This image gives a good sense of the hustle and bustle of Cambridge’s central market place prior to the devastating fire of 1849 and the removal in 1855 of the original stone fountain, which had issued fresh running water, brought in via Hobson’s Conduit since 1614. An uncovered fruit and vegetable stall dominates the left foreground while a well- stocked poulterer’s stall fills the right middle ground with birds lying on the table and neatly hung from the makeshift roof-cover. A gilt- metal sign in the shape of a fish is suspended over the tops of the covered market stalls showing that somewhere in their midst is a fishmonger.

Frederick MacKenzie (1787– 1854) London, England, 1841 Watercolour, graphite pencil, body colour and white, gum applications and scratching out, on paper Purchased with the Fairhaven Fund (PD.13-1971)