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West · Founded 1966

Clare Hall

A small, deliberately egalitarian graduate college with one of the highest Fellow-to-student ratios in Cambridge and an outsized roll of Nobel-laureate Visiting Fellows.

Official site
Founded1966
WhereWest
TypeCollege

The college

A closer
look.

West — Herschel Road

Founded 1966. Founded in 1966 on the initiative of Clare College as an all-graduate college, drawing inspiration from Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study and established on the former Cambridge home of Lord Rothschild off Herschel Road.

Low-rise Scandinavian-influenced modernism by Ralph Erskine, completed in 1969 as a village-like weave of courtyards, walkways and family houses with striking triangular rooflines, deliberately domestic in scale rather than collegiate-grand.

Find it · West · Founded 1966Clare Hall
Drawing routeThe itinerary still works without the map.
52.2040°N, 0.1042°WGet directions

On a visit

Don’t miss.

  1. 01Ralph Erskine's angular main buildings
  2. 02Clare Hall Art exhibitions
  3. 03The courtyard walkways and roof terraces
  4. 04The quiet Herschel Road setting near the University Library

Connected to

Notable
names.

  • Sir Brian Pippard, first President
  • Dame Gillian Beer, President
  • Joseph Brodsky, Visiting Fellow and Nobel laureate
  • David Thouless, Visiting Fellow and Nobel laureate
  • Kim Dae-jung, Visiting Fellow and Nobel Peace laureate

Before you go

Visiting Clare Hall

A working graduate college rather than a visitor attraction: its programme of public art exhibitions is open to all, but general access to the college cannot be assumed and arrangements are set out on its website.

Opening hours, admission and access change often — check the official site before you travel.

Founded
1966
Area
West — Herschel Road
Type
College

Editorial record

Reviewed, sourced and accountable.

This guide to Clare Hall is maintained by an independent editorial team. Changing visitor details should always be confirmed with the responsible organisation.

Reviewed on
Written and reviewed by
Above Guide Editorial Team
Verified identifier
Wikidata Q762068