Senate House
A Portland-stone hall of the 1720s where Cambridge degrees are conferred, with a roof-top prank in its history.
The Senate House sits in the middle of the city, between King's College and Gonville and Caius College, as part of the Old Schools complex. Listed Grade I, it is a neo-classical building faced in Portland stone and built between 1722 and 1730 to designs by James Gibbs. A foundation stone was laid on 22 June 1722 by the Vice-Chancellor of the day, Thomas Crosse, on land cleared by houses bought under an act of Parliament passed in June 1720. The hall opened in July 1730, though the western end was not finished until 1768. It was planned as one side of a quadrangle that was never completed.
Degrees and ceremony
The senate once met here; now the building is used chiefly for graduation. Colleges present their graduands in the order in which they were founded or recognised by the university, each led forward by a college officer who presents them in Latin to the Vice-Chancellor. After receiving the degree, graduates leave by what is known as the Doctor's door. Formally, every graduation is a distinct decision by the Regent House, the university's governing body, taken at a meeting called a Congregation.
Traditions and pranks
When the academic year closes, Mathematical Tripos results for Parts II and III are announced from the balcony, with printed class lists thrown down to the crowd below. A stunt came in June 1958: an Austin Seven van was discovered on the roof's highest point, winched up overnight by engineering students from Gonville and Caius, and the university needed a week to remove it. In 2008, for the university's 800th anniversary, the side wall was lit up with a show about its history.
Practical notes
As a ceremonial building the interior is usually in use for events, so most visitors admire the façade from the lane beside it or from King's Parade. Graduation days bring the busiest crowds.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
