crossings on the same spot — a Grade II listed structure today.
Magdalene College, which owns most of the surrounding land, redevelops Quayside into the riverside quarter of bars, restaurants and punting stations visitors see today. A stone marker from this redevelopment still carries the college's motto, Garde ta Foy.
Quayside is one of six river stations licensed for punting by the Conservators of the River Cam, and home to several restaurants and bars along the water's edge.
Where the name comes from
For centuries this stretch of riverbank was Cambridge's working dock — the quay where barges unloaded timber, grain, and coal hauled up the Cam from the fens. That trade disappeared long ago, but the name and the waterside function stuck: the docks became a mooring point, and eventually the launch site for the city's punts.
A pub called Punt Yard
One of the riverside buildings at Quayside later traded for years as a bar and kitchen called Punt Yard — a name that nodded to the trade that has defined this stretch of river since the docks closed. It closed some years ago and has since changed hands. This site now exists independently, as a guide to Quayside's history and its role as Cambridge's punting hub.
What to look for
Magdalene Bridge
The single-span cast-iron bridge dates to 1823 and is Grade II listed. It carries Magdalene Street across the Cam, right above the punting station.
The Magdalene motto stone
Placed during the 1989 redevelopment, a large carved block bears the college's motto, Garde ta Foy — "Keep Your Faith".
The oldest pub in Cambridge
Standing beside Quayside since 1608, it once served the merchant traders who worked these docks.
See how the history connects to a visit today
Quayside's punting stations sit exactly where the old docks once stood.