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Secrets of Kings College Chapel

During its years unpublished in the archives, his manuscript had become something akin to a treasure in its own right as well as a precious resource for anyone interested in the making of a masterpiece. His book was perhaps destined to remain forever a work in progress — and Saltmarsh himself was famously infuriated by the slightest editorial interference. The chapel, too, was an ambitious project that spent a long time in gestation. Construction went in fits and starts as political upheaval depleted the royal coffers.

As Saltmarsh explains, its central location marked a bold departure from the sites chosen by earlier Cambridge colleges, which hunkered down among the narrow lanes, almost invisible to the passer-by. The chapel is free-standing, as are many of the buildings around it.

King's College Chapel, Cambridge: 'A gravity-defying hall of light'

But the original plan was for the building to form one side of an enclosed court, keeping the College members in and the townspeople out. What makes the chapel interior so exceptional is its stonework.

Its fan vaulting is the largest in Europe — sometimes described as one of the wonders of the world. Entering the building, the visitor is struck first by the upward reach of its fluted columns and then by the repeated armorials which bear the symbols of the most powerful, and only recently united, families in the land. Sinuous dragons are paired with sleek greyhounds to convey the bond between the houses of Tudor and Beaufort. His mind absorbed, and processed, the tiniest snippets of information.

He recreates a world in which stone was transported down the waterways from Northampton, timber came from the woods at Ashdon Hales in Essex, and clunch chalky limestone used as infill for the substantial walls was hauled from the Cambridgeshire village of Barrington. Saltmarsh was born into a family who can trace their ancestry back to the Normans. His father was a prosperous East Anglian farmer.

Although educated at home by a governess and later at private schools, he spent much of his childhood among working people — in forges, farmyards and flour mills. His affinity for those responsible for growing, making and doing shines through. Some key figures emerge: Saltmarsh paints vivid profiles of the master masons the word architect had yet to emerge , Reginald Ely, Simon Clerk and John Wastell. Clerk, the less-known of the three, designed the fan vaulting. It is thought that a number of carved faces, which appear in the ornamentation high up in the antechapel, might be portraits of some of the men who worked on the chapel.

When the interior was cleaned in the s, Saltmarsh was able to send photographers up the scaffolding to take pictures of these heads, hewn from stone and almost hidden from view in the detail of a series of tabernacles. These men are palpably real — stern, bearded, determined — their features chiselled into the fabric of the building. Only one woman appears in the building records. This charming detail is one of countless dozens: Lists and tables set out information gleaned from fortnightly accounts records of wages and payments for materials.

His sentences are short; his flow is admirably logical. The cadence of his prose is close to that of speech.

Review: Nathan Laube, organ recital, King's College Chapel

The library operates a user-oriented purchasing policy: The college has gradually broadened its intake to include many students from state schools , often having the highest proportion of maintained school acceptances of the undergraduate colleges. Inevitably this has led to accusations of reactionary bias against public school pupils and of affirmative action positive discrimination , although the relatively high proportion of state-school students reflects the far greater number of applications from pupils at maintained schools in comparison to other Cambridge colleges.

King's has established a Schools Liaison Officer post in order to provide support to students, whatever their background, and schools and colleges of any type to find out more about the University of Cambridge and the college.


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Generally, the atmosphere at King's is considered to be easier than that of other colleges to integrate into for students from a working-class or minority background. However, a survey conducted by Varsity Newspaper in January revealed that the average parental income of students who participated in the survey at King's was higher than the university average. Academic Priyamvada Gopal has refused to supervise students because she maintains porters at King's College often "hassled" non-white staff and students at the gates, which she claims amounts to, "racial profiling". Several students and former students have agreed that this happens.

A university spokeswoman has denied wrongdoing by staff. Students at King's have used both organisations to assist in the decision-making processes in the College itself and the University. The college students have a reputation for radical political activity going back to the late s, and the College has not infrequently been the centre of demonstrations, rent strikes and so forth, sparked by political events.

There are a number of rooms around college which students can book out to hold society events. The main bar at King's is the site of many social events, open mic nights, and informal meetings and debates between students, whilst a venue known as the Bunker formerly the Cellar , a second bar in a basement of the college, acts occasionally as a music or dance-night venue and most recently the set for a King's Drama productions including Sartre's No Exit [40] and a series of monologue showcase events. This takes place annually on the Wednesday night of May Week usually c.

There are also large student-run College parties at the end of each term known as Mingles. King's has a number of competitive sports teams including, men's and women's football and athletics. King's College Boat Club has the largest active membership of any club in King's, and has had some largely varied success in recent years. Another major club is the King's Mountaineering and Kayaking Association, which has a fleet of kayaks for use on the River Cam which runs through the College and regularly runs climbing, walking and kayaking trips for students of the college during university vacations.

King's College, Cambridge - Wikipedia

They lost 29—24 to Emmanuel. John Maynard Keynes , economist. Philip Noel-Baker , Olympic medallist and Nobel laureate in peace. Patrick Blackett , Nobel laureate in physics. Alan Turing , mathematician and computer scientist. Frederick Sanger , double Nobel laureate in Chemistry. Stephen Poliakoff , playwright and director. Mervyn King , former Governor of the Bank of England. Once someone has been admitted to the college, he or she becomes a member for life. Alumni of the college includes prime ministers, archbishops, presidents and academics.

Time published in a list of what it considered the most "influential and important" people of the twentieth century. In a list of one hundred names, King's claimed two: Alan Turing and John Maynard Keynes who had been both students and fellows at the college. Also in the 18th century alumni include Secretary of State Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend Turnip Townshend , who was also known for his interest in agriculture and role in the British agricultural revolution , judge and Lord Chancellor Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden. Historical figures include Francis Walsingham , spymaster to Queen Elizabeth.

Montague Rhodes James , ghost story writer and mediaevalist spent much of his life at King's as student, fellow and Provost. Author and translator of Aristotle Sir John Harington is also an alumnus, a benefactor of mankind for having invented the flush toilet.

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The head of King's College is called the Provost. A version of the arms with the roses argent, barbed and seeded proper i. The embellished shield can be seen in the box at the top-right of this page. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Not to be confused with King's College London. Sable, three roses argent, [1] a chief per pale azure and gules charged on the dexter side with a fleur-de-lis and on the sinister with a lion passant gardant or.

King's College Chapel, Cambridge. James , scholar and ghost-story writer. George Santayana , philosopher. Rupert Brooke , poet. Salman Rushdie , novelist. David Baddiel , comedian. Zadie Smith , novelist. List of Provosts of King's College, Cambridge. Retrieved 19 July Retrieved 3 August Archived from the original on 26 October Retrieved 17 July London, New York, Toronto: Longmans, Green And CO.

A Cambridge Alumni Database. Archived from the original on 13 March Retrieved 13 March Police Roll of Honour Trust. Millions will enjoy today's festival of carols from King's College, Cambridge. But Graham Chainey mourns a botched 'restoration ' ". Retrieved 23 November Retrieved 14 September Archived from the original on 31 August Retrieved 21 February Retrieved 18 July Archived from the original on 17 October Retrieved 29 May Charles Glover Barkla Biography".

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Collegium Regale beate Marie et sancti Nicholai Cantebrigie. Eton College New College, Oxford. Notes King's was granted its arms on the same day as its sister foundation Eton College. The two shields are identical, save that King's has three white roses, and Eton three white lilies.

Escutcheon Sable, three roses argent, a chief per pale azure and gules charged on the dexter side with a fleur-de-lis and on the sinister with a lion passant gardant Or. Symbolism In the grant of arms, the black field is described as symbolising the stability of the college; the roses are described as symbolising the bringing forth of the flowers of knowledge; and the fleur-de-lis and lion represent the royalty of King's foundation by Henry VI, referring to the Kingdoms of France and England respectively.

Furthermore, white roses are traditionally a symbol of the Virgin Mary, one of the patron saints of King's.