Postcards of the Past - Cambridge University, St John's College

Cambridge University
St John's College

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Old Postcard, Cambridge University, Sy John's Bridge

St John's College - a postcard mailed in 1965.

St John's College was founded in 1511 on the site of the 13th century Hospital of St John by Lady
Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII, and is today the second largest of the Colleges of the
University of Cambridge with about 135 Fellows, 530 undergraduates and 300 graduate students. It is one
of the richest colleges with fixed assets of more than £500,000,000 and an annual income from
endowments estimated at £7,000,000.
On the foundation of St John's, the First Court was constructed by converting the hospital. In the middle of
the 18th Century the original hospital chapel and some other buildings were knocked down and a new
chapel, designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, was built. The original chapel foundations can still be seen in the First
Court.
Second Court was built at the end of the 16th Century. Parts of the D-day landings are said to have been
planned there.

During the Civil War, in 1643, First Court
was used as a prison. The College sided
with the Royalists although the city of
Cambridge supported the Parliamentarians.

St John's has a most beautiful
setting on the Backs, and
keeps a number of punts for
use by students.

New Bridge, commonly known as the Bridge of
Sighs because of its resemblance to the bridge in
Venice, connects Third Court to New Court. To the
south of this bridge is the Kitchen (or Wren) Bridge.

Three early 20th Century postcards of New Bridge.

The First Floor Gallery in Second Court is now the
Senior Combination Room. The College has banned the
installation of power points and lighting in this room, so
that all meals etc after dark are lit by candles.

It is reputed that the treaty between England and
France that established the marriage of King Charles I
of England to Queen Henrietta Maria in 1625 was
signed under the Oriel window in the north range.

The Entrance Gate to St John's.

St John's from the Backs.

Amongst the many famous alumni are: William Wilberforce; Sir John
Cockcroft; John Herschel; Sir Fred Hoyle; Douglas Adams; Samuel
Butler; William Wordsworth; Robert Herrick; Sir Cecil Beaton; Chris
Brasher; Mike Brearley; Sir Derek Jacobi; Dr Jonathan Miller.
Just a few - if you would like to suggest more names, please tell us !!

Please follow this link to visit the St John's College website.

Amazon.co.uk Widgets

St John's New Buildings.

Another postcard of the old bridge.

The Backs and St John's Chapel.

The Bridge of Sighs.

An excellent old postcard of the College Gate.

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Postcards of the Past

Reproductions of postcards with a (Z) following the description are available to buy from Zazzle -
just click on the (Z) ! Similarly, GC = Greetings Card, P = Print, ST = US Postage Stamp, M =
Mousepad, K = Key Ring, FM = Fridge Magnet, SM = Souvenir Mug, X = Xmas Card.

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