Clare College, Cambridge

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Clare College

Established

1326

Sister Colleges

Oriel College
St Hugh's College

Master

Prof. Anthony Badger

Graduates

180

Undergraduates

400

Clare College was founded in 1326 and endowed a few years later by Elizabeth de Clare, making it the second oldest surviving college at the University of Cambridge after Peterhouse. After the Lady Clare, a granddaughter of King Edward I of England, endowed it, the foundation was known as Clare Hall up until 1856, when it changed its name to Clare College. (A new Clare Hall was founded by Clare as postgraduate institution in 1966). Clare is famous for its chapel choir and also for its gardens, which form part of what is known as the Backs (essentially the rear part of colleges which are next to the river River Cam). The current Master is Prof. A J Badger.

Clare's 'Old Court', which frames King's College Chapel as the left border of one of the most celebrated architectural vistas in England, was built between 1638 and 1715, with a long interruption for the English Civil war. The period spans the arrival of true classicism into the mainstream of British architecture. Its progress can be traced in the marked differences between the oldest wing (the north), which still has vaulting and other features in the unbroken tradition of English Gothic, and the final southern block, which shows a fully articulated classic style.

Clare has a much-photographed bridge over the river which has fourteen stone balls decorating it. In actual fact, one of the balls has a missing section. A number of apocryphal stories circulate concerning this - the one most commonly cited by members of college is that the original builder of the bridge was not paid the full amount for his work and so removed the segment to balance the difference in payment.

A popular sport amongst Clare students is 'pole-catching', in which the student stands on Clare bridge and attempts to grab punt poles from the hands of unsuspecting tourists.

Clare is known as one of the most musical colleges in Cambridge. Most of its students play at least one instrument, and its orchestra and choir attract some of the best young musicians in the country. It is the traditional destination of most of the students coming up to Cambridge from Chetham's School of Music. It holds good jazz and drum'n'bass nights in its cellars. The Scratch Perverts used to DJ regularly.

Clare is a very liberal college. The Socialist Worker society meets there, and Clare students have previously been arrested for various direct action protests. A liberal attitude is taken during jazz nights.

Famous alumni

Peter Ackroyd, author
David Attenborough, naturalist
Sabine Baring-Gould, Victorian novelist
Charles, Lord Cornwallis, British general in the American Revolutionary War
Nicholas Ferrer
Hugh Latimer, Chaplain to Henry VIII, Bishop of Worcester, martyr
Peter Lilley, Conservative MP
Matthew Parris, Broadcaster, political analyst and former Conservative MP
Geoffrey Robinson, Labour MP
Dr Richard Taylor, Independent MP
Richard Wainwright, Liberal MP
Sir Roger Norrington, conductor
John Rutter, composer
Siegfried Sassoon, war poet
Richard Stilgoe, entertainer
James D. Watson Double helix discoverer and human genome advocate
Andrew Wiles, mathematician who proved Fermat's Last Theorem

External links

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Colleges of the University of Cambridge