The CHAPEL was built under the mastership of Wren’s uncle, Matthew Wren. Until then the college had possessed no chapel and worshipped in St Mary the Less. We do not know who designed the Chapel, although it is the most remarkable building of its date in Cambridge. It was consecrated in 1632. It is a simple rectangle, originally showing its brick construction. Later in the C17 (when Cosin was master) it was ashlared. The front had a porch which was pulled down in 1755. Its main motifs are the depressed blank arcades on the ground floor, the W window on the upper floor which is of three lights and has tracery of a familiar if slightly schematized Perp type, the two niches to the r. and l. of the window with their surprising ogee tops and their gristly bracket ornament below, and the fantastic top gable consisting of freely curved side parts and a raised centre in which there was originally a third niche instead of the present clock. The E end towards the street was faced in 1665 (by Cosin) and is characteristically different in one detail - the crowning motif is a pediment, i.e. a classical motif, instead of the playful curved bits in the W. The E window is of five lights and as Perp as that in the W (and those N and S). The E end is flanked by polygonal turrets - another Perp relic. The colonnades had originally depressed arches and a pretty Elizabethan strapwork balustrade. They were rebuilt in 1709 and then made round-headed, i.e. classical. They also lost their posthumously Gothic windows on the upper floor at that time. The interior of the Chapel is distinguished by a fine dark brown and gold cambered timber ceiling, its panels decorated with oval suns with rays. The STALLS are contemporary and unusual in that they have open fronts and balusters. The ORGAN GALLERY on its W as well as E side is said to incorporate C15 panels from an unknown source. The classical REREDOS is modern and contains wood-carved German SCULPTURE: Mourning of the dead Christ (early C16). The ALTAR RAILS are C18. The STAINED GLASS in the E window, a Crucifixion with large heavy figures is Flemish of 1639 (T K). In the other windows scenes acted by big, coarse, insensitive figures in rich colours. By Max E. Ainmiller of Munich, 1855-8. In the antechapel two MONUMENTS, one a tablet of 1634 with the same typical ornamental motifs as the woodwork in the Perse Library. The chapel door is dated 1632.
For more than 650 years it has stood at the Trumpington Street entrance to the University, the first college founded in Cambridge, its founder being Hugh de Balsham, who in 1280 obtained a charter for introducing scholars into the Hospital of St John, and four years later separated his scholars and their Master from the brethren of the hospital by housing them in two hostels on this spot.
So was founded the House of Peter, which served as the college chapel till the time of Charles Stuart. The bishop died in 1286, leaving money with which the scholars built the hall. As the college developed the early buildings became the south range of the principal quadrangle we see today. Between 1424 and 1460 came the building of the north side (where much of the old work is still seen), the west side (keeping some of the old windows and its winding stairway), and the kitchen. The entrance court began to take shape when Dr Perne (the 16th century Old Andrew Turncoat) left books and money for a library. In 1590 the south range was carried eastward. The lodge has stood across Trumpington Street for over two centuries.
The two original hostels were destroyed to make way for the chapel of 1632, which projects into the entrance court like the middle arm of the letter E, and its classical west front, facing the main court, is a charming feature, linked with the north and south ranges by galleries on open arcading.
Panelled with old wood and still lighted by candles, the chapel has a gilded figure of St Peter in front of the organ gallery, and an east window with Flemish glass, said to be a design by Rubens for the Crucifixion, though the action is violent and the expression of the actors unpleasing. More attractive is the 19th century Munich glass in the other windows, looking like oil painting with Bible scenes in rich and vivid colours.
The hall has 17th century tables and seats, and a fine gallery of portraits, some painted on wood. Among them are Bishop Law, painted by Romney, and Lord Kelvin, who even as an undergraduate was recognised as a great mathematician by the examiners, one of whom said to another that they were just worthy to mend his quill pens. The windows dimming the hall have the rich colour and interesting design to be expected from their authors William Morris, Burne-Jones, and Ford Madox Brown; we see in them the founder (Hugh de Balsham), Sir Isaac Newton with his apple, Henry Cavendish with books and instrument in hand, Thomas Gray in a churchyard, Richard Crashaw with palette and book, Bishop Cosin who followed Wren as Master, Archbishop Whitgift reading as he walks along, John Holbrook (a 15th century Master), Henry Beaufort holding a crown and staff, John Warksworth whose manuscript enriched the library, and six saints. By the handsome doorway near the high table are carved a lion and a lamb; we see them again on a wall of the pretty Gisborne Court, to which we come through an 18th century gateway in the main court.
From a small garden we come to the grove, with a lovely lime avenue. The grove is bounded on one side by the 400-year-old wall separating the college domain from Coe Fen and the river beyond. A blocked gateway still older than the wall has the arms of Bishop Hotham of 1316 on the outside, and those of Bishop Alcock of 1486 within. Beyond the grove is an enchanting garden with fine trees, a lime sweeping the ground, a superb walnut, and weeping elms. The last window of the buildings overlooking the churchyard of St Mary the Less belongs to a room used by the poet Gray, who was a Fellow Commoner in 1742, and had these bars fixed so that he might fasten a rope ladder to it in case of fire. Some undergraduates amused themselves by raising a cry of Fire, and Gray descended by the ladder in his night-shirt, only to find he had been hoaxed, being so incensed that he migrated to Pembroke.
So was founded the House of Peter, which served as the college chapel till the time of Charles Stuart. The bishop died in 1286, leaving money with which the scholars built the hall. As the college developed the early buildings became the south range of the principal quadrangle we see today. Between 1424 and 1460 came the building of the north side (where much of the old work is still seen), the west side (keeping some of the old windows and its winding stairway), and the kitchen. The entrance court began to take shape when Dr Perne (the 16th century Old Andrew Turncoat) left books and money for a library. In 1590 the south range was carried eastward. The lodge has stood across Trumpington Street for over two centuries.
The two original hostels were destroyed to make way for the chapel of 1632, which projects into the entrance court like the middle arm of the letter E, and its classical west front, facing the main court, is a charming feature, linked with the north and south ranges by galleries on open arcading.
Panelled with old wood and still lighted by candles, the chapel has a gilded figure of St Peter in front of the organ gallery, and an east window with Flemish glass, said to be a design by Rubens for the Crucifixion, though the action is violent and the expression of the actors unpleasing. More attractive is the 19th century Munich glass in the other windows, looking like oil painting with Bible scenes in rich and vivid colours.
The hall has 17th century tables and seats, and a fine gallery of portraits, some painted on wood. Among them are Bishop Law, painted by Romney, and Lord Kelvin, who even as an undergraduate was recognised as a great mathematician by the examiners, one of whom said to another that they were just worthy to mend his quill pens. The windows dimming the hall have the rich colour and interesting design to be expected from their authors William Morris, Burne-Jones, and Ford Madox Brown; we see in them the founder (Hugh de Balsham), Sir Isaac Newton with his apple, Henry Cavendish with books and instrument in hand, Thomas Gray in a churchyard, Richard Crashaw with palette and book, Bishop Cosin who followed Wren as Master, Archbishop Whitgift reading as he walks along, John Holbrook (a 15th century Master), Henry Beaufort holding a crown and staff, John Warksworth whose manuscript enriched the library, and six saints. By the handsome doorway near the high table are carved a lion and a lamb; we see them again on a wall of the pretty Gisborne Court, to which we come through an 18th century gateway in the main court.
From a small garden we come to the grove, with a lovely lime avenue. The grove is bounded on one side by the 400-year-old wall separating the college domain from Coe Fen and the river beyond. A blocked gateway still older than the wall has the arms of Bishop Hotham of 1316 on the outside, and those of Bishop Alcock of 1486 within. Beyond the grove is an enchanting garden with fine trees, a lime sweeping the ground, a superb walnut, and weeping elms. The last window of the buildings overlooking the churchyard of St Mary the Less belongs to a room used by the poet Gray, who was a Fellow Commoner in 1742, and had these bars fixed so that he might fasten a rope ladder to it in case of fire. Some undergraduates amused themselves by raising a cry of Fire, and Gray descended by the ladder in his night-shirt, only to find he had been hoaxed, being so incensed that he migrated to Pembroke.
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