Ely Cathedral to Cambridge Colleges loop

Ely Cathedral to Cambridge Colleges loop

Moderate

3.0

(6)

riders

Ely Cathedral to Cambridge Colleges loop

02:37

63.1km

160m

Road cycling

Moderate road ride. Good fitness required. Mostly well-paved surfaces and easy to ride. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: June 5, 2024

Tips

The surface for a segment of your route may not be suitable

Some segments of your route comprise a surface that may not be suitable for your chosen sport.

After 62.0 km for 199 m

Waypoints

Start point

Train Station

Get Directions

19.3 km

View of the River Cam

Highlight • Bridge

you'll need to drop onto the pavement on the way up the bridge if you want to stop to look at the river

Tip by

28.9 km

Christ's College, University of Cambridge

Highlight • Historical Site

Christ's College was first established as God's House in 1437 by William Byngham, a London parish priest, for training grammar school masters. Shortly after receiving its Royal Licence from Henry VI in 1446, God's House was forced to move from its original site as this was needed for the King's new project (what was to become King's College). God's House moved to its present site in 1448 and in the same year received a second Royal Licence. This licence may be regarded as the Foundation Charter. Click here for a list of the Proctors of God's House.

Following the death of her third husband, and the accession of her son as King Henry VII, the Lady Margaret Beaufort turned her energies to good causes. No doubt at the suggestion of her confessor, Bishop John Fisher, she decided to enlarge God's House. In 1505, with a royal charter from the King, the College was re-founded as Christ's College. Lady Margaret has been honoured ever since as the Foundress.

Surviving the twists and turns of the Reformation, Christ's became one of the leading Puritan colleges of Elizabethan Cambridge. In 1625 it admitted the young John Milton, who would become a leading Puritan apologist of the Civil War and one of the greats of 'English' literature. The Garden still boasts what is known as 'Milton's Mulberry Tree'.

(christs.cam.ac.uk/about/history)

Tip by

29.1 km

Emmanuel College, Cambridge

Highlight • Historical Site

Those who have the opportunity should take a look inside the courtyards and buildings - it's worth it.

Translated by Google •

Tip by

29.8 km

Parker's Piece

Highlight • Natural

This 10ha of common land is named after Edward Parker who farmed it and was a cook at Trinity College who owned the land before 1613. It is now regarded as the birthplace of the rules of Association Football.
In 1838, a feast for 15,000 guests was held on Parker's Piece to celebrate the coronation of Queen Victoria

Tip by

30.9 km

Peterhouse, University of Cambridge

Highlight • Settlement

Peterhouse is the oldest of the Cambridge colleges, founded by Hugo de Balsham, Bishop of Ely in 1284 and granted its charter by King Edward I. The College is a Registered Charity, no. 1137457. As a charitable institution dedicated to education and research, the College has made its own distinctive contribution to society for over 700 years, surviving the Reformation, Civil War and the upheavals of every century since. It remains the smallest college in terms of number of Fellows and students, but as the late Noel Annan put it in his 1999 survey of the universities and society, The Dons, this small College has always had "an intellectual influence … out of all proportion to [its] size"

pet.cam.ac.uk/about-college

Tip by

32.1 km

St John's College, Cambridge

Highlight • Settlement

St John's College, Cambridge was founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort, established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. It is one of the larger colleges in terms of student numbers.

The college's alumni include seven prime ministers and 12 rchbishops of various countries. The Romantic poet William Wordsworth studied at St John's, as did William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson, the two abolitionists who led the movement that brought slavery to an end in the British Empire.

Tip by

32.3 km

Gonville and Caius College

Highlight • Historical Site

Caius is one of the oldest and largest colleges of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1348, the College combines the best of Cambridge tradition with 21st century teaching and research. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds to join our community of 1000 undergraduates, graduates and academics. Our students benefit from academic challenge, caring tutorial and pastoral support and excellent social and sports facilities. Our beautiful Old Courts are in the heart of Cambridge, and our Freshers' accommodation is second to none. Explore our website to find out more about the study opportunities we offer, our research work - including our fourteen Nobel Laureates - and our diverse and active community.

(cai.cam.ac.uk/)

Tip by

33.0 km

View of the River Cam from Magdalene Bridge

Highlight • Bridge

A great view over the River Cam from Magdalene Street / Bridge Street. Watch the expert and not-so-expert on the punts as they glide by.

Tip by

33.1 km

Magdalene College, Cambridge

Highlight • Historical Site

The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary Magdalene. Magdalene counted some of the greatest men in the realm among its benefactors, including Britain's premier noble the Duke of Norfolk, the Duke of Buckingham and Lord Chief Justice Christopher Wray.[7] Thomas Audley, Lord Chancellor under Henry VIII, was responsible for the refoundation of the college and also established its motto—garde ta foy (Old French: "keep your faith"). Audley's successors in the Mastership and as benefactors of the College were, however, prone to dire ends; several benefactors were arraigned at various stages on charges of high treason and executed.[8]

The college's most famous alumnus is the 17th-century chronicler Samuel Pepys. His papers and books were donated to the college upon his death and are housed in the Pepys Library in the Pepys Building. A portrait of the diarist by Peter Lely hangs in the Hall.

Magdalene is noted for its 'traditional' style: it boasts a well-regarded candlelit formal hall (held every evening) and was the last all-male college in Oxford or Cambridge to admit women in 1988 (Oriel College was the last in Oxford, admitting women in 1986). This change resulted in protests by some male undergraduates, including the wearing of black armbands and flying the college flag at half-mast.[8]

Magdalene's old buildings are representative of the college's ramshackle growth from a monks' foundation into a centre of education. It is also distinctive in that most of the old buildings are in brick rather than stone (save for the frontage of the Pepys Building). Magdalene Street divides the most ancient courts from more recent developments. One of the accommodation blocks in the newer part of the college was built by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the early 1930s. Opened in 2005, Cripps Court, on Chesterton Road, features new undergraduate rooms and conference facilities.

(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalene_College,_Cambridge)

Tip by

61.9 km

Ely Cathedral

Highlight • Religious Site

Ely is built on a 23-square-mile island which at 85 feet / 26 m, is the highest land in the Fens. Thanks to this, Ely was not waterlogged like the surrounding Fenland, and was originally an island separated from the mainland, until drained in the 18th century.

Tip by

62.2 km