Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

Corpus Christi College (full name: The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary) is a College of the University of Cambridge. It is notable for being the only college to have been founded by Cambridge townspeople, having been founded in 1352 by the Guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the second-smallest college (after Peterhouse).

Buildings

Old Court, built in the 1350s, is one of Cambridge's oldest buildings and retains many of its original features, including sills and jambs to hold oil-soaked linen in the days prior to the arrival of glass. The court was possibly built from the core of an even older building and is the oldest courtyard in Oxford or Cambridge (a claim disputed by Merton College, Oxford who say the same of their Mob Quad) as well as, some say, the oldest continually inhabited courtyard in the country. A new library complex is in the process of being built.

Related Topics:
Merton College, Oxford - Mob Quad

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St Bene't's church next door is itself the oldest building in the city, and served as the college's chapel until one was built in around 1500.

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New Court (completed 1827) was designed by William Wilkins, who is buried in the college chapel. New Court is also the site of the Parker Library, which was begun in 1376 and much improved by a bequest from Matthew Parker, the college's Master between 1544 and 1553, who as Archbishop of Canterbury formed a fine collection of manuscripts from the libraries of dissolved monasteries.

Related Topics:
1827 - William Wilkins - 1376 - Matthew Parker - 1544 - 1553 - Archbishop of Canterbury - Dissolved monasteries

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There are also several outlying college properties, including the graduate campus of Leckhampton. Here there are playing fields, 9½ acres (38,000 m²) of gardens, a swimming pool and some of the best graduate housing in the University.

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