King's College Chapel

Saving the best until last... the magnificence that is King's College Chapel in Cambridge. I won't attempt a full history here; there are plenty of online sites where you can read about it. I just wandered around enjoying the play of light through the stained glass and the exquisite detailing in the stonework and windows. It brought back happy memories of when my daughter was at King's. She took me to Evensong when I visited her. I would have stayed for the service again but it wasn't until 5.30pm, by which time I needed to be embarked on my long journey home.

The chapel is divided in two by the organ screen. The Choir area (photos above and below) is what you see on TV every Christmas when they broadcast 'Nine Lessons and Carols from King's'.

Begun in 1446 by Henry VI, the Chapel's construction was interrupted by the Wars of the Roses, but building was continued by Richard III, Henry VII and Henry VIII. The dark oak organ screen is decorated with the initials of Henry VIII and his Queen, Anne Boleyn, dating it to between 1533 when Henry married Anne and 1536 when he had her executed. You wonder if he regretted commissioning that! 

Your eye is constantly drawn upwards to the incredible fan-vaulted ceiling and the wonderful stained glass, which was casting coloured light onto everything when I was there.  

Under the Great East Window, there is a painting 'The Adoration of the Magi' by Rubens, donated to the College in 1961, which necessitated some alterations to that end of the Chapel to accommodate it. (A cue for much head-scratching and a certain amount of arguing, I gather!)

Some of the side chapels hold an exhibition about the history - here's a stained glass panel showing Henry VI.  Weak and mentally unstable, he had a difficult reign and eventually died imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1471. I reckon, however, that he would be proud of his legacy of King's College and its Chapel. 

I've never explored the little side chapels before and they are peaceful and charming. I think the photo below is the Chapel of All Souls, containing memorials to members of the College who died in the two World Wars. 

St Edward's Chapel holds 'Madonna in the Rosary' by Gert van Lon, painted between 1512 and 1520: 

It was lovely to visit when the Chapel was relatively quiet and I very much enjoyed exploring. I'm sure there was even more to see but there is so much to take in and understand. 
 

Along the Backs

The riverside path along The Backs in Cambridge affords perhaps the most famous view of King's College Chapel, flanked by Clare College on the left and the Gibbs Building on the right. The view from King's College Bridge (although currently rather spoiled by a huge yellow crane) is lovely and it's a great place to watch the iconic punts gliding up and down. 

The meadow in front of the Chapel has recently been allowed to grow as a wildflower meadow and there were still traces of poppies and cornflowers on the edge. I follow a page on Facebook by Martin Bond, who posts a wonderful photo every day of Cambridge. Have a look HERE to see them harvesting the meadow using traditional methods with heavy horses - wonderful!

Looking the other way from the bridge, there are more buildings belonging to Kings, and in the distance perhaps the most famous of Cambridge's bridges, the Mathematical Bridge. 

The unique bridge known as the Mathematical Bridge is a wooden footbridge spanning the River Cam. It links two parts of Queens' College. Its real name is Queens' Bridge but it's thought the unusual and intricate geometrical design gave rise to its nickname. 

Cambridge University's Colleges

Cambridge is well-known as a collegiate university town. Peterhouse (above) is the oldest college, founded in 1284 - and happened to be the first one I arrived at, walking down Trumpington Street. When the university is in session (and, I guess, also because of Covid concerns) many of the colleges are closed to visitors but you can peep through the gates and see a glimpse of the beautiful old buildings. 

The next college I peeped in was Pembroke (below), founded in 1347 by Marie St Pol de Valence, who, it is said, had the misfortune to be widowed on her wedding day when her husband the Earl of Pembroke was killed in a jousting tournament. (Other accounts say that his death came some three years after they were married.) 

Further along, I came to Corpus Christi, unusual in that it was founded in 1352 by townspeople, members of two Guilds. Its library has a superb collection of rare books and manuscripts, amassed by Matthew Parker, the Master from 1544 to 1553, who had the foresight to rescue many from destruction after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It is, allegedly, from him that we get the term 'Nosey Parker', as he was very inquisitive. 

Corpus Christi's New Court, built in 1827 (photos above and below) is fabulous, all mellow stone with soaring pinnacles and neo-gothic windows. 

Trumpington Street widens to become King's Parade by the famous gatehouse and Chapel of King's College, founded by Henry VI in 1441. It was originally exclusively for boys from Eton College; non-Etonians were admitted from 1873; in 1972 it was one of the first Cambridge colleges to admit women - to the benefit of my lovely daughter, who studied here twenty years ago. 

The Victorian postbox outside King's must be one of the most famous postboxes in England - and the magnificent Gothic Chapel is certainly one of the most-photographed sights in Cambridge. 

The Front Court is an elegant square, flanked by the Chapel (above), the neo-classical Gibbs Building built in the 1720s and (shown in my photo below) the gatehouse and halls, a library and residential buildings completed in Gothic Revival style by William Wilkins in 1828.

I'll add photos from my visit to Kings College Chapel in a separate post. 

I took a brief rest for refreshments here, quite delightful in the sunshine. King's Parade has a convenient Caffé Nero, providing outside tables with a grandstand view of the interesting mix of people milling up and down the street.  

Next stop to peep through the gate: Gonville and Caius (pronounced 'keys'), whose court looked like a rather pretty green oasis. 

Further still, you arrive at the magnificent gatehouse entrance to Trinity College, the largest college, whose bowler-hatted porters were happy to pose for a photo (and are no doubt very used to it!) Trinity was founded in 1546 by Henry VIII. His statue adorns the gatehouse, apparently holding a chair leg rather than a sceptre, thanks to some students' prank. 

The final college that I photographed was Magdalene (1542) (pronounced 'Maudlin'), which sits alongside the River Cam. It's a mellow building, made of hand-made bricks, with a rather lovely oriel window beside the gate. Magdalene holds Samuel Pepys' entire library, including his famous diaries, donated to his old college after his death in 1703.

It was really pleasant just wandering, and having reached the River Cam, I decided to return to the station along the Backs - literally the path along the river past the backs of all the colleges - just for a different view. 

 

Cambridge University Botanic Garden

Ely is only a short train journey from Cambridge, so I was well-placed for a day's sight-seeing in that beautiful university city too. I've never been to the Botanic Garden (though I've enjoyed seeing John's photos from there). Discovering that it was conveniently placed near the station, I entered at one gate and meandered through the garden - stopping off for a coffee at the very nice café, of course! - to the other gate. From there it was a pleasant walk down Trumpington Street into the city centre, past many of Cambridge's colleges. 

There was still some autumn colour hanging on in the garden; blue sky and sunshine meant I enjoyed a delightful ramble. 

 

Oliver Cromwell's house

Just a few hundred yards from Ely Cathedral, I found Oliver Cromwell's house, now doing good service as the tourist information centre as well as a museum. 

Oliver Cromwell, as you probably know, was an English MP, Puritan and military leader who commanded the Parliamentarian army in the Civil War (1642-1651), later becoming Lord Protector of England after Charles I was beheaded. A zealous Protestant, he was enraged by how the king, Charles I, was making changes to the church and when the king also started ignoring Parliament, civil war broke out between those who supported the king and those who thought him a tyrant who should be deposed. You can read more HERE.  

Cromwell's house was his family home for just over ten years, from 1636 when he was left the lease by an uncle. Here he lived with his wife Elizabeth and their nine children.  You can tour the house, which is quite cosy and charming inside.  Those who lived here also had responsibility for collecting tithes (taxes) and there is a tithe office in the building. 

There are pictures and a bronze bust of Cromwell himself (quite a handsome man!) and information about the Civil War. 

The kitchen, in the oldest part of the house dating back to 1215, is a small and cosy space with an open fire and bread ovens, and had a display of the relatively plain and wholesome food that Puritans ate. 

In one of the upper rooms, there was a life-size and life-like animatronic display - quite unnerving when the lady moved her head as I walked in!  It had examples of the kind of modest clothing that Puritans wore, a far cry from the lavish costumes worn by the Cavaliers, supporters of the king. They did have some comforts. The wooden box with holes in is a foot-warmer. A bowl of boiling water would be placed inside and the device tucked under the lady's dress to provide hot steam to warm her feet and legs! Damp legs were perhaps preferable to the cold? 

It was all very interesting - and as a sideline the House does 'Escape Room' experiences too, where you are locked in for 60 minutes and have to solve a mystery!  Great for families or work groups. 

Ely Cathedral

You can't spend long in Ely without noticing the Cathedral, centrally situated in this small city and towering over everything else. I found it surprisingly hard to get a good view of it. This is the best I could find of the west frontage, with its Norman tower topped with a 14th century belfry.  The beautiful, mellow brick buildings on the right are part of King's Ely, a co-educational boarding school, said to be one of the oldest schools in the world, which uses many of the original monastic buildings belonging to the cathedral. 

Once inside the cathedral, your eye is drawn up and through the long, narrow nave, with its Norman stonework (note the rounded arches) and an ornate painted ceiling (Victorian). 

The history of the cathedral dates back to 673 AD when a Saxon Queen, Etheldreda, founded a double monastery (one for men and one for women) on the site. She sounds to have been quite a feisty woman - she was twice married, the second time to King Ecgfrith of Northumbria for political reasons, and yet she managed to remain a virgin, respecting vows she made before marriage, and eventually fulfilled her wish to become a nun.  

Construction of the cathedral was begun by William the Conqueror and it was eventually opened in 1189, after many years of work. Between the nave and the choir, there was a grand Norman crossing tower but disaster struck when it collapsed in 1322, with a great roar reminiscent of an earthquake! Alan de Walsingham, Sacrist of the monastery, distraught at the loss, had it replaced by the Octagon, a wonderful timber, glass and lead lantern, built on huge stone pillars, which really is stunning. Read more about it HERE. As the accompanying description says: 'The Octagon reminds us of how glory can come out of ruin, hope overcome despair and death lead to new life.'

Below the Octagon is an elegant octagonal altar or table. I wanted to put my camera right in the middle to take a photo of the dome from underneath, but then thought better of using an altar for that prosaic purpose and contented myself with an off centre image (above) instead! It does mean you can see the paintings of angels better. At the very centre is a medieval carving of Christ with his hand raised in blessing, carved by John of Burwell (a nearby village). 

In this area too is the pulpit, with a modern sculpture by Peter Ball: 'Christ in Majesty', carved in oak and covered in copper, brass and gold leaf. 

Of course, like all our cathedrals, Ely holds numerous tombs and memorials to past Bishops and local notables. I couldn't read the Latin inscription on the tomb below but the effigy was eerily lifelike and at the same time rather beautiful. 

Beyond the Octagon is the Choir, with heavily carved choir stalls and misericords dating from the 14th century. (A misericord is a carved hinged seat that offers support to someone standing - no doubt welcomed by the monks and choristers during long services!) 

Beyond that is the Presbytery, built in the 13th century to house the shrine of St Etheldreda. It has a magnificent, elaborately carved reredos. 

There are various side chapels, and also a large Lady Chapel, dating back to 1349 and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus. Nowadays it is a large, light and airy space, but originally it would have had rich stained glass and highly coloured painted statues. These were destroyed during the Reformation in the 16th century and you can still find decapitated statues in the carved stonework and chisel marks in the walls. There is a (modern?) figure above the altar that is obviously meant to depict the Virgin Mary, though I have to be honest and say I found it rather crude in such an amazing space. 

Ely Cathedral is the kind of place you could spend hours in and still not see everything, and the kind of place that invites prayer and contemplation, not least because of its age and complex history, soaked in prayer and worship. There were other visitors but it wasn't nearly as crowded as some of our better known cathedrals and it felt all the better for it. It's stunning. I'm so glad I was able to visit. 

A few days in Ely

I was fortunate to spend a few days in Ely with a friend at the end of November. Ely (for those that don't know) is about 150 miles south east of Saltaire, in Cambridgeshire. I'd never been before and found it a charming little city, dominated by its cathedral which has a history dating back over 1300 years. The surrounding area is very flat fenland so the cathedral is visible for miles around and is sometimes referred to as 'The Ship of the Fens'. 

I arrived in the late afternoon and was able to enjoy a first exploration at twilight, with a prettily rosy sky as the sun set. The sun lit up the cathedral with a pinkish hue and it was also pleasantly atmospheric down by the River Great Ouse, where there is a marina. Until the 17th century, Ely was on an island in the low lying, waterlogged fenland. Eventually the Fens were drained to provide agricultural land, and the area is still dominated by farming on an industrial scale. 

The next day was dull and damp so everything looked different again, though the autumnal tones do glow in those conditions.  It's hard to find a complete view of the cathedral in any direction; one just gets enticing glimpses. 

On the riverside, a fisherman caught a small fish just as I took the photo. I was having to use a slow shutter speed because of the gloom and so his sudden movement as the line jerked meant some blurring, though I don't think it matters. It made me jump too! Authentic, anyway!