University of Cambridge lies to the north of London. The distance was sufficiently great that the monarch could not travel from London to the town in medieval times in one day. This was an advantage for academics if the monarch acted on impulse and thought a few executions would boost morale. The distance provided a useful cooling-off period.

 

The University has evolved slowly over the centuries and for much of the time it has been more like a collection of monasteries than the University that exists today. Seven hundred years ago if you came to Cambridge you studied Latin, Greek and Theology and lived in houses with your teachers who were generally priests. The colleges evolved to become very much like monasteries that concentrated on teaching. Things changed after 1536 when King Henry VIII suppressed the monasteries in England and Cambridge changed its interests to study science and learning outside of Theology and the Classics. However, Cambridge colleges have preserved a strong connection with the old monastic traditions,for example grace is said in Latin before formal meals. 

 

A rather less charming tradition was that women could not get degrees at the University of Cambridge until 1948.

 

To gain entrance to the University students still needed to pass exams in Latin until about 1970 and until about the 19th century academics were expected to remain celibate. Theology remained one of the main subjects for study until the industrial revolution. Isaac Newton spent more time working on theology than he did on mathematics or physics. During the years of the black-death in medieval times there was a shortage of priests to bury the dead so a college was founded at Cambridge just to boost the numbers of priests - it was called the "body of Christ", Corpus Christi, and the college still exists to this day.

 

King Henry VIII was an English King who liked to have his own way. He created the Church of England by a reformation that separated it from the Catholic church so that he could have a divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. To strengthen his rule he dissolved the Roman Catholic monasteries in England, adding to his political power and wealth. This suppression could have badly affected Cambridge but King Henry did not destroy the colleges. He valued the technological advantage that might derive from harnessing the great thinkers there - he was a great promoter of technology, the British navy, for example benefited tremendously. As well as establishing the Greenwich naval academy (the reason the 0 degree meridian passes through Greenwich, England) he also endowed Cambridge, most notably Trinity College, Isaac Newton's college and the college of many other famous mathematicians and scientists. It remains the most magnificent of the colleges and the college for the aristocracy to attend (most recently Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales). It's not surprising then that Trinity College is one of the wealthiest institutions in Great Britain and, reputedly, it does not need the income it derives from student fees; it now derives its wealth from the land it owns, particularly Felixstowe docks (the major container port in the UK) and from the science parks around Cambridge.

 

Towards the end of the 19th century wealthy patrons started giving money to create departments for study, instead of colleges. In science this allowed Cambridge to attract the best minds. This started the intensification of interest in science in Cambridge that resulted in the discovery of the electron, the neutron and the splitting of the atom.

 

Unfortunately, the college does not always welcome tourists but if you have a special interest in physics there is a wonderful, small museum in New Cavendish.  On display are: James Clark Maxwell's old desk, the apparatus used to discover the electron, the apparatus used to discover the neutron and some of the earliest X-ray photographs. There are also wonderful old photographs of Cavendish researchers over the last 130 years. This museum is a little gem. Unfortunately, you cannot just turn-up to enter the museum.  If you wish to visit this on your Select Events tour you must let us know in good time.

 

There is also a museum about polar research in the Scott Polar Institute on Lensfield Road that is within reasonable walking distance of the centre.

 

You cannot come on one of our tours  without visiting one of the worlds leading research universities – actually, we wont let you!