Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

Corpus Christi College
University of Cambridge
Corpus Christi College New Court
Arms of Corpus Christi College Arms: Quarterly gules and azure, in the first and fourth quarters a pelican in its piety and in the second and third three lily-flowers slipped and leaved all argent.
Scarf colours: cherry pink, with two equally-spaced narrow white stripes
Location	MCR	www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/mcr/
Boat club	www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/cccbc/
Map
Location in Central Cambridge Show map of Central Cambridge Location in Cambridge Show map of Cambridge

Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.^[4] From the late 14th century to the early 19th century it was also commonly known as St Benet's College.

The college is notable as the only one founded by Cambridge townspeople:^[5] it was established in 1352 by the Guild of Corpus Christi and the Guild of the Blessed Virgin Mary,^[6] making it the sixth-oldest college in Cambridge. With around 300 undergraduates and 200 postgraduates, it also has the second smallest student body of the traditional colleges of the University, after Peterhouse.

The College has traditionally been one of the more academically successful colleges in the University of Cambridge. In the unofficial Tompkins Table, which ranks the colleges by the class of degrees obtained by their undergraduates, in 2012 Corpus was in third position, with 32.4% of its undergraduates achieving first-class degrees. The college's average position between 2003 and 2012 was 9th, and in the 2022 rankings it was placed 9th.

Corpus ranks among the wealthiest Cambridge colleges in terms of fixed assets, being exceptionally rich in silver.^[7] The College's endowment was valued at £90.9M at the end of June 2017, while its net assets were valued at £227.4M.^[8]

History

Foundation

The

The newly constructed court could house 22 fellows and students. The statutes laid down the rules governing the behaviour of fellows only. Students were not part of the foundation at this stage and would not come within the scope of the statutes for another 200 years.^[citation needed]

Name

The college's most formal name is the College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary in the University of Cambridge, usually abbreviated to Corpus Christi College. From the early 16th century, it was also known as Benet or St Benet's College, from the nearby St Bene't's Church, associated with the founding guild of Corpus Christi. Both the college and the church stand on Bene't Street.^[13] Until the late 16th century, the church served as the college chapel, although St Botolph's was also used for some services. When Thomas Cosyn was master of the college in the late 15th century, a gallery was built which linked the college to St Benet's church.^[14]

By the later 16th century, Benet College became the name most commonly used, as "Corpus Christi" was deemed to have a very Roman Catholic flavour. This preference continued until the early 19th century.^[15]

Medieval period

In its early centuries, the college was relatively poor^[6] and so could not construct new buildings; thus Old Court has survived to the present day. It had no chapel, so the members worshipped in St Bene't's Church next door.^[10] From the late 14th century through to the 19th century, particularly during the Reformation when Catholic references were discouraged, Corpus was known as St Benet's College.^[9] By 1376 it possessed 55 books, and many more would be donated or bequeathed over the succeeding centuries, including, those bequeathed by Thomas Markaunt and, most significantly, those donated in the 16th century by Archbishop Matthew Parker, who is celebrated by the college as its greatest benefactor.^[6]

During the

In 1460 during the Wars of the Roses, the college paid for armaments including artillery and arrows, and protective clothing to defend the college's treasures from a "tempestuous riot".^[10]

Although spared the worst of the religious tumult that the

It was during this time that Matthew Parker became Master. He donated his unrivalled library to the college, much silver plate and its symbol, the pelican. In order to ensure the safety of his collection Parker inserted into the terms of his endowment one which stated that if any more than a certain number of books were lost, the rest of the collection would pass first to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and then (in the event of any more losses) to Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Every few years, representatives from both of those colleges ceremonially inspect the collection for any losses.^[12]

Parker placed a similar condition on the silver that he bequeathed to the college and these stipulations are part of the reason why Corpus Christi College retains to this day the entirety of the library and the silver collection: they were unable to sell off (or melt down) the less valuable parts of either collection without losing both. (Parker's assiduousness in his acquisition of books and manuscripts has been suggested as an origin of the phrase "Nosey Parker".^[18]) Parker was forced to resign as Master in 1553 by the accession of Mary I but was elected Archbishop of Canterbury upon the succession of Elizabeth I.^{[citation needed]}

The playwright

In 1952, a portrait of a man "in the 21st year of his age" was discovered during renovation work at the college. As the painting is dated 1585, the year Marlowe was 21, it has been claimed as a portrait of the playwright, of whom no other known portrait exists.^[20]

As the number of students rose a bigger chapel became necessary. In 1578

Corpus maintains an impressive collection of silver as it was the only college not to sell its silverware in support of either side during the Civil War.^[6] That, and its unrivalled collection of manuscripts and massive collection of rare wines and ports, fuels rumours that it is Cambridge's richest college per student. This is a moot point, since these assets cannot be sold and the majority of them cannot be valued.^[10]

Unlike other

In 1688, the college was attacked once again by a mob, this time with an anti-Catholic bent. They made for the rooms of the bursar, Clement Scott, whom they suspected of popery. He hid himself from the mob so they destroyed his books and papers. The college continued to grow throughout the 18th century and did produce several distinguished scholars and clergymen including the so-called Benedictine Antiquaries, a dozen or so men all well known for antiquarian research including such figures as Richard Gough and William Stukeley.^[6][12]

In the 1740s,

During the 19th century the college became associated with the

During the Second World War, the Master of the College was Sir Will Spens, who was also Regional Commissioner of Civil Defence for the Eastern Region: had Hitler invaded, he would have been in charge of running Eastern England. The college housed various government departments whilst the then Master was also the Regional Commissioner. Corpus would have hosted the organisation which may have been required to act as an autonomous government authority if central government was incapacitated.^[23] This has led to a persistent rumour of a network of tunnels under the college excavated for this purpose. While there are extensive wine cellars, there is no evidence of such tunnels.^[24] During the war there were fewer undergraduates in residence, but the space was taken up by cadets and officers of the armed services taking short courses. Due to the increase in student numbers in the 1930s, Corpus is one of the few British institutions to have lost more members in the Second World War than in the First. Their names are inscribed in the Chapel.

Corpus owns

During the 1960s, central heating was extended across the entire college campus. Women were also allowed to join the college Chapel Choir and dine in hall. In 1963, the college's first bar was opened in New Court.[6] In 2008, it was moved to Library Court and the old bar was converted into a post room, staffroom and a graduate student common room.

In 1962, the college approved the conversion of the

In recent years, the College has spearheaded the Northern Ireland Initiative.^[27] It also has strong links with New Zealand, taking a student on a full scholarship from the country each year, paid for by the Worshipful Company of Girdlers.^[28] A former president is the historian and Cold War scholar Christopher Andrew. He also chairs the 'Cambridge Intelligence Seminar' which convenes regularly in rooms.

The current college visitor is the Chancellor of the University of Cambridge,^[29] Lord Sainsbury of Turville.^[30]

In 2008, the college completed the renovation of an adjacent bank building and other college buildings to create Library Court, the third court within the main college campus.

In January 2012, several pieces of silver worth a total of £11,596 were stolen from the college collection. The items, which included chalices and patens, were taken from the college chapel while it was open to the public.^[31] Several pieces worth £956 in total were recovered a fortnight later; the remainder was discovered to have been melted down. A local man was arrested and charged with the theft.^[32] None of the pieces lost were part of Parker's bequest.

On 12 July 2017, the Fellowship of the College elected professor Christopher Kelly, President of the College and former Senior Tutor, as the College's 52nd Master.^[33] He took up his post in the Michaelmas Term of 2018.

A major restoration of the college's dining hall and servery were undertaken in 2017–18 and completed in February 2019, revealing medieval stonework that had been covered up by the previous restoration in the 1950s.

In July 2019, the college announced that it would create 30 new undergraduate places, specifically aimed at helping students from under-represented backgrounds to take up places at the University.

Buildings

Old Court

Built in the 1350s, Old Court contains some of Cambridge's oldest buildings, and retains many of its original features, such as sills and jambs used to hold oil-soaked linen in the days prior to the arrival of glass. The court is the oldest continually inhabited courtyard in the country (a claim disputed by Merton College, Oxford, which says the same of its Mob Quad). It is possibly built from the core of an even older building. Four sided, it typifies the model of construction of the colleges in Oxford or Cambridge.^[5] A passageway connects Old Court to Bene't Street. Due to its age the rooms are large and contain antique furniture but lack basic facilities and plumbing. In 1919 the ivy was removed from Old Court and a roughcast rendering was put in its place, followed by a major restoration in 1952 paid for by donations from old members.

During the summer months students are permitted to sit on the lawn in Old Court and garden parties may be held whereas, like other Oxbridge colleges, normally only fellows are allowed to walk on the lawns.^[34] There is a large plaque, on the northern wall, dedicated to Christopher Marlowe and John Fletcher, both famous playwrights who studied at Corpus.^[35] Standing inside Old Court one can see the tower of St Bene't's Church, the oldest building in Cambridge, and the Old Cavendish Laboratory where the structure of DNA was solved by Watson and Crick^[36] and groundbreaking work on the structure of the atom was conducted by J. J. Thomson and Ernest Rutherford.^[37] Around 1500, the master, Thomas Cosyn built a brick gallery which connects Old Court with St. Benet's Church; the gallery is now part of an Old Court room set.

St Bene't's Church

The adjacent St Bene't's Church served as the college's chapel until 1579^[38] when one was built specifically for the purpose. The college remains the patron.^[12] The tower of St Bene't's is the oldest building in Cambridge dating back to before the Norman Conquest, built in the late Anglo-Saxon period.^[39] It is also notable for being the birthplace of the practice of ringing the changes, which was started by Fabian Stedman, a parish clerk, in 1670.^[39]

New Court

New Court (completed 1827) was designed by

The current Chapel is the third the college has had and was completed in 1827 along with the rest of New Court. It was also designed by William Wilkins, but includes some medieval glass and features, including the fellows' stalls, several memorials and the floor of the older Elizabethan Chapel, which was demolished in the construction of New Court. The first four stained glass windows date to around 1500 and are believed to come from the Abbey of

The current organ was built by Noel Mander MBE in 1968 and the casework was designed by Stephen Dykes Bower.^[46] The previous organ was donated to Methodist College Belfast on their centenary in 1968.^[47]

The Parker Library

The collection was begun in 1376 and much improved by a bequest from

The Parker Collection is one of the finest and most important collections of

The building was completed in 1827 in the construction of Wilkin's New Court. Currently the collection comprises over 600 manuscripts, around 480 of which were given by Parker, who also donated around 1000 printed volumes.[49]

Its most famous possession is the

In a joint venture between the college, the University Library and Stanford University in the United States of America the entire collection was digitised^[51] and is now available on the internet.^[52] Completed in 2010, the process involved the digitisation of over 200,000 separate pages.^[51]

Kwee Court (formerly Library Court)

In 2005, the lease of the bank adjacent to Corpus expired and the college reclaimed it to begin construction of Library Court. Due to be completed in 2007, the project overran due to archaeological finds and issues removing the bank vault.

Library Court was completed in January 2008 and houses the college's student centre which includes the college bar,

While the outer facade of the bank building facing onto Trumpington Street, designed by architect Horace Francis,[53] is Grade II listed, the interior was not. The inside was stripped out and a modern library was installed. The other rooms including the bar, student rooms, fellows rooms and student centre were remodelled within the existing building. Facing onto Library Court from the Taylor Library is a large window decorated by an engraving by Lida Kindersley.^[53] The project was designed by Wright & Wright Architects of London.^[56] The building has received several awards including the 2009 Royal Institute of British Architects Award in the East.^[57]

On 19 September 2008, physicist Stephen Hawking unveiled a new clock called the Chronophage, which means "Time Eater" in Greek. It is situated facing onto the corner of King's Parade and Trumpington where the old entrance to the bank used to be. The clock is unusual not only because of its design but also because it is accurate only once every five minutes.^[58] The clock was conceived, designed and paid for by Taylor and donated to his alma mater. The clock is neon lit at night.

In 2013, the Library Court was renamed Kwee Court after a large financial donation was made to the college. Students and fellows, however, continue to refer to the court by its traditional name. The donation – made by the Kwee family – was made on the condition that a balcony was built somewhere in the college. As most of the college buildings are Grade I listed, the only practical space for a balcony was in library court. The balcony (Kwee Balcony) is at the far end of the court from the entrance to the library.^[59]

Leckhampton

Leckhampton is a large, separate campus for postgraduate students. It is situated about a mile west of the main College site (which is traditionally referred to by postgraduate students as the 'Old House', to differentiate it from Leckhampton), just outside the city centre and is set off

Other buildings and gardens

There are several outlying college properties. These include Bene't Street Hostel, above

The Robert Beldam Building, adjacent to Bene't Street Hostel, is a modern accommodation block completed in the 1990s. It includes the

Between Trumpington Street and Library Court are a series of terraced houses, also designed by Wilkins, owned by the college. All have been reclaimed by the college for use as student rooms or part of the Library except for the block used by the Trumpington Street Medical Practice. The doors leading from Trumpington Street have been sealed and the buildings can only be entered through Library Court.^[53]

There are two main gardens in the main college campus, the Bursar's Garden and the Master's Garden, the latter being the private garden of the Master and his family attached to the Master's Lodge. The Bursar's garden is a small garden situated between New Court, the Chapel and Old Court. Students are allowed to sit there throughout the Easter term at certain times of day. It is notable for the

• 
  The sundial in Old Court
• 
  The Dining Hall seen from Old Court
• 
  The terraced houses between New Court and the Taylor Library
• 
  The entrance to the college

Student life

Most of the undergraduates, who refer to themselves as Corpuscles,^[62] live in or very near the main college campus. Unlike most other colleges there is a dedicated accommodation site for graduates in Leckhampton.

As with all Cambridge colleges, Corpus has its own student unions (

Corpus hosts a biennial

Dramatically, each spring a duck chooses to lay her eggs in a flower pot in Old Court some 200 m from the River Cam.^[68] When the ducklings hatch and are ready to leave for the water one of the porters must stop traffic on Trumpington Street to allow the duck and her offspring to cross.^[69] The porters from St Catharine's across the road open the gates of their college and take over the responsibility of getting them to the river from there.^[68]

Corpus challenge

Every year Corpus competes with its sister college in Oxford, also called

The College is said to be haunted by a number of ghosts. Most famous, and feared, is the terrifying apparition of Henry Butts, hero of the plague of 1630, who hanged himself with his garters in the then Master's Lodge on Easter Sunday, 1632.^[10] Butts' ghost was subject to an attempted (and purportedly unsuccessful) exorcism by three students in 1904.^[6] The last sighting of Butts was in 1967 as a half length figure of a man in the passage between New Court and Old Court.

Another is that of Elizabeth Spencer and her young lover (both died in 1667). Elizabeth was the daughter of the then Master,

The college's coat of arms consists of a quartered shield featuring a pelican on a red background in the top left and bottom right corners and three white lilies on a blue background in the top right and bottom left corners.[75]

The coat of arms was granted in 1570 by

Although the college officially has no motto, the college toast, Floreat Antiqua Domus (i.e. "May the old house flourish") is often used as such. The nickname 'Old House' has historically been used to refer to the whole college, but most usually to designate the main college buildings, as opposed to outlying places.^[77]

The College colours used on scarves, ties, and various sports' kits are two white stripes on a cerise background. The Boat Club use maroon, rather than the cerise shade of pink, for their strips and oar blades. The other sports teams use maroon or sometimes a lighter pink.^[78] The Chapel scarf, worn by the choir or chapel wardens, is a dark maroon background with two white stripes on either side of a navy blue stripe running down the middle.

Grace

Before dinner at Leckhampton, the College's postgraduate campus, a silent grace is held, with diners pausing to collect their thoughts and silently offer their own thanks before sitting. This unique tradition stems from the first dinner at Leckhampton, when new students and fellows, not knowing if the College grace should be said, hesitated awkwardly before sitting for dinner.

Notable alumni

• 
  Thomas Cavendish, explorer and privateer, attended Corpus Christi College in 1575 without completing his degree.
• 
  Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, Great Earl of Cork, Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom of Ireland, attended Corpus Christi College in 1583.
• 
  John Wildman, Politician and soldier, attended Corpus Christi College in 1639.
• 
  Stephen Hales, Plant physiologist, attended Corpus Christi College in 1696.
• 
  Dudley Senanayake, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for three terms, attended Corpus Christi College in 1930.
• 
  Colin Blakemore, neurobiologist, attended Corpus Christi College in 1962.
• 
  Kevin McCloud, designer and TV presenter, attended Corpus Christi College in 1976.
• 
  Owen Paterson, MP and former Environment Secretary, attended Corpus Christi College in 1974.
• 
  Hugh Bonneville, TV and film actor, attended Corpus Christi College in 1981.
• 
  Helen Oyeyemi, British author, attended Corpus Christi College in 2003.

In popular culture

This section may contain irrelevant references to popular culture. Please remove the content or add citations to reliable and independent sources. (December 2017)

• In Porterhouse Blue and Grantchester Grind by Tom Sharpe, the college is mentioned several times throughout the books including a scene where the Senior Tutor wakes after having "dined in Corpus" the night before with such a bad hangover he becomes convinced he is insane.^[79][80] Corpus also appeared in the television adaptation of Porterhouse Blue.
• In
  Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke when Lascelles and Drawlight are discussing Jonathan Strange, he is described as the man who "when an undergraduate at Cambridge, frightened a cat belonging to the Master of Corpus Christi".^[81]
• In The Black Death: The Intimate Story of a Village in Crisis 1345–1350, which is a fictionalised account of the trials of the village of
  Walsham during the plague by John Hatcher, himself a fellow of Corpus, the author makes regular reference to the guild of Corpus Christi in Cambridge.^[82]
• In Engleby by Sebastian Faulks there are several references to Corpus. At one point Engleby is talking about acquiring opium that he bought "from a boy who got it from a Modern History fellow in Corpus Christi".^[83]
• Several of the college buildings briefly appear in the Doctor Who serial Shada with Tom Baker as the Doctor.^[84] The show was never broadcast and the episode became the subject of some controversy when it was cancelled by the BBC. It was released on video in 1992.
• In the novel, The Night Climbers, by Ivo Stourton, himself a graduate of the college, Stourton refers to Corpus Christi on several occasions.^[85]
• The Parker Library, and more often documents from it, make an appearance in several TV documentaries, particularly in those dealing with the
  Seven Ages of Britain. Most recently, Christopher de Hamel, then the Donnelly Fellow Librarian, appeared on the BBC Four series The Beauty of Books.^[86]
• The front of the college chapel appears on the cover of Andrew Douglas's book, The King's Codebreaker the first in the Thomas Hill trilogy about an Oxford academic working for the King during the English Civil War in 1643. The use of the college as the cover is unusual given that the college is not in Oxford, neither was the facade of the Chapel built until the 1820s.[87]
• The college features prominently in the second episode of Guilty Pleasures, a two-part documentary presented by Cambridge academic Michael C Scott on the subject of luxury. Several shots included the Wilkins Room of the Parker Library, the front of the Chapel and Old Court.^[88] Scott also discusses the foundation of the college, with the help of the Duke of Lancaster, as an example of the nature of luxury changing in the Middle Ages.
• New Court and the Chapel, as viewed from the main gate, feature in the British Government's GREAT Campaign to promote the UK abroad.
  Union flag.^[90]

• Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
• Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
• List of Masters of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
• Corpus Christi College Boat Club (Cambridge)
• List of Organ Scholars

References

General bibliography

• QCC staff. "University of Cambridge – Foundation dates of Colleges". Queens' College Cambridge. Archived from the original on 20 February 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2011.

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cooper, Thompson (1898). "Spencer, John (1630–1693)". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 53. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 359, 360.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

• Official website
• JCR page
• MCR page