To the east of Parker's Piece is another flat area of land called Coldham's Common, which is at a junction of chalk and clay, and was mined for black, phosphatic nodules called coprolites. Many people thought these nodules were fossil animal droppings, but in fact, they were phosphate nodules, used at the time for making fertiliser and explosives. As the first copralites were discovered during the mid 19th century, around 1850, a mining rush began in Cambridge! The men worked in appalling conditions, digging for coprolites in deep water-logged trenches.

As you stand on Parker's Piece, imagine it as a reed covered floodplain in the last Ice Age, and then glance towards Parkside Swimming Pool - coprolites like the ones mined on Coldham's Common were found there too!

Playing football on Parker's Piece

You may well see people playing sport on Parker's Piece... it is often used for football and cricket as it is a nice flat playing surface. In fact, this flat surface has been used for centuries and played an important part in the history of football!

Until the 1840's there were no rules to the game of football. Clubs from different parts of the country invented their own sets of rules which, of course, caused problems when they competed! A group of Cambridge University students decided to draw up their own set of rules which became known as the 'Cambridge Rules'. These rules were first conceived and used on Parker's Piece and soon after were adopted by the Football Association. They are still used today, with only slight modifications and refinements!

Why not take a moment to see what wildlife you can spot? The large, flat area of grass will contain a number of insects and creepy-crawlies and you'll also see a number of birds flying up above including black-headed gulls, herring gulls, common gulls, wood pigeons, starlings and swifts.

Walk diagonally across Parker's Piece towards the Catholic Church. You will pass by the new public toilets - so this might be a good spot to stop for a loo break! Continue towards the main crossroads and cross straight over, and then over the road again, so you are right outside the Catholic Church. Then continue walking past the church and along Lensfield Road. You will pass the Scott Polar Research Institute Museum which is open Tue-Sat 2.30-4pm. Carry on walking along Lensfield Road until you get to the junction with Trumpington Road where you will see the Hobson's Conduit Fountain.