Cambridge Colleges Picturebook, III: Trinity & Kings

Trinity College lies next to St. John's College. Trinity's most famous student was Isaac Newton. It should be noted, though, that Prince Charles and Prince Andrew were also students at Trinity.


Here's the Great Gate to Trinity. Trinity is both the largest and wealthiest of the Cambridge University colleges. It was founded in 1546.

















A close-up of Henry VIII on top of the Great Gate shows him holding a CHAIR LEG! One year a student prank involved removing the staff and replacing it with this chairleg. The original has never been found.










This is Trinity Great Court. It's the largest enclosed courtyard in Europe. A part of the movie Chariots of Fire was filmed in this courtyard.









Here is a view, from the Great Courtyard, looking at the chapel.











In the antechapel there are plaques with famous Trinity graduates on them as well as statues of 4 famous men: Isaac Newton, pictured here . . .
















. . . Lord Tennyson, here, and Francis Bacon and Lord Macaulay. Trinity's graduates have claimed more than 28 Nobel Prizes in the 20th century alone.












The fountain, in the center of Great Courtyard, dates from the 17th century. The water comes from an underground conduit (1.5 miles long) constructed in the 14th century.











Here is a picture of Nevile's Court, named after the Master of Trinity from 1593-1615.











In this view of Nevile's Court you can see a covered walkway. This is the hallway where Newton performed his sound experiments.












Here's the outside of the famous Wren Library. What a treat it is to see the historic documents inside!









This is what Wren Library looks like inside. At the end is a statue of Lord Byron, another famous Trinity graduate.












Each alcove within the library looks similar to this.











At Wren Library, one of the famous documents is a first edition of the Complete Works of Shakespeare.









Here is Newton's financial ledger. We were actually able to read the ledger and recognize several places around Cambridge!











Of course, Newton's Principia Mathematica, first edition, is also at the library. You can see Newton's corrections (preparing for a second edition) in his handwriting if you look closely.
















This is one of the many 'back' gates to Trinity. Being the largest college, it has several entrances, most as picturesque as this.

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The pictures below are of Kings College, founded in 1441. It's most famous for the extraordinary Kings College Chapel (and boys choir).



This is the main gate to Kings College. The Chapel can just barely be seen in back of the gate.













Here's the Chapel, which lies just inside the main gate. It is probably the most photographed building in Cambridge (and for good reason).












This side view of the chapel was taken from the Front Court (just inside the main gate). Completion of the chapel took 80 years, beginning in 1446.














This is a close-up of the great West Door of the chapel.


















My friend Aviva took these two pictures of the inside of the chapel. The fan vault ceiling is absolutely gorgeous, as are all the stained glass windows.












In this view we are looking across Front Court to the main gate. Again, you can see the chapel as well.












This is the Gibbs building, situated directly across Front Court from the chapel.












Here is Webb's Court, which is closed to the public. It looked like a private garden area.
















Here is the chapel, looking down Trinity Lane. Clare College's main gate is toward the right in this picture, where the two posts are.










This beautiful picture is of the back of Kings College, taken from a punt on the Cam.