Corpus Christi College

Performance Spaces

Overview

History

Bibliographic Sources

Events
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Base layers

Data layers

Other Images

16th c. map of Cambridge
17th c. view
Map of Cambridge
Old Court
Site plan
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Venue Type & Location

College

Site Name: Corpus Christi College
Location: Cambridge
County: Cambridgeshire
Location Type: Town - in town at determined location
http://www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/

Performance Spaces

Hall

Overview

Corpus Christi College is located on Trumpington Street towards the S end of the town.

The original hall was in the S range of the Old Court, an irregular 2-storey quadrangle of the 14th c. constructed of stone rubble with ashlar dressings. The external walls and roof survive almost intact although the hall was converted to serve as the college kitchens ca. 1825.

Performance History

Performances by touring entertainers are recorded at Corpus Christi College in the late 14th and 15th centuries.

Current Status

The buildings continue in use as Corpus Christi College.

History of the Venue

1352 College founded by the guilds of Corpus Christi and St Mary, near St Benet's Church where the Corpus Christi Guild worshipped. The church was appropriated for use as the college chapel.

ca. 1377 Buildings in the Old Court completed, including the hall, butteries, kitchen and master's lodge in the S range.

late 15th c. Chapel built on the S side of the church's chancel. Buttresses added to strengthen the buildings of the Court.

1540s Some restoration and improvement under Matthew Parker, master of college. Gallery added projecting S from the master's lodge.

17th c. General repairs.

ca. 1823 New Court in Gothic Perpendicular style built by William Wilkins, adding a new chapel and master's lodge in the E range, a new hall in the SW angle of the Old Court (on the site of the old kitchen and buttery) and a new library in the S range.

20th c. Floor inserted into the former old hall and the ground floor divided into kitchen offices (RCHM, Cambridge 1.49).

Record Source

REED Cambridge 1.16, 38, 44

Bibliographic Sources

View a list of abbreviations.

  • Atkinson, Thomas Dinham. Cambridge Described and Illustrated: Being a Short History of the Town and University. London: Macmillan & Co., 1897.
  • Cooper, Charles Henry. Memorials of Cambridge. 3 vols. Cambridge: Macmillan & Co., 1860–6.
  • Little, Bryan. The Colleges of Cambridge 1286–1973. Bath: Adams & Dart, 1973.
  • Lyne, Richard. Plan of Cambridge. London: Richard Lyne, 1574.
  • Nelson, Alan H. Early Cambridge theatres: college, university, and town stages, 1464–1720. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1994.
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus. Cambridgeshire. The Buildings of England. London: Penguin Books, 1999.
  • Roach, J.P.C. The Victoria History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely. Victoria History of the Counties of England. 10 vols. London: Institute of Historical Research, 1938–.
  • Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England. An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the City of Cambridge. 2 vols. London: Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, 1959.
  • Willis, Robert, and John Willis Clark. The Architectural History of the University of Cambridge, and of the Colleges of Cambridge and Eton. 4 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1886.