Things to do in Cambridgeshire
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Ely Cathedral
Dominating the town and visible across the flat fenland for vast distances, the stunning silhouette of Ely Cathedral is locally dubbed the 'Ship of the Fens'.
Walking into the early 12th-century Romanesque nave, you're immediately struck by its clean, uncluttered lines and lofty sense of space. The cathedral is renowned for its entrancing ceilings and the masterly 14th-century octagon and lantern towers, which soar upwards in shimmering colours.
The vast 14th-century Lady Chapel is the biggest in England; it's filled with eerily empty niches that once held statues of saints and martyrs. They were hacked out unceremoniously by iconoclasts during the English Civil War. Howeve…
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Queens' College
The gorgeous 15th-century Queens' College sits elegantly astride the river and has two enchanting medieval courtyards: Old Court and Cloister Court. Here, too, is the beautiful half-timbered President's Lodge and the tower in which famous Dutch scholar and reformer Desiderius Erasmus lodged from 1510 to 1514. He had plenty to say about Cambridge: the wine tasted like vinegar, the beer was slop and the place was too expensive, but he did note that the local women were good kissers.
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Emmanuel College
The 16th-century Emmanuel College is famous for its exquisite chapel designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Here, too, is a plaque commemorating John Harvard (BA 1632), a scholar here who later settled in New England and left his money to found his namesake university in the Massachusetts town of Cambridge.
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Gonville & Caius College
Known locally as Caius (pronounced keys), Gonville and Caius was founded twice, first by a priest called Gonville, in 1348, and then again in 1557 by Dr Caius (his given name was Keys – it was common for academics to use the Latin form of their names), a brilliant physician who supposedly spoilt his legacy by insisting the college admit no 'deaf, dumb, deformed, lame, chronic invalids, or Welshmen'! Fortunately for the college, his policy didn't last long, and the wheelchair-using megastar of astrophysics, Stephen Hawking, is now a fellow here.
The college is of particular interest thanks to its three fascinating gates: Virtue, Humility and Honour. They symbolise the pro…
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Christ's College
Over 500 years old and a grand old institution, Christ's is worth visiting if only for its gleaming Great Gate emblazoned with heraldic carving of spotted Beaufort yale (antelope-like creatures), Tudor roses and portcullis. Its founder, Lady Margaret Beaufort, hovers above like a guiding spirit. A stout oak door leads into First Court, which has an unusual circular lawn, magnolias and wisteria creepers. Pressing on through the Second Court there is a gate to the Fellows' Garden, which contains a mulberry tree under which 17th-century poet John Milton reputedly wrote Lycidas. Charles Darwin also studied here, and his room has been restored as it would have been when he liv…
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Trinity College
Trinity College is one of the largest, wealthiest and most attractive colleges. It was established in 1546 by Henry VIII, whose statue peers out from the top niche of the great gateway (he’s holding a chair leg instead of the royal sceptre, the result of a student prank). Check the website for frequent free entry periods. The Great Court, the largest in either Cambridge or Oxford, incorporates some fine 15th-century buildings. Beyond the Great Court are the cloisters of Nevile’s Court and the dignified Wren Library, built by Sir Christopher in the 1680s.
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Great St Mary's Church
Cambridge's staunch university church was built between 1478 and 1519 in the late-Gothic Perpendicular style. If you're fit and fond of a view, climb the 123 steps of the tower for superb vistas of the dreamy spires, albeit marred by wire fencing.
The beautiful classical building directly across King's Pde is the Senate House, designed in 1730 by James Gibbs; graduations are held here in summer, when gowned and mortar-boarded students parade the streets to pick up those all-important scraps of paper.
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King’s College
King’s College is one of the most sublime buildings in Europe and Cambridge’s foremost tourist attraction. The chapel was begun in 1446 by Henry VI and completed around 1516. Henry VI’s successors, notably Henry VIII, added the intricate fan vaulting and elaborate wood-and-stone carvings of the interior. The chapel comes alive when the choir sings and there are services during term and in July (phone for performance times).
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Church of St Bene't
The oldest structure in the county, the Saxon tower of this Franciscan church was built around 1025. The round holes above the belfry windows were designed to offer owls nesting privileges; they were valued as mouse killers. The church also has a Bible that belonged to Thomas Hobson, owner of a nearby livery stable, who told customers they could hire any horse they liked as long as it was the one nearest the door - hence the term 'Hobson's choice', meaning no choice at all.
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Little St Mary's Church
Little St Mary's The church's unwieldy original name was St Peter's-without-Trumpington-Gate, which gave the college its name. Inside is a memorial to student Godfrey Washington, great-uncle of George. His family coat of arms was the stars and stripes, the inspiration for the US flag. Henry Cavendish, the first person to measure the density of water, also studied here. He also calculated the planet's weight: about six billion trillion metric tonnes if you must know.
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Magdalene College
Originally a Benedictine hostel, riverside Magdalene has the dubious honour of being the last college to allow women students; when they were finally admitted in 1988, male students wore black armbands and flew the college flag at half-mast. Its greatest asset is the Pepys Library, housing the magnificent collection of books the famous mid-17th- century diarist bequeathed to his old college.
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Cambridge University
Five of the university colleges - King's, Queens', Clare, Trinity and St John's - charge tourist admission. Some other colleges deem visitors too disruptive and often deny them entry. Most colleges close to visitors for the Easter term and all are closed for exams from mid-May to mid-June. Opening hours vary year to year, so contact the colleges, the tourist office or the university's central information service for updates.
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Peterhouse College
The oldest and smallest college, Peterhouse is a charming place founded in 1284. Much of the college was rebuilt or added to over the years, including the exceptional little chapel built in 1632, but the main hall is bona fide 13th century and has been beautifully restored. Just to the north is Little St Mary's Church, which has a memorial to Peterhouse student Godfrey Washington, great-uncle of George. His family coat of arms was the stars and stripes, the inspiration for the US flag.
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Oliver Cromwell's House
A short hop across St Mary's Green is the attractive half-timbered Oliver Cromwell's House, where England's warty warmonger lived with his family from 1636 to 1646, when he was the tithe collector of Ely. The house now has Civil War exhibits, portraits, waxworks and echoes with canned commentaries of - among other things - the great man's grisly death, exhumation and posthumous decapitation.
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Eagle
Cambridge's most famous pub has loosened the tongues and pickled the grey cells of many an illustrious academic in its day; among them Nobel Prize-winning scientists Crick and Watson, who are thought to have discovered the form of DNA. It's a traditional 16th-century pub with five cluttered cosy rooms, the back one popular with WWII airmen, who left their signatures on the ceiling.
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Wren Library
Trinity College's vast hall has a dramatic hammer-beam roof and lantern, and beyond this are the dignified cloisters of Nevile's Court and the renowned Wren Library . It contains 55,000 books dated before 1820 and more than 2500 manuscripts, including AA Milne's original Winnie the Pooh. Both he (Milne that is, not Winnie) and his son, Christopher Robin, were graduates.
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Fitzwilliam Museum
Fondly dubbed 'the Fitz' by locals, this colossal neoclassical pile was one of the first public art museums in Britain, built to house the fabulous treasures that the seventh Viscount Fitzwilliam had bequeathed to his old university. An unabashedly over-the-top building, it sets out to mirror its contents in an ostentatious jumble of styles that mixes mosaic with marble, Greek with Egyptian and more. It was begun by George Basevi in 1837, but he did not live to see its completion: while working on Ely Cathedral he stepped back to admire his handiwork, slipped and fell to his death.
The lower galleries are filled with priceless treasures from ancient Egyptian sarcophagi to …
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Fort St George
The ideal English summertime pub sandwiched between the grassy expanse of Midsummer Common and the punt-littered River Cam and with lots of picnic tables to install yourself at. Dating from the 16th century, the fort is said to be the oldest pub on the river, and has a snug crookedly beamed interior to decamp when the sun's gone in.
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Great Ouse
From the antiques centre, this charming riverside walk ambles east with the Fens stretching to the horizon.
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Granta
If the exterior of this picturesque waterside pub overhanging a pretty mill pond looks strangely familiar it could be because it's the darling of many a television director. Its terrace sits directly beside the water and when your Dutch courage has been sufficiently fuelled, there are punts for hire alongside.
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Almonry
Vying for the best-setting award, this traditional teashop cosies up to the cathedral, spilling into attractive gardens left of the Lady Chapel. Alternatively, you can shelter in its atmospheric 12th-century vaulted undercroft. Meals here are simple, but there's a also a wide range of caffeinated pick-me-ups.
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St Radegund
A quirky little one-off pub - the smallest in town - run by an endearing eccentric and pulling a superb selection of unusual real ales, St Radegund is hidden behind a bluff exterior and sackcloth curtains; the interior is hung with paraffin lamps and the ceiling burnt with graffiti.
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Rainbow Vegetarian
First-rate vegetarian food and a pious glow emanate from this snug subterranean gem, accessed down a narrow passageway off King's Pde. It's decorated in funky colours and serves up organic dishes with a hint of the exotic, such as scrumptious Indonesian gado gado and Cuban peccadillo pie.
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St John's College
After King's College, St John's is one of the city's most photogenic colleges, and is also the second- biggest after Trinity. Founded in 1511, it sprawls along both banks of the river, joined by the Bridge of Sighs, a masterpiece of stone tracery. Over the bridge is the 19th-century New Court, an extravagant neo-Gothic creation, and out to the left stunning views of the Backs.
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Old Fire Engine House
Backed by beautiful gardens and showcasing a variety of artwork, this delightfully homey place serves classic English food and excellent afternoon teas. Expect the likes of steak-and-kidney pie or rabbit with prunes and bacon washed down with a carefully chosen wine. Book in advance.
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