Changing patterns of retail distribution and the advent of the railways led to a decline in Cambridge's importance as a market town.
=== Klima ===Cambridge ima trenutno dve uradni vremenski opazovalni postaji: "National Institute of Agricultural Botany" (NIAB), približno 3 km severno od centra mesta in "Cambridge University Botanic Garden", približno 1,5 km južno od mestnega središča.