800 Years of Death and Disease in Cambridge

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MP3 or Podcast?
The audio walk can be played on any iPod, MP3 player or mobile phone with MP3. The audio walk is easy to get as either a podcast or MP3 tracks. If you have a compatible screen on your player you will also see pictures of the places being talked about.

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If you have iTunes or other podcasting software, we recommend the podcast as it is easier. Otherwise choose the MP3 format.

Welcome to this walk about death and disease in Cambridge – an unusual topic, but one that we think you’ll find fascinating! It is brought to you by the Institute of Public Health in the University of Cambridge.

This walk is for everyone, not just for medical specialists, so we won’t be blinding you with science. And it’s not just a history of illness, but a heartening story of the improvement in medical care and social welfare in Cambridge, reflected in the steadily improving standards of public health. Along the way, we will give plenty of lurid details revealing just how pestilential this beautiful city of ours once was.

We’ll be stopping at a wide range of places which have played a role in shaping this story. Most of these are within the city centre, although it does include a slight detour out to the Mill Road area, which can be easily left out if you don’t have time.

The walk is simple to follow – there are sixteen places to visit along the route, with sixteen corresponding tracks. You can print out the illustrated map from this web site.

The walk takes about two hours.

We will not be going inside any buildings, but if they are open to the public, you might want to break your tour and have a look around.

Leper in costume with clapper in the Middle Ages

"This walk traces a journey from times when lives were short and commonly blighted by disease. As knowledge advanced and people acted together for the common good so health improved – themes just as relevant in today’s world."
Carol Brayne, John Powles

Credits

This walk was brought to you by The Institute of Public Health in the University of Cambridge.
This project was made possible with the support of the Medical Research Council Biostatistics Unit and the Eastern Region Public Health Observatory.
Thanks are due to:
The Production Team at IPH: John Powles, Jane Phelps, Sean Hickin and Carol Brayne.
The Production Team at Stride Design: Vicky Smith, Simon Ruffle, Sarah Baylis and Emily Chenery.
Our external experts: Mary Dobson, Julian Parkhill, Samantha Williams, Carol Rawcliffe, Rosemary Horrox, Leigh Shaw-Taylor, Simon Szreter and Malcolm Underwood.
Thanks are also due to the 800th Anniversary Team and for the support of Nicola Buckley in the Office of External Affairs and Communications.

Words, production and website: Stride Design.
Images: Stride Design, Wellcome Library London, and others credited separately.
Voice: Jamie Lee.
Music: Jim Simmonds.
This walk was produced in 2009.

This walk is a strideguide © Stride Design 2009.

Selective Bibliography

Brooke, Christopher (ed.) 'A History of the University of Cambridge', 4 Volumes, Vol 1. – 1546; 2. – 1750; 3. – 1870 4. – 1990.

Dobson, Mary 'Contours of Death and Disease in Early Modern England', (1997).

Leedham-Green, Elizabeth 'A Concise History of the University of Cambridge', (1996).

Porter, Roy 'The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity from Antiquity to the Present', (1997).

Rawcliffe, Carole 'Leprosy in Medieval England', (2006).

Rook, Arthur [et al.] 'The History of Addenbrookes Hospital', (1991).

Taylor, Alison 'Cambridge: The Hidden History', (1999).

Wrigley EA, Davies RS, Oeppen JE, Schofield RS. 'English Population History From Family Reconstitution 1580-1837', (1997)

University of Cambridge Institute of Public Health