If you’re looking for a place to spend the day wandering and relaxing, Queens’ College in Cambridge is just the place for you and your family. Queens’ College derives its name from its two founders – the wife of Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou, who founded it in 1448 and the wife of Edward IV, Elizabeth Woodville, who also founded it in 1465. For trivia buffs, the above is why it is known as Queens’ College rather than Queens College. Queens’ College is able to boast many illustrious alumni including the venerable Stephen Fry as well as Desiderius Erasmus.
One of this college’s most well-known features is the Mathematical Bridge. Occasionally it is put forward that Isaac Newton built this bridge, but that would prove quite impossible as Newton had been dead for more than two decades before the building of this bridge would commence. The bridge itself is a glorious sight to behold. It was built by James Essex in 1749 and rebuilt twice afterwards with the most recent time being worked on in 1905.
The oldest part of the college you’ll see is called the Old Court, which dates back to 1448. The Cloister Court is just slightly more modern having been built around 1490. One of the loveliest places in the Old Court area is a building called the Old Hall. It was built in 1449 and you will find three very large paintings on the wall of Erasmus, Elizabeth Woodville and Sir Thomas Smith. If you’re a fan of the Pre-Raphaelites, you will love this place. The tiles along the fireplace were designed by William Morris’s company in 1864 from designs conceived by Edward Burne-Jones, Ford Madox Brown and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
Another place to see is a place known as the Walnut Tree Court which dates back to 1616. A Carmelite monastery from 1292 once used to stand here, but today this is where some of the students have their rooms. The College Chapel is to be found here and it is a lovely little place.
The newest part of Queen’s College is the Cripps Court which was finished in 1980. It is a very modern looking building and not quite in keeping with the spirit of the rest of the college, but students do need somewhere to sleep after all and the other buildings didn’t have room enough to house all of them.
My favorite part of visiting Queen’s is walking across the Mathematical Bridge so I can walk beside the River Cam. There are benches alongside the river here should you want to spend some time relaxing and watching all the boats go by.
If you visit Queen’s during the summer the charge to roam its grounds is capped at £2.50 per person with children under 12 visiting for free.
