Corpus Christi College

Corpus Christi occupies a corner of Trumpington Street and Bene't Street, and its origins are unusual: it was set up in 1352 by two of the town's own religious guilds, the Guild of Corpus Christi and the Guild of the Blessed Virgin Mary, rather than by a bishop, noble or monarch. It remains a small college, second in size only to Peterhouse among the traditional foundations.

What to look for

• Old Court. Built in the 1350s, it is among the oldest groups of buildings in Cambridge. The college describes it as the country's oldest continually inhabited courtyard, a title Merton College in Oxford contests for its Mob Quad.
• St Bene't's Church. A gallery once linked the court to this neighbour, which served as the college chapel until 1579. The Anglo-Saxon tower is reckoned the oldest standing building in Cambridge; see St Bene't's Church.
• The Parker Library. Archbishop Matthew Parker left manuscripts rescued from dissolved monasteries, and the condition of his bequest is a tale in itself: if any item goes missing, the whole collection passes to Gonville and Caius College and then to Trinity Hall, who send inspectors every few years.
• Christopher Marlowe. The playwright matriculated in 1580, and a plaque in Old Court remembers him with John Fletcher.
• The Corpus Clock. On the street corner, the "Chronophage" or time-eater was unveiled in 2008; see Corpus Clock.

The college also owns The Eagle pub across the street.

The guilds and the feast day

The Corpus Christi guild was formed in Cambridge in 1349 in the wake of the Black Death, and later that year it joined the Guild of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which the plague had badly depleted. Their patron, the Duke of Lancaster, applied to Edward III for a licence, granted in 1352. A single modest court beside the parish church was ready by 1356 for the Master and two fellows, and the guild's lands, revenues and ceremonies passed to the college. The grandest ceremony was a yearly procession to Magdalene Bridge, with the host and college treasures carried through the streets and a lavish dinner afterwards. Master William Sowode ended the parade in 1535, but the college still holds a grand dinner on the feast of Corpus Christi, the Thursday after Trinity Sunday.

Riot and repair

The college was poor for much of the Middle Ages, which is why Old Court survived unaltered. During the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 a crowd of townspeople, led by the mayor, sacked it; the college reports that the plate was carried off, the charter taken to be burned and the buildings gutted, and it claimed £80 in damages. Its strict collection of candle rents had made it a target. In the 1460s Elizabeth, Duchess of Norfolk, and her sister Eleanor Botelar endowed scholarships and paid for repairs, and a talbot, the heraldic beast of their family, was set on the gable of Old Court as a monument.

Practical notes

Report first to the Porters' Lodge on Trumpington Street. In the summer months the college opens to visitors between 10:30 and 16:30, possibly closing briefly at lunchtime, and a custodian sits in a kiosk by the entrance. Admission is £5 for guests aged 18 and over; holders of a CAM card go in free with up to two guests.