Clare College, Cambridge

Clare College is a college of the University of Cambridge, the second oldest surviving college after Peterhouse.

History

The college was founded in 1326 by the university's Chancellor, Richard de Badew, and named University Hall. Providing maintenance for only two fellows, however, it soon hit financial hardship. In 1338 the college was refounded as Clare Hall by an endowment from Elizabeth de Clare, a granddaughter of Edward I, that provided for twenty fellows and ten students.

Related Topics:
1326 - Richard de Badew - 1338 - Elizabeth de Clare - Edward I

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The college was known as Clare Hall up until 1856, when it changed its name to Clare College. (A new Clare Hall was founded by Clare as a postgraduate institution in 1966).

Related Topics:
Clare Hall - 1966

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Clare's 'Old Court', which frames King's College Chapel as the left border of one of the most celebrated architectural vistas in England, was built between 1638 and 1715, with a long interruption for the English Civil War. The period spans the arrival of true classicism into the mainstream of British architecture. Its progress can be traced in the marked differences between the oldest wing (the north), which still has vaulting and other features in the unbroken tradition of English Gothic, and the final southern block, which shows a fully articulated classic style.

Related Topics:
King's College Chapel - 1638 - 1715 - English Civil War - Classicism - Architecture - Gothic

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The college's chapel was built in 1763 and designed by James Burrough. Its altarpiece is Annunciation by Cipriani.

Related Topics:
1763 - James Burrough - Cipriani

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Clare has a much-photographed bridge over the river which has fourteen stone balls decorating it. In actual fact, one of the balls has a missing section. A number of apocryphal stories circulate concerning this - the one most commonly cited by members of college is that the original builder of the bridge was not paid the full amount for his work and so removed the segment to balance the difference in payment. A more likely explanation is that a wedge of stone cemented into the ball as part of a repair job became loose and fell out, presumably still lying on the river bed. The repair work is necessary when a stone ball becomes worn around the metal rod on which it is secured to the bridge; a wedge of stone is removed from the base of the ball (around the rod) in order to free it, it is then turned sideways, a hole is drilled at the new base to receive the rod, and the wedge-shaped gap is filled with a new piece of stone. This can be observed on other balls on the same bridge, where the seam between the main ball and the replacement wedge is visible and tangible, though difficult to spot as a repaired ball is always aligned to have the new wedge facing outwards.

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The bridge is the oldest of Cambridge's current bridges.

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