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Cambridge equivalent of Worcester?

Hi, I recently went on a tour around Worcester and fell in love with the grounds (although I never looked at the accommodation!)

I loved how ornate the Chapel was, and the green space was also a pleasure to see. The new building funded by the Sultan of Malaysia was also very impressive.

On the whole, Oxford is a bit too big of a city for me, and the medical building was also a bit mediocre.

My dream combo would be a Worcester-like college in Cambridge; the distance from Addenbrookes/city centre does not matter.

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Having lived in Cambridge (and worked there) for some years previously, none of the colleges save Homerton are particularly near Addenbrookes. All other than Homerton and Girton are relatively near the city centre - even the "west" colleges aren't that far away (I've walked from the West Sites to the city centre before, it's not that far).

Green spaces are pretty widespread in Cambridge outside of colleges and plenty have a fair bit of green space inside colleges. Jesus has a pretty big green at the back I believe and is adjacent both Jesus Green (not actually private grounds of the college but a public park, although I believe owned by the college...?) and Midsummer Common (with cows some of the year!), and is pretty central. No idea what the architecture is like inside though! Emmanuel and Downing also very central and I believe have green spaces inside/adjacent the colleges.

Most of the central colleges have a fair bit of "classical" style architecture (obviously Kings is the posterchild with the famous curtain wall and big chapel but most have similar architectural offerings as well), along with usually a number of more modern buildings. Sidgwick and West colleges are somewhat more recent so varied architectural styles, one of them had a very "collegiate" looking red brick style for example (I want to say Robinson but I forget).

Have a look on their websites and google images, I expect there are lots of pictures available! If possible try and plan a trip to visit Cambridge perhaps - even outside of open days a lot of colleges arrange tours in the summer as I recall?

Reply 2

Anonymous #1

Original post by artful_lounger

Having lived in Cambridge (and worked there) for some years previously, none of the colleges save Homerton are particularly near Addenbrookes. All other than Homerton and Girton are relatively near the city centre - even the "west" colleges aren't that far away (I've walked from the West Sites to the city centre before, it's not that far).
Green spaces are pretty widespread in Cambridge outside of colleges and plenty have a fair bit of green space inside colleges. Jesus has a pretty big green at the back I believe and is adjacent both Jesus Green (not actually private grounds of the college but a public park, although I believe owned by the college...?) and Midsummer Common (with cows some of the year!), and is pretty central. No idea what the architecture is like inside though! Emmanuel and Downing also very central and I believe have green spaces inside/adjacent the colleges.
Most of the central colleges have a fair bit of "classical" style architecture (obviously Kings is the posterchild with the famous curtain wall and big chapel but most have similar architectural offerings as well), along with usually a number of more modern buildings. Sidgwick and West colleges are somewhat more recent so varied architectural styles, one of them had a very "collegiate" looking red brick style for example (I want to say Robinson but I forget).
Have a look on their websites and google images, I expect there are lots of pictures available! If possible try and plan a trip to visit Cambridge perhaps - even outside of open days a lot of colleges arrange tours in the summer as I recall?

Thanks for the reply!

I went twice: the first time in February where I saw Fitz, Queens, and Trinity. During the open days in June I also visited Downing and Kings. I actually got a chance to stay in Kings which was very nice, and even though I'm searching for the nicest college I'd be happy with any of the ones I've already seen.
Downing and Trinity are on the larger side, but they both don't have as much flora, where Downing at least has the lawns in the centre to sit on.
I'm perfectly happy visiting a botanical garden/public park ofc, but it's just amazing that Worcester seems to have everything going for it, in one site.

Reply 3

Anonymous #2

Original post by Anonymous

Hi, I recently went on a tour around Worcester and fell in love with the grounds (although I never looked at the accommodation!)
I loved how ornate the Chapel was, and the green space was also a pleasure to see. The new building funded by the Sultan of Malaysia was also very impressive.
On the whole, Oxford is a bit too big of a city for me, and the medical building was also a bit mediocre.
My dream combo would be a Worcester-like college in Cambridge; the distance from Addenbrookes/city centre does not matter.

I went to both open days, and visited Worcester at Oxford. I found the grounds of jesus to be most similar to Worcester. Otherwise consider further out colleges like St Hilda’s if you’re really looking for nice gardens.