With 2025 being the College’s 675th anniversary, we’ve spent much of this year celebrating our Trinity Hall foundations, but what about literally? The buildings that surround us hold a wealth of history unbeknown to many.
How many of these facts do you know?
You may have heard poet Sam Elbahja reciting her poem The Wishing Well at our Anniversary Campaign launch, but this is not the only well related to Trinity Hall. From before the College’s foundation in 1350 until the mid-19th century, a working well stood in what we now know as the Senior Combination Room. It was filled in for fear the well could become contaminated with bacteria causing typhoid or cholera.
The gardens and open spaces are a joy for all of us at College, and North Court is no exception. It is helpfully situated next to the Coffee Shop and Aula Bar and contains several shaded seating options, making it a favourite amongst our students for when studying on Latham Lawn becomes a little too hot for their liking. Shading them from the sun is a fig tree that hints at North Court’s past, not as the social area as we now know it but as a majestic fruit garden in our walled College. In 1690, a mulberry tree was planted and Fellows were permitted to help themselves to the fruit as and when they wished. The tree was removed in 1879.
Transporting us back to the early 18th century, sitting in the Dining Hall would have been an entirely different experience. Not simply because of the change in cuisine, with tongue and udder appearing regularly on the menu, but with the ceiling of the Hall entirely open, and the fireplace being positioned in the centre of the room. The room was refurbished in 1742 to modernise it, as it was suspected to be the last remaining medieval hall in Cambridge at the time.
Have you ever noticed while eating in the Hall, a strange looking window on the east wall above High Table that seemingly leads to nowhere? Before 1864, this small arched window connected the Master’s Lodge to the Chapel so that the Master’s family could watch Chapel services from their own home. It was removed when the length of the Chapel was increased by eight feet eastwards to create the platform for the altar.
Wychfield House is popular accommodation, but you may not know it has a connection to a famous biologist. Wychfield House was in fact built by Francis Darwin, Charles Darwin’s third son, and was purchased by the College in 1948. It has had many renovations since and you may not know that the Witch Elm tree close by was the inspiration for the name of the site. You may have also heard it rumoured to be a witches’ burial site.
Some of you will have lived in Bishop Bateman Court during your time at Trinity Hall and, due to the generosity of our donors, this building will now become fully degasified, in line with our Campaign masterplan to diversify our energy sources. Work on the building will commence late November 2025 and is anticipated to be completed by January 2027.
