Lion Yard

The Lion Yard Shopping Centre is an undercover shopping centre in the city centre of Cambridge, England. Construction work on the centre, which is bounded by St Andrew's Street, Corn Exchange Street, and Petty Cury, commenced in 1970 and the development contained a library, multi-storey car park and magistrates' court.It predates and is significantly smaller than either the Grafton Centre or the Grand Arcade. The latter connects directly to the Lion Yard in the city centre. The Grafton Centre is situated just outside the city centre, however it boasts large shops such as Debenhams which the Lion Yard does not have, due to its confined location.For many years a central feature of the atrium was a large white pillar with the statue of a large very red lion on the top of it, safely out of easy reach. This recalled the Red Lion pub which had occupied the site until demolished in 1969. The lion statue is now at the Cambridge University R.U.F.C. ground on Grange Road.The Lion Yard was significantly refurbished in the late 1990s/early 2000s. A recently constructed undercover mall, the Grand Arcade, adjoins Lion Yard on its south side; the two are interconnected.