Clare College, Cambridge
Encyclopedia
Colleges of the University of Cambridge
This is a list of the colleges within the University of Cambridge. These colleges are the primary source of accommodation for undergraduates and graduates at the University and at the undergraduate level have responsibility for admitting students and organising their tuition. They also provide...
of the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, England.
The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse
Peterhouse, Cambridge
Peterhouse is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is the oldest college of the University, having been founded in 1284 by Hugo de Balsham, Bishop of Ely...
. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs" (the back of the colleges that overlook the River Cam
River Cam
The River Cam is a tributary of the River Great Ouse in the east of England. The two rivers join to the south of Ely at Pope's Corner. The Great Ouse connects the Cam to England's canal system and to the North Sea at King's Lynn...
). The current Master is Tony Badger
Tony Badger
Anthony John "Tony" Badger is the Paul Mellon Professor of American History at Cambridge University and Master of Clare College, Cambridge. He is a specialist in post-World War II Southern American political history.-Life:...
, Paul Mellon Professor of American History
Paul Mellon Professor of American History
The Paul Mellon Professorship of American History is a professorship at the University of Cambridge. It was established in 1980 with funds from Paul Mellon.-List of Paul Mellon Professors of American History:* 1982–1990 Charlotte Erickson...
.
Clare is consistently one of the most popular Cambridge colleges amongst prospective applicants. As of 2009, it had an endowment
Financial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....
of around £50m.
History
The college was founded in 1326 by the university's Chancellor, Richard de Badew, and was originally named University Hall. Providing maintenance for only two fellows, it soon hit financial hardship. In 1338, the college was refounded as Clare Hall by an endowment from Elizabeth de ClareElizabeth de Clare
Elizabeth de Clare was the heiress to the lordships of Clare, Suffolk in England and Usk in Wales. She was the youngest of the three daughters of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford and Joan of Acre, and sister of Gilbert de Clare, who later succeeded as the 7th Earl...
, a granddaughter of Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
, which provided for twenty fellows and ten students. The college was known as Clare Hall until 1856, when it changed its name to "Clare College". (A new "Clare Hall
Clare Hall, Cambridge
Clare Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is a college for advanced study, admitting only postgraduate students.Informality is a defining value at Clare Hall and this contributes to its unique character...
" was founded by Clare College as an exclusively postgraduate institution in 1966.)
Clare's Old Court, a Grade I listed building, frames King's College Chapel as the left border of one of the most celebrated architectural vistas in England. It was built between 1638 and 1715, with a long interruption for the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. The period spans the arrival of true classicism
Classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...
into the mainstream of British architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, such that its progress can be traced in the marked differences between the oldest wing to the north, which still has vaulting and other features in the unbroken tradition of English Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
, and the final southern block, which shows a fully articulated classic style. The college's chapel was built in 1763 and designed by Sir James Burrough
James Burrough (architect)
Sir James Burrough was an English academic, antiquary, and amateur architect.-Biography:The son of James Burrough, M.D., of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, he was born on 1 September 1691. Educated at the grammar school at Bury for eight years, he entered Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge in 1708....
, the Master of neighbouring Caius College
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college is often referred to simply as "Caius" , after its second founder, John Keys, who fashionably latinised the spelling of his name after studying in Italy.- Outline :Gonville and...
. Its altarpiece is Annunciation by Cipriani
Giovanni Battista Cipriani
Giovanni Battista Cipriani , Italian painter and engraver, Pistoiese by descent, was born in Florence.-History:His first lessons were given him by a Florentine of English descent, Ignatius Hugford, and then under Anton Domenico Gabbiani...
.
Clare has a much-photographed bridge over the river which is the oldest of Cambridge's current bridges. Fourteen stone balls decorate it, one of which has a missing section. A number of apocryphal stories circulate concerning this - the one most commonly cited by members of college is that the original builder of the bridge was not paid the full amount for his work and so removed the segment to balance the difference in payment. A more likely explanation is that a wedge of stone cemented into the ball as part of a repair job became loose and fell out into the river.
Clare's bridge connects Old Court to Memorial Court, which was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott and dedicated in 1926. A new court, Lerner Court, was opened in January 2009.
College life
Clare is known as a liberal and progressive college. In 1972 it became one of the three male Cambridge colleges that led the way in admitting female undergraduates. Clare continues in this tradition and has won praise for the transparency of its admissions process.Clare is known as one of the most musical colleges in Cambridge. Its choir is internationally recognised and has performed all over the world. Many Clare students play instruments, and the college orchestra (Clare College Music Society (CCMS)) is well known. Like most Cambridge colleges, Clare allows students to have a piano in their college rooms. Clare holds popular jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and drum'n'bass nights in its cellars.
Clareification
Clare's student newspaper, ClareificationClareification
Clareification is the weekly student newsletter of Clare College, Cambridge, a college of Cambridge University. One of the things that distinguishes Clare as a particularly friendly and informal college is the fellows' tolerance of the publication, even after the 2007 Muhammad cartoons controversy...
, won "Best University College Paper" in "The Cambridge Student" in 2005. Published by the Union of Clare Students, it comprises satirical articles mocking Cambridge traditions, reports on silly student antics, and college gossip in the "Clareifornication" column. It is often the subject of criticism by some staff for risqué and tasteless content, and was described by the Master, Professor Badger, as "an unholy cross between the Sun and Private Eye". On February 3, 2007, the college cut its funding to the paper following the publication of the guest-edited February 2 edition, retitled "Crucification". In addition to the paper's usual satirical attacks on Christianity, this edition also featured several articles which mocked Islam, and a reproduction of the cartoon illustrations of the prophet Mohammed which provoked international protest
Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after 12 editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005...
when they first appeared in Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten
Jyllands-Posten
Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten , commonly shortened to Jyllands-Posten or JP, is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Viby, a suburb of Århus, and with a weekday circulation of approximately 120,000 copies, it is among the largest-selling newspaper in Denmark...
in September 2005.
Academic performance
The undergraduates of Clare College have usually performed very well based on the results published in the Tompkins TableTompkins Table
The Tompkins Table is an annual ranking that lists the Colleges of the University of Cambridge in order of their undergraduate students' performances in that year's examinations...
, placing Clare within the top ten colleges from 2000 to 2005. However, their performance in the following years (2006-9) demonstrated a poorer performance, leaving them in 12th in 2006 and dropping to 18th in 2009. Their 2010 performance (8th position) however showed an increase of 10 places over their previous years performance, and in 2011 they reached fourth place.
Entrance into Clare College is very competitive. Overall, Clare has approximately 5 applicants per place. Yet the high quality of applicants means that many of them are awarded places at other colleges through the Winter Pool
Winter Pool
The Winter Pool or inter-College Pool is an important part of the undergraduate application process for Cambridge University in England, intended to ensure that the best applicants are offered places if they are not selected by the college to which they applied...
. Of applicants in 2007, 151 were given offers by Clare, and a further 75 applicants were made offers at other Cambridge colleges.
See also
:Category:Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge
:Category:Fellows of Clare College, Cambridge