Clare College, Cambridge

Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded in 1338 as ''Clare Hall'' by an endowment from Elizabeth de Clare, and took on its current name in 1856. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on " The Backs" (the back of the colleges that overlook the River Cam).

Clare is consistently one of the most popular Cambridge colleges amongst prospective applicants.

History

The college was founded in 1326 by the university's Chancellor, Richard Badew, and was originally named ''University Hall''. Providing maintenance for only two fellows, 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, which provided for twenty fellows and ten students.'The colleges and halls: Clare College', A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 3: The City and University of Cambridge (1959), pp. 340-346.
Date Accessed: 2 June 2010

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

Buildings

Old Court

Clare's Old Court, a Grade I listed building, frames King's College Chapel as the left border of one of the most celebrated architectural vistas in England. It 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, such that its progress can be traced in the marked differences between the oldest wing to 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.

The college's chapel was built in 1763 and designed by Sir James Burrough, the Master of neighbouring Caius College. Its altarpiece is ''Annunciation'' by Cipriani.

Clare Bridge

Clare has a much-photographed bridge over the River Cam and is the oldest of Cambridge's current bridges. It was built of stone in 1640 by Thomas Grumbold and restored in 1969, and is a Grade I listed building.

Fourteen stone balls decorate it, one of which 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.

Memorial Court

Clare's bridge connects Old Court to Memorial Court, which was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott and dedicated in 1926. Memorial Court was extended in the 1950s by the construction of Thirkill Court, and was later divided into two parts when the College's Forbes Mellon Library was constructed in the centre of Memorial Court; the new courtyard created in the west was renamed Ashby Court.

Lerner Court

A new court, Lerner Court, designed by architects van Heyningen and Haward, was opened in January 2008. It occupies the last piece of undeveloped land in the central area of the College next to Memorial Court and houses a lecture theatre, catering, fellows offices, residential accommodation and a student laundry.

Gallery

File:Clare College, back of Old Court.jpeg, Old Court in Winter
File:Clare Bridge over the River Cam.jpg, Clare Bridge, over the River Cam
File:Clare Bridge - ball with missing wedge.jpg, Clare Bridge's missing wedge
File:Clare College, Cambridge, July 2010 (12).JPG, Inside the Great Hall
File:Clare College, Scholars' Garden.jpg, The Scholars' Garden
File:Clare College Chapel, Cambridge.jpg, College chapel
File:Clare College, Cambridge - Lerner Court.jpg, Lerner Court
File:Clare_College_Memorial_Court_02.JPG, Memorial Court
File:Cambridge boathouses - Clare (2).jpg, Clare College boathouse
File:Antechapel clare.jpg, Clare college chapel

Student life

Clare is known as a liberal and progressive college. In 1972 it became one of the three male Cambridge colleges that led the way in admitting female undergraduates (the other two being Churchill and King's). Clare continues in this tradition and has won praise for the transparency of its admissions process.

Clare is known as one of the most musical colleges in Cambridge. Its choir has performed all over the world. Many Clare students play instruments, and the Clare College Music Society is well known, particularly the orchestra. Like most Cambridge colleges, Clare allows students to have a piano in their college rooms.

Clare Ents

As well as popular jazz and comedy nights, Clare is renowned for Clare Ents, a student night held every Friday in term time. The night is popular with students across the university and in the past it has hosted such acts as Tinie Tempah, Bombay Bicycle Club and Chase and Status.

Clareification

Clare's student newspaper, '' Clareification'', won "Best University College Paper" in ''The Cambridge Student'' in 2005. Published by the Union of Clare Students, it comprises satirical articles mocking Cambridge traditions, reports on silly student antics, and college gossip in the "Clareifornication" column.

On 3 February 2007 the college cut its funding to the paper following the publication of the guest-edited edition of 2 February, retitled ''Crucification''. In addition to the paper's usual satirical attacks on Christianity, this edition also featured several articles which mocked Islam, and a reproduction of the cartoon illustrations of the prophet Mohammed which provoked international protest when they first appeared in Danish newspaper '' Jyllands-Posten'' in September 2005.''

May Ball

Clare holds an annual May ball on the Monday of May Week in the middle of June. It is one of the largest may balls in Cambridge and is well known for securing popular headliners.

Clare Boat Club

Clare Boat Club is the rowing club for current members of Clare College. There is a separate club, De Burgh Boat Club, for alumni. In 2012, Clare Boat Club had the highest membership relative to the size of its student body of any college-affiliated boat club in Cambridge, fielding six men's VIIIs in the May Bumps competition.

The club's Head Coach and Boathouse Manager, Anton Wright, appeared on Channel 4's year-long reality TV show, Eden.

Old Court Panorama

File:Clare_panroama.jpg

Academic performance

The undergraduates of Clare College have usually performed very well based on the results published in the Tompkins Table, placing Clare within the top ten colleges from 2000 to 2005. However, their performance in the following years (2006–09) was poorer, leaving them in 12th in 2006 and 18th in 2009. Their 2010 performance (8th position) however showed an increase of 10 places over their previous year's performance, and in 2011 they reached fourth place. In 2018, Clare placed 16th out of 29 colleges recorded in the table. In 2019, it fell to 24th place. In 2022, it rose to 12th place.

Entrance into Clare College is competitive. Overall, Clare has approximately five applicants per place. Yet the high quality of applicants means that many of them are awarded places at other colleges through the Winter Pool. Of applicants in 2007, 151 were given offers by Clare, and a further 75 applicants were made offers at other Cambridge colleges.

People associated with Clare College

File:Elizabeth de Clare.jpg, Elizabeth de Clare, 11th Lady of Clare, writer, founder, and patron
File:Kwame Anthony Appiah by David Shankbone.jpg, Kwame Anthony Appiah, philosopher, cultural theorist, and novelist
File:Lord Cornwallis.jpg, Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, Royal Army officer
File:S. Baring-Gould portrait.PNG, Sabine Baring-Gould, Anglican priest and novelist
File:Tim Hunt at UCSF 05 2009 (4).jpg, Sir Tim Hunt, biochemist and physiologist
File:Hugh Latimer from NPG.jpg, Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, Oxford Martyr of Anglicanism
File:1stDukeOfNewcastleOld.jpg, Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
File:John Rutter.jpg, John Rutter, musician, composer and conductor
File:Viscount Sydney by Gilbert Stuart.jpg, Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, former Home Secretary
File:Andrew wiles1-3.jpg, Sir Andrew Wiles, mathematician, solved Fermat's Last Theorem
File:Rowan Williams -001b.jpg, Rowan Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian, and poet
File:Henry Louis Gates 2014 (cropped).jpg, Henry Louis Gates Jr., American historian and filmmaker
File:David Attenborough (cropped).jpg, alt=Sir David Attenborough, Sir David Attenborough, naturalist, historian, and broadcaster
File:Gillian Tett FT Autumn Party 2014 crop.jpg, Gillian Tett, financial journalist and author
File:Duleepsinhji 1920s.jpg, Duleepsinhji, cricketer and Indian public servant

See also

* '' A Clare Benediction''
* :Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge
* :Fellows of Clare College, Cambridge

References

External links

Clare College, Cambridge official websiteUnion of Clare Students (JCR) websiteClare MCR website

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Colleges of the University of Cambridge
Educational institutions established in the 14th century
Grade I listed buildings in Cambridge
Grade I listed educational buildings
1326 establishments in England