Parkers Piece

A great place to just hang around. A getaway from the bustling city! On weekends you can watch the football and cricket that goes on!

parkers piece is like a massive green in cambridge city centre.. is a great place to go and chill out with family and friends on a nice day.. generally there are always people there which is nice.. its a relaxing place to go

Make for this place when the sun is out and the warm weather is here..just go people watching ( they mostly want to be looked at anyway ! )

Part of Cambridge's "green lung" and with various sporting historical associations to boot, Parker's Piece is a welcome bit of green, open space in the centre of the city.

Handy for picnics, it also hosts many outdoor events such as country fairs, children's fairs and even ice-skating in recent winters.

That said, it's small, flat with only a few trees around the edge and no real views to speak of, so if you are coming to Cambridge for the first time, don't miss out on King's College Chapel for this place !

We had a very pleasant picnic lunch here one warm September Sunday a year or so ago. There was plenty of space of the kids to run around and play football (of sorts; they were only 4 and 2 at the time), and whole area had a very genial atmosphere about it.

It was a bit of a struggle to park the car anywhere close by, but we managed it eventually… I don’t know if the place gets any busier when students are around, or at different times of the day, but I can only speak as we found -- and when we went it was idyllic.

The only slight drawback is that there were no toilets nearby -- we had to persuade a local landlord to let our 4-year-old use his facilities before we headed back up north. The fact that he did so willingly seemed to sum up the friendly feel of the place.

Parker’s Piece lies in the centre of Cambridge and is a nice green area in the city to relax in especially in the summer. It is common to see people playing cricket or football in the summer. It is also a nice place to have picnics or just to chill out. There are often free events held here. It is not a very large area but does tend to be quite busy.

So nice to have an area like this in a busy town. The City Centre Management hold a number of events for everyone throughout the year. Best to Park n Ride into Cambridge and walk to it from the bus station rather than find a place to park near there. Impossible. They hold Pop in the Park in the Summer, from November over Christmas they have an icerink which is larger this year. This has a lovely atmosphere as you are skating around in the late afternoon when its cold - very christmasy!

They have a French Market every year in the Summer, which have really lovely gifts and food available.

Always action going on there.

This a beautiful place in the summer months with lots events that take place. They play cricket on the piece which is lovely to sit and watch with a picnic. Last year they had an out door ice rink right in the centre and it was magical.

This is a great place to relax in the summer, very central in Cambridge and they hold great events, I like that it turns into an ice rink nearer Christmas and they hold fantastic live events and it’s very spacious, and free! Would recommend!

Parker’s Piece is the main setting for the annual Summer in the City event, put on each year by the city council. It took place on the 11th, 12th and 13th July this year. Usually there is a rock type band giving a live concert on the Friday evening followed by a firework display. Most of Saturday is taken up by exhibitions and varied entertainments. Sunday is another day of music. All this is free and with a French Market to tempt you with their produce, it is a marvellous weekend. Of course, good weather is a bonus!

Not just a great place to hang out or to indulge in a game of football or ultimate frisbee, but also a site of great sporting significance!

Not only:

Parker's Piece has a special place in the history of modern football games, as it was here that the Cambridge Rules of 1848 were first put into practice. They were very influential in the creation of the modern rules of Association Football, drawn up in London by The Football Association in 1863. A plaque has been mounted at Parker's Piece bearing the following inscription:

"Here on Parker's Piece, in the 1800s [sic], students established a common set of simple football rules emphasising skill above force, which forbade catching the ball and 'hacking'. These 'Cambridge Rules' became the defining influence on the 1863 Football Association rules."

But also:

Sir Jack Hobbs, second only to the Don in the list of five 'Wisden Cricketers of the Century', used to play on Parkers Piece.

Apart from the sporting lore associated with the place, I also love the old gas lamp at the cross roads of the paths (erected in 1893, fact fans) which has become known as 'Reality Checkpoint' by the students. Apparently as it marks the point where the cosseted environment of the colleges ends and real life, embodied by the town proper (the life and grit of Mill Road is just opposite) begins.

Parkers Piece is a landmark in Cambridge. Located very centrally, between Park Terrace, Regent Terrace, Parkside and Gonville Place, the area appears to be permanently busy with people hanging around, playing sports, or just cutting across town. In the summers lots of lazy students make this their hangout of choice, but it is green and large enough to accommodate the rest of us, too. Highly recommended.