The River Granta is the name of two of the four tributaries of the River Cam

River Cam

The River Cam is a tributary of the River Great Ouse in the east of England. The two rivers join to the south of Ely at Pope's Corner. The Great Ouse connects the Cam to England's canal system and to the North Sea at King's Lynn...

, although both names are often used synonymously. The Granta, starts near the village of Widdington

Widdington

Widdington is a village and a civil parish near Saffron Walden, in the Uttlesford district, in the county of Essex, England. The village is located near the M11 motorway. Widdington has a church called St Mary the Virgin, Widdington and a barn called Prior's Hall Barn.- External links :* * *...

 in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

 flowing the 15 mi (24.1 km) north past Audley End House

Audley End House

Audley End House is largely an early 17th-century country house just outside Saffron Walden, Essex, south of Cambridge, England. It was once a palace in all but name and renowned as one of the finest Jacobean houses in England. Audley End is now only one-third of its original size, but is still...

 to merge with the other contributary Rhee, which is also commonly called River Cam, a mile south of Grantchester.

A further tributary, also known as the Granta, runs 10 mi (16.1 km) from south of Haverhill

Haverhill, Suffolk

Haverhill is an industrial market town and civil parish in the county of Suffolk, England, next to the borders of Essex and Cambridgeshire. It lies southeast of Cambridge and north of central London...

 to join the larger Granta south of Great Shelford

Great Shelford

Great Shelford is a village located approximately four miles to the south of Cambridge, in the county of Cambridgeshire, in eastern England. In 1850 Great Shelford parish contained intersected by the river Cam. The population in 1841 was 803 people...

. Another minor tributary is Bourn Brook

Bourn Brook, Cambridgeshire

Bourn Brook is a minor tributary of the River Cam in Cambridgeshire, England.It has its source just to the east of the village of Eltisley, 10 miles west of Cambridge, where the hills rise to around 60 metres above sea level...

 which has its source near the village of Eltisley

Eltisley

Eltisley is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England, on the A428 road about 5.5 miles east of St Neots and about 11 miles west of the city of Cambridge. The population in 2001 was 421 people.-History:...

, 10 mi (16.1 km) west of Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

, running east through Caxton

Caxton, Cambridgeshire

Caxton is a small rural village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England. It is 9 miles west of the county town of Cambridge. In 2001, the population of Caxton parish was 480 people. Caxton is most famous for the Caxton Gibbet.-History:...

, Bourn

Bourn

Bourn is a small village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England. Surrounding villages include Caxton, Eltisley and Cambourne. It is 8 miles from the county town of Cambridge. The population of the parish was 1,764 people at the time of the 2001 census.Bourn has a Church of England...

 and Toft

Toft, Cambridgeshire

Toft is a village situated in Cambridgeshire, England. It is approximately six miles to the west of Cambridge, and is situated within four miles of the M11 motorway. It has approximately 600 residents and 200 homes. Comberton Village College falls within the Toft Parish boundary...

 to join the Cam at Byron's Pool.

In many maps the river changes its name at the Silver Street Bridge

Silver Street, Cambridge

Silver Street is located in the southwest of central Cambridge, England. It links Queen's Road to the west with Trumpington Street to the east. The road continues west out of central Cambridge as Sidgwick Avenue....

 in Cambridge and is called "Granta" above and "Cam" below it.

In earlier times even the lower part of the Cam was also named the Granta, but after the name of the Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

 town of Grantebrycge had been modified to Cambridge, the river was renamed to match.

Grantchester

Grantchester

Grantchester is a village on the River Cam or Granta in Cambridgeshire, England. It is listed in the Domesday Book as Grantesete and Grauntsethe...

 and Granta Park

Granta Park

Granta Park is a science, technology and biopharmaceutical park based on the bank of the River Granta in Great Abington near Cambridge, England....

are on the river banks of the river Granta and their names refer to the river itself.