Cambridge Attractions, England

King's College Chapel
King's College Chapel, a hall church 290ft/88m long, 45ft/13.6m wide and 80ft/24.4m high, is renowned for its 12-bay interior in the Perpendicular style. It has breathtaking fan vaulting by John Wastell (1512-15), and lovely Perpendicular tracery in the windows and on the walls. The stained glass windows (1515-31; west window 19th century), embellished with Tudor coats of arms, are noted particularly for the cycle on the life of Mary, Jesus and the Apostles. The wooden organ screen (1533-36), organ case (1686) and choir stalls (16th-17th century) are lavishly carved. The altarpiece is a painting by Rubens, the "Adoration of the Magi" (1634), presented to the college by A. E. Allnatt in 1961. Visitors are recommended to attend Evensong, when the famous King's College Choir sings.

University Colleges
Oxford and Cambridge are the English universities best known in Europe. Both were founded in the mid 13th century - Oxford slightly earlier than Cambridge, for which reason it is always referred to first and both today have some 10,000 students. In the Middle Ages students went up to the two universities at the age of 14 or 15, earning the title of Master of Grammar after three years (the "trivium" of Latin grammar, rhetoric and logic) and Master of Arts after another four years (the "quadrivium" of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music). A doctorate in theology, law or medicine required additional years of study.
The colleges were laid out according to monastic tradition, with cloister like courts, a large dining hall and a chapel. Access is usually through a gatehouse or "Porter's Lodge". Because the colleges are first and foremost academic institutions, rather than museums, visitors may find themselves turned away at exam time or on other such occasions.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Better known as the Round Church, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Bridge Street is one of the few Norman round churches in England (ca. 1131, the rectangular chancel being 15th century). It was drastically restored in 1841.

Clare College
Clare College, next to Trinity Hall, was first founded in 1326 as University Hall. Bad management necessitated its refounding by Lady Elizabeth de Clare in 1338. In 1638, following a fire, work started on rebuilding the college in its present Renaissance style, seen at its loveliest in First Court. Distinguished past members include the reformer Hugh Latimer, who was burned at the stake at Oxford, and the Elizabethan dramatist Robert Greene.

St John's College
St John's College, in St John's Street, was erected on the site of an old monastery hospital. The college was founded in 1511 by Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII.
A richly ornamented gateway opens into First Court, a fine example of Tudor architecture.
The Chapel, built by Sir George Gilbert (1836-39), contains stalls and monuments from its predecessor.
The dining hall of 1519, known simply as "The Hall", was enlarged in sympathy with later buildings in 1826. It has a fine hammerbeam roof, beautiful paneling and some good portraits.
The Combination Room has a splendid plaster ceiling with festoons of vines. Second Court, built by Ralph Symons between 1598 and 1602, is exceptionally attractive with its mellow brickwork.
Third Court dates from 1669-71 and includes the Library (1623-24) on its north side.
Among the many notable members of St John's were the dramatist Ben Jonson (1573-1637) and the Lakeland poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850) in whose famous "Prelude" there occurs a description of his college rooms.

Trinity College
Trinity College was established in 1546 by Henry VIII. It was created by the merger of several older colleges, including Michaelhouse (1324) and King's Hall, the latter dating from 1337 in the reign of Edward III to whom the Great Gate (1535) is dedicated. Beyond King Edward's Gate (1418), parts of the old King's Hall buildings are still identifiable.
Trinity Great Court, measuring 112yd/102m by 76yd/70m, is the largest in Cambridge and was laid out around 1600. The well (ca. 1610) used to provide the college's drinking water. A passage leads into Nevile's Court, completed in 1614. The chapel with its statues of distinguished scholars was begun under Mary Tudor.
The library was built by Wren (1676-90). The old oak bookcases have fine limewood carvings by Grinling Gibbons.
Trinity can claim more distinguished former members than any other college: statesmen including Balfour, Sir Austen Chamberlain, Stanley Baldwin and Nehru; poets and writers, among them George Herbert, Abraham Cowley, Dryden, and Edward Fitzgerald; the historian G. M. Trevelyan; the philosopher Bertrand Russell; and scientists such as Galton, Clerk-Maxwell, Thomson, Gowland Hopkins, Rayleigh, Eddington, Ernest Rutherford and Isaac Newton. Edward VII and George VI were also at Trinity.
From New Court, or King's Court (1823-25), there is a bridge over the Cam, with a beautiful view of the Backs. A magnificent avenue of limes leads to the College Grounds.
 

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