King's Parade is a street in central

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

.King's Parade / Senate House Hill
,

Cambridge City Council Cambridge City Council is a district council in the county of Cambridgeshire, which governs the City of Cambridge. History Cambridge was granted a Royal Charter by King John in 1207, which permitted the appointment of a mayor. The first recorde ...

.King's Parade
,

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

. The street continues north as Trinity Street and then St John's Street, and south as

Trumpington Street Trumpington Street is a major historic street in central Cambridge, England. At the north end it continues as King's Parade where King's College is located. To the south it continues as Trumpington Road (the A1134), an arterial route out of ...

. It is a major tourist area in Cambridge, commanding a central position in the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

area of the city. It is also a place frequented by many cyclists and by students travelling between lectures during term-time. King's College is located on the west side of the street, hence the name, and dominates the scene with the east end of its large

Chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

on view. Also on the street, just to the north, is the University of Cambridge Senate House, mainly used for degree ceremonies. This area is known as Senate House Hill. Opposite the Senate House is Great St Mary's, the historic

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

Church.

History

The White Horse Tavern, on King's Lane to the west of King's Parade, was a 16th-century meeting place for

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

Protestant reformers to discuss

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

ideas, from as early as 1521. When the King's College screen was extended in 1870, the tavern was demolished. There is now a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...

in the college's Chetwynd Court to commemorate this.

Bowes & Bowes Bowes & Bowes was a bookselling and publishing company based in Cambridge, England. It was established by Robert Bowes (1835–1919), a nephew of Daniel Macmillan (1813–1857) — the founder, with his brother Alexander, , of a firm which by 1 ...

was a bookseller and publishing company located at 1 Trinity Street (at the south end of the street), a corner position at the junction with King's Parade and St Mary's Street to the east. It has a claim to be the oldest bookshop in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, with books having been sold on the site since 1581.
History of the Bookshop
',

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pr ...

. The shop closed in 1986 and subsequently

Sherratt & Hughes Bowes & Bowes was a bookselling and publishing company based in Cambridge, England. It was established by Robert Bowes (1835–1919), a nephew of Daniel Macmillan (1813–1857) — the founder, with his brother Alexander, , of a firm which by 1 ...

closed in 1992, since when the site has become the

bookshop. When the King's College Gatehouse (

porters' lodge A porters' lodge or porter's lodge (colloquially, plodge) is a place near the entrance of a building where one or more porters can be found to respond to student enquiries as well as enquires from the public and direct them around the building ...

) and Screen were built in the 1830s, the previous west side of the street was completely demolished. Opposite King's College is a row of now mainly touristic shops. For example, the

Primavera Gallery Primavera is a fine arts and crafts gallery at 10 King's Parade in Cambridge, England. Henry Rothschild founded Primavera in 1945 in Sloane Street, London, in order to promote and retail contemporary British art and craft.Greg, Andrew.''Primave ...

and gift store is located here. St Mary's Passage and

St Edward's Passage St Edward's Passage, known in the 18th century as Chain Lane, is a Y-shaped alleyway in Cambridge, England, between King's Parade—opposite the main gate of King's College—and Peas Hill. It houses the entrance and churchyard of the Church o ...

lead away from King's Parade to the east. No.1 King's Parade on the corner or King's Parade and Bene't Street was a milliner & dressmaker by the name of C.H. Lawrence in the early 20th century. In the 1950s and 1960s the building became Millers Wine Parlour. In ''Ted Hughes: The Life of A Poet'' by Elaine Feinstein, Sylvia Plath is described sitting in Millers Wine parlour in 1956, reading a review article. Since then it has occupied various establishments including the wine bars ''Gough Bros'' (1972) and ''Shades'' (1972-1992), ''The English Teddy Bear Company'' (late 1990s - early 2000s) and a restaurant/bar by the name of ''No.1 King's Parade'' (until 2006). Today a restaurant calle
The Cambridge Chop House
is located here. In the 1970s,

Chris Curry Christopher Curry (born 28 January 1946 in Cambridge) is the co-founder of Acorn Computers, with Hermann Hauser and Andy Hopper. He became a millionaire as a result of Acorn's success. In his early career days, he worked at Pye, Royal R ...

rented offices at 6 King's Parade to establish Sinclair Instrument Ltd with Sir

Clive Sinclair Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) was an English entrepreneur and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in the computing industry, and also as the founder of several companies that developed consumer electronic ...

. In 1977, the company was renamed to

Science of Cambridge Sinclair Research Ltd is a British consumer electronics company founded by Clive Sinclair in Cambridge. It was originally incorporated in 1973 as Westminster Mail Order Ltd, renamed Sinclair Instrument Ltd, then Science of Cambridge Ltd, then ...

Ltd. The name

Sinclair Research Sinclair Research Ltd is a British consumer electronics company founded by Clive Sinclair in Cambridge. It was originally incorporated in 1973 as Westminster Mail Order Ltd, renamed Sinclair Instrument Ltd, then Science of Cambridge Ltd, then ...

Ltd was adopted in 1981. The company was important in the home computer revolution of the early 1980s in the UK. The building is now occupied b
Inner Space Meditation Centre
At the southern end on the corner of Corpus Christi College in

is the

Corpus Clock The Corpus Clock, also known as the Grasshopper clock, is a large sculptural clock at street level on the outside of the Taylor Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University, in the United Kingdom, at the junction of Bene't Street ...

, a new piece of art installed in 2008 that has also become a significant tourist attraction.

Panoramic view

Image gallery

File:Kings College, Cambridge, Chapel (front).jpg,

King's College Chapel King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan vault. The Chapel was bui ...

from King's Parade. File:Cambridge King's.JPG, The King's College Gatehouse, built in the

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style, as seen from King's Parade. File:Cambridge-University-Senate-House.jpg, The Senate House viewed from King's Parade. File:Great St Mary.jpg, Great St Mary's, the University Church, opposite the Senate House on King's Parade. File:Penfold post box on King's Parade, Cambridge.jpg, A Victorian

pillar box A pillar box is a type of free-standing post box. They are found in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories, and, less commonly, in many members of the Commonwealth of Nations such as Cyprus, India, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Malta, New Z ...

by the main gate of King's College on King's Parade. File:Kings Chapel from Senate House Hill in Snow.jpg,

in the snow from the north of King's Parade. File:Cambridge University, Chapel, King's College, King's Parade.jpg, Historical photograph of the same scene. File:cmglee_Kings_Parade_panorama.jpg, View of King's Parade looking south from the Senate House.

References

{{reflist Streets in Cambridge Tourist attractions in Cambridge History of Cambridge King's College, Cambridge