Highways and Byways in Cambridge and ElyConybeare, John William Edward
History
Highways and Byways in Cambridge and Ely
Conybeare, John William Edward
Cambridgeshire (England) -- Description and travel; Isle of Ely (England) -- Description and travel
To enter Queens' it is advisable to cross the iron bridge, and recross
the river by Sir Isaac Newton's wooden structure. Passing through the
low doorway into which it leads we find ourselves in the most
picturesque of all College Courts, bounded by the Hall in face of us,
and on the other three sides by a low range of ancient red-brick
cloisters. These once belonged to the Carmelite nuns, who removed to
this site when flooded out of their original quarters at Newnham. In
1538 they sold their House to the College, just in time to escape its
confiscation, at the suppression of the monasteries, by Henry the
Eighth, who, as it was, required the purchase-money to be paid over to
_him_. Having obtained the property Queens' at once built over the
northern cloisters the beautiful gallery which serves as the
drawing-room of the President's Lodge--(it has been stated that the
Head of a College is, in Cambridge, always called the "Master," except
here, where he is "President," and at King's where he is "Provost").
The gallery, which is a wooden construction overhanging the Cloister,
is eighty feet long by twelve in width, with three large oriels
looking into the Court. Those on the other side open into the
President's garden, a charming enclosure abutting upon the river. Both
gallery and garden are, of course, strictly private. Opposite the
gallery, at the south-east corner of the cloisters, is a small Court
of Elizabethan date, known as "Pump Court," and now-a-days as "Erasmus
Court"; while from the north-east corner a tortuous little passage
brings us into a more modern Court, shaded by a fine walnut-tree
(whence its name of "Walnut Tree Court"). Here stands the New Chapel,
the best bit of modern work in all Cambridge, erected in 1895 from the
designs of Messrs. Bodley and Garner. The beautiful proportions and
effective decoration of the interior are specially noteworthy.
[Illustration: _The President's Gallery, Queens' College._]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account