Trinity College

TRINITY COLLEGE is Cambridge University's largest college in terms of number of undergraduates and is also a major land and property owner. Trinity enjoys a very strong academic tradition, with members having won 31 Nobel Prizes, more than most countries!

The College was founded by Henry VIII., in 1546, who, whatever were his faults, was a learned, diligent and accomplished man, and a patron of literature. King Henry VIII. did not draw upon his own exchequer for funds with which to found his college. He took the easier course of fusing together nine educational establishments (the two colleges King's Hall and Michaelhouse and the seven hostels Physwick, Gregory's, Ovyng's, Catherine's, Garratt, Margaret's, and Tyler's) which existed upon the present site of Trinity, and raised in their place a large and powerful institution.

Of these establishments, King's Hall, which occupied the northern part of the site, where the Great Gate, Chapel, Bowling Green and Master's Lodge now stand, was the principal; and King's Hall Lane ran along its south side from the High Street to the river, where was a small Hythe or landing place.

King's Hall had its origin in 1326, and was founded for the maintenance of scholars in the University by Edward II. ; but a definite habitation was not provided for them until 1336, when Edward III. bought for them the house and grounds of Robert de Croyland.

In subsequent years adjoining houses were bought and the buildings reconstructed in collegiate or quadrangular form in 1420. The grand Entrance Gateway, or "The King's Gateway," with two floors and four turrets, has the unusual arrangement of a large gate and a small gate side by side, separated by a stone pier.

On the exterior is the statue of Henry VIII., and beneath it the arms of Edward III. in the middle, and those of the Black Prince, John of Gaunt, and his four other sons. On the side next the court are the statues of James I., his Queen (Anne of Denmark) and Prince Charles.

The wooden vaulting underneath, springing from stone groining, was made at the expense of Dr. Whewell, and is ornamented with shields, bearing the arms of the Masters of the College.

This gateway was begun in 1519, as the entrance gate, from the High Street, to the enlarged King's Hall, and was the last addition to that Hall. It was added to and improved by Nevile, in 1604.

The façade of the College facing the street, between the gateway and the chapel, was altered into its present form, in 1855, according to a plan prepared by Mr. Salvin.

The Great Court, occupying an area of two acres and six perches, or more than 90,000 square feet, and measuring 334 feet by 288 feet, exceeds Wolsey's Court in Christ Church, Oxford, by more than 1,000 square feet, and is, therefore, larger than any other court in either University.

Its size, and the comparative lowness of the buildings and their variety, rescue it from the objections of confinement and monotony usually incidental to closed quadrangles, and impart to it a sense of openness and grandeur.

The Chapel, on the eastern part of the northern side, was begun in 1556, on the site of the Chapel of King's Hall, and was constructed chiefly out of the materials of that chapel, and of materials derived from Grey Friars' house in Sidney Street, from Ramsey Abbey in Huntingdonshire, and other religious houses.

It is a spacious, plain Perpendicular Tudor-Gothic structure, was begun by Queen Mary and was completed by Elizabeth in or about 1564, as may be seen by the inscription on the east gable. The decoration on the roof represents the hymn of creation, the praises of the different elements of nature, and the representatives of humanity leading up to the manifestation of Divine Glory (Revelation iv.); and the panels and the wall spaces on the sides are filled with various religious subjects.

In the place of honour in the ante-chapel is the celebrated statue of Newton "qui genus humanum ingenio superavit." It was given, in 1775, by Dr. Robert Smith, Master of the College, and is one of Roubiliac's most successful works. Indeed, it was regarded by Chantrey as the noblest of all our English statues. Statues of Bacon by Weeks, of Barrow by Noble, and of Macaulay, Whewell and Tennyson by Woolner, are also here. Among the busts on the walls is one of Porson by Ghantrey, and one of Lock by Roubiliac.

On the west of the Chapel, and blocking its west window, is a large Gateway, with four turrets and the Royal Arms, and a statue of Edward III. This gateway, called "King Edward's Tower," was commenced in 1426, and it was the first gateway-tower erected in Cambridge.

The clock with the dial and chimes was put up in 1726. This clock strikes the hours and plays chimes twice-once in a low note and again in a higher one. The upper storey of this side of the court between the gateway and the Master's Lodge was formerly occupied by the Library, which communicated with the Lodge through the turret at the north-west corner of the court, and was entered by this turret.

The Library was moved to Wren's building in Neville's court and this storey was converted into rooms, which were for many years occupied by the honoured and beloved Adam Sedgwick. Subsequently they were decorated and occupied by the eminent Latin scholar, Hugh Munro. Important and most interesting buildings have recently been discovered and restored under King Edward's Tower.

The Master's Lodge, opposite the entrance gateway, and entered by a Jacobean porch, is partly on the site of the Lodge of King's Hall. The northern part, containing the dining-room and large drawing-room, was added by Nevile.

The dining-room, with the oriel window, is a spacious room on the north of the entrance hall. Over it is the drawing-room with a carved ceiling of plaster-work, and a chimney-piece with the arms and supporters of Queen Elizabeth supposed to have been put up in her reign. To the north of this chamber are three rooms, which have been occupied by Royal personages during their visits; and beneath them are the rooms occupied by the Judges of Assize.

The Lodge contains many portraits, of which the most interesting are those of Queen Elizabeth in richly-ornamented dress with huge sleeves, a ruff, etc.; of Henry VIII.; Queen Mary; Sir Isaac Newton, by Thornhill; Cardinals Wolsey and Pole; Archbishops Bancroft, Laud, Parker and Whitgift; also of Bacon, Coke and Scaliger. The last is attributed to Paul Veronese. In the Entrance Hall is a statue of Edward VI., given by Dr. Robert Smith. This Lodge is usually occupied by the Royal Family during their visits, and has been thus honoured by most of our Sovereigns since the foundation of the College.

The Hall, celebrated for the hospitality shown in it, as well as for the learning of those who dispense it, is a noble and well-proportioned building, and a fine example of a banqueting room. It was built by Nevile, in 1604, of nearly the same dimensions, and after the pattern, of the Middle Temple Hall, this being selected after an examination of various halls in London.

In some of its features, such as the roof and the bay windows, it is an improvement upon the pattern. It has been little altered, and is much admired. In the past, beneath the elegant lantern in the middle of the Hall stood a large open brazier with a charcoal fire to warm the room. This appears to have been the first hall built complete with screen and wainscoting.

The lower portions of the east and west walls were re-panelled in oak. On the wall to the east of the dais is the charming painting, by Reynolds, of the Duke of Gloucester when he was six years of age. The walls are hung around with portraits of Royal benefactors and men of renown of the College-Newton, Bacon, Barrow, Bentley, Coke, Cowley, Dryden, Ray, Spelman, Thackeray, Lightfoot, Clerk Maxwell, Jebb, F. Galton and others.

The Combination Rooms, in the larger of which are portraits of the Marquis of Granby, by Reynolds, the Duke of Gloucester, by Opie, and other pictures, are on the first floor on the south of the Hall. This part was refaced in 1771, by Essex.

The Queen's Gateway, in the middle of the south side of the Court, which stands where was formerly the entrance to Foule Lane, was built (1597) by Nevile. It is to some extent a copy of Edward III.'s gateway on the opposite side of the court. The statue in the central niche represents Queen Elizabeth. In the first floor is the muniment room.

Another work of the same master of the College is the stone fountain in the middle of the court, which is an exquisite specimen of Renaissance work. It is surmounted by an ogee-shaped open dome, capped by a lion, with a richly carved parapet, and supported by eight round arches. It was erected in 1602, and it was found necessary to rebuild it in 1716.

The remainder of the great court is used as rooms, of which those on the first storey, to the north of the great gate were occupied by Newton from 1679 to 1696, and latterly by Lightfoot, the late Bishop of Durham, and those immediately under them by Thackeray. Macaulay had the ground-floor rooms next the Chapel.

Trinity is indebted to the taste, energy, and vision of Dr. Nevile, who was Master from 1563 to 1615, as well as Dean of Canterbury, not only for the works already mentioned - the hall, the kitchen, the fountain, the enlargement of the Lodge, and the addition to the gateway - but also for the general arrangements of the Great Court, as we now see it.

To the same master, aided in all probability by the same good architect, is due the second, or "Cloister," or "Nevile " Court, which consists, on the north and south sides, of buildings in two floors, over the cloister, and supported on the inner side on Renaissance arches.

The western side of the quadrangle is formed by the Library. This noble classical building was erected by subscription, and begun during the Mastership of Isaac Barrow, the foundation stone having been laid 26th February, 1676, and the building occupied twelve years. Isaac Newton contributed £40. Wren was the architect, and his services were gratuitous.

Beneath is a spacious piazza with Doric columns, which connects the north and south cloisters of the court, giving in all a promenade an eighth of a mile long, which was formerly much used in rainy weather. The western elevation is plain. The general design is thought by Willis to have been borrowed from that of the library of St Mark, at Venice, built by Sansovino in 1536. The iron-work of the gates leading to the "backs" is also impressive.

The library-room is approached by a marble staircase at the north end, and is by far the most striking of all the libraries in Cambridge. Indeed, the elegance of its proportions, its black and white marble floor, the Corinthian pilasters and rich cornice upon its walls; the ceiling, moulded in 1850-1, after a design made for that purpose by Wren, and which had been preserved in the library: the handsome cases and cabinets, of which the older ones were designed by Wren himself, and their valuable contents, give it a beauty and an interest which are scarcely surpassed by any room of the kind.

Occupying handsome pedestals, on either side of the room, are busts of former members of the College. Ten of these are by Roubiliac, in his best style. The rest are by Woolner. The book-cases and the shelves between them extend up to the windows, and are of Norway oak. The cases are ornamented with crests, flowers, etc., carved in limewood, by the skilled hand of Grinling Gibbons; and they bear the busts of renowned authors of ancient times on the left side, and of those of modern times on the right.

The library contains many notable rare books and manuscripts. Of these, the one of greatest general interest is a volume containing several of the poems of Milton, in his own handwriting. It includes the first rough notes of Paradise Lost, which show it to have been first planned as a drama; some pages are in the writing of his amanuensis. The contents of this volume were given by Milton's representatives to Sir Henry Puckering, alias Newton, and have passed, with his other books to the library. They were collected and bound together in 1736.

Foremost among other treasures is the exquisite statue of Byron (by Thorwaldsen) seated on the ruins of Athens, meditating, as we may suppose, the last canto of Childe Harold. This statue, the fund for which was raised by subscription after Byron's death, having been twice refused admission to Westminster Abbey by the authorities, was offered to Trinity College, where Byron had been educated.

In the library are a globe and a telescope said to have been Newton's; a cast of his face, taken after his death and used by Roubiliac in making the statue in the chapel; also a portrait of him by Vanderbank, taken a few months before his death, which occurred March 20th, 1727, when he was at the age of 85.

The statue, in the niche at the end of the room, of Charles Seymour, the proud Duke of Somerset, for fifty years Chancellor of the University, was attributed, to Rysbrack, till the late Mr. J. W. Clark found a record in the College books of payment made to Grinling Gibbons for it.

A large collection of medals includes all the coronation medals from the time of Charles I., when they were first instituted. A collection of bank notes includes one of Steyning Bank, for twopence. A collection of coins includes the "Rose Ryal," or "sovereign" of Queen Elizabeth, one of the most handsome coins ever struck in England, which was of the value of thirty shillings, being equal to two of the nobles of Edward III.; it is eclipsed, however, in value by the five guinea gold piece of George II., of which there is a proof specimen in the Cabinet.

There is also the rare example of a proof half-penny of Queen Anne, in which the obverse and the reverse are the same; and there are coins dating 400 before Christ. In addition to these may be mentioned a collection of Anglo-Saxon implements and ornaments, found lately in a field near Orwell one of the original speaking trumpets invented by Samuel Newlard in 1671 and there are many other interesting objects.

The New Court, or as it was intended to be called, the King's Court, because George IV. contributed £1000 towards it, was commenced in 1823, Wilkins being the architect. It is in the Gothic style, similar to that in which he built the new parts of Corpus and of King's, and contains 110 sets of rooms.

The plain structure on the west of the new court, near the Jacobean gateway into Trinity Lane is called "Bishop's Hostel," because it was built by Hacket, Bishop of Lichfield, in the time of Charles II. (1670), and the name was substituted for Garrett Hostel, which formerly occupied this site and gave the name "Garrett (or Gerard's) Hostel" to the lane between Trinity College and Trinity Hall, leading to the bridge over the river.

The Bishop directed the proceeds of the rooms to be applied to the purchase of books for the Library. He also left a number of books to the College, in each of which is the wholesome motto: "Serve God and be cheerful." A building of red brick giving some additional rooms was erected between the Bishop's Hostel and the New Court, in the situation formerly occupied by the Fellows' stables.

The Master's Courts, on the side of Trinity Street opposite the great gateway, in modern Gothic, by Salvin, were built between 1859 and 1868, entirely at the expense of Dr. Whewell, who purchased the valuable site and houses upon it for this purpose, spending more than £100,000.

The three-arched Bridge over the river, by Essex, built in 1766, gives one of the most charming views in the 'Backs.' The ground beyond was obtained from the town in 1613, by exchange for Parker's piece, which formerly belonged to the College. The Gate at the west end of the avenue of limes is a fine specimen of iron-work.

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