Oteros in England: Cambridge Colleges Picturebook, V: Jesus, Sidney Sussex, Emmanuel, Downing

The first college pictured in this post is Jesus College, founded in 1496.

This walled path through the gate at Jesus College is called 'The Chimney.' Jesus College was the first college to take over the site of an old medieval priory. The college is built around the plan of the original nunnery buildings.

This picture shows one of the inner courtyards.

This is First Courtyard, directly past the gate in the picture above.

This is a picture of Cloister Court. You can really tell that it was a cloister in earlier times.

This beautiful detail was on a door in the Cloister hallway.

These arches are somewhat sunken, and were certainly a part of the original cloister.

A few famous 'Jesus men' were Thomas Cranmer, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Alistair Cooke.

These pictures show Sidney Sussex College, founded in 1596.

This college is well hidden by the large walls along Sidney Street. The walls hide the beautiful buildings (and gardens) inside.

Here is another of Sidney Sussex's courtyards. The college was built on the site of a Franciscan friary before the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII.

These are the gardens (in winter). I'll have to take more pictures now that it's springtime!

Here is another courtyard. The red and white brick faces of the courtyard buildings really are beautiful, even on a rainy day.

The chapel lies in this courtyard. The head of Oliver Cromwell is buried somewhere in the antechapel. He studied at Sidney Sussex for only one year, in 1616.

This is the Coat of Arms for Sidney Sussex College.

Here's one final view of the Chapel at Sidney Sussex.

Emmanuel College is John Harvard's (of Harvard University) former school. It was founded in 1584 on the site of a Dominican friary dismantled during the Dissolution.

The main gate, pictured here, lies along St. Andrew's Street, one of the busiest thoroughfares in Cambridge.

This building is the college library.

Emmanuel College Chapel, pictured here, was Christopher Wren's second building in Cambridge (after Pembroke College Chapel). After designing this chapel, Wren went to London to help rebuild the city after the Great Fire.

The two pictures here are located in the Chapel. The man on the left in the first window here is John Harvard.

These two pictures show the fishpond of the old 16th century friary. The building in back of the pond is student housing.

Don't you love all the ducks?

Emmanuel College also has beautiful gardens, a sample of which is pictured here.

Finally, we come to Downing College, which is just down the street from Emmanuel. It is built on a 15-acre site with vast lawns. Downing was founded in 1800 with money willed by the grandson of the man who built Downing Street in London (the Prime Minister's residence).