Grantchester is a village and civil parish on the River Cam or Granta in South Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about two miles south of Cambridge. The village of Grantchester is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as Grantesete and Grauntsethe. Before, it is also mentioned briefly in book IV, chapter 19 of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English …Grantchester is a village and civil parish on the River Cam or Granta in South Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about two miles south of Cambridge. The village of Grantchester is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as Grantesete and Grauntsethe. Before, it is also mentioned briefly in book IV, chapter 19 of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People. John de Grauntsete, a lawyer who had a successful career as a judge in Ireland, was born in Grantchester, c. 1270, and took his surname from his birthplace. The present name derives from the common Old English suffix -ceaster, used in names of forts or fortified cities throughout England.