Grantchester Meadows, River Cam
The stretch of the Cam running along Grantchester Meadows, between Newnham and Grantchester village, has been swum for more than 500 years, by Rupert Brooke and Virginia Woolf among many others. The banks are steep and weedy in places, so find a spot where you can climb out before you get in. Local testing suggests cleaner water towards the Newnham end; skip it for a few days after heavy rain.
Photo: Hugh Venables · CC BY-SA 2.0
Latest reading · SwimScore 83/100 (Get in) for a typical swimmer: air 15°C, wind 8 km/h, UV 0. Updated .
Know before you go
- Best conditions
- Warm, dry summer spells; Cam Valley Forum suggests avoiding the days after heavy rain.
- Getting in
- Open meadows owned by King's College and managed by Cambridge Past, Present & Future since 2025, with pedestrian entrances from Newnham, Grantchester village and Grantchester Road. The managers acknowledge the swimming tradition but warn of drowning risk and advise against jumping, diving or swinging into the river.
- Water quality
- Not a designated bathing water. The nearest designated site, Sheep's Green on the River Cam in Cambridge, was classified Poor by the Environment Agency in 2024 and 2025. Cam Valley Forum's own testing found better results at the downstream end of the meadows than the upstream end; sewage works upstream can discharge storm water after heavy rain.
- Season
- Mainly a summer swim; wardens are on the meadows at busy times between Easter and September.
- Who swims here
- Cam Valley Forum, which notes that most Cambridge river swimmers use Grantchester Meadows, won bathing water designation for Sheep's Green and runs its own E. coli testing; Newnham Riverbank Club is a members' riverside swimming club nearby. Byron's Pool lies just upstream.
- Watch for
- Deep sections with flowing water
- Weed and hidden objects such as branches that can entangle or injure
- Steep, overgrown banks that are hard to climb out of
- Shallow patches: no jumping or diving
- Stronger currents after heavy rain
- Punts and canoes on the river
- Cattle graze the meadows from April to October
- Facilities
- Tarmac path between Newnham and Grantchester with a couple of benches · Unsurfaced riverside path that can flood · No rubbish or dog bins on the meadows (bins at the entrances) · Pubs and tea garden in Grantchester village
Sources: en.wikipedia.org, cambridgeppf.org, camvalleyforum.uk, camvalleyforum.uk, assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
Hand-checked spots nearby
Safety Information
Community Reports
How was your swim?
How accurate were the predicted conditions?
What were actual conditions like?
What SwimScore would you give it?
Details
- Location
- Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
- Type
- river
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Coordinates
- 52.1900, 0.1050