Photo: Binksternet · CC BY-SA 3.0
Central-N · Founded 1596
Sidney Sussex College
An Elizabethan college on the site of a Franciscan friary, best known as Oliver Cromwell's college — his head was secretly buried in the antechapel in 1960.
The college
A closer
look.
Central-n — Sidney Street
Founded 1596. Founded in 1596 under the will of Lady Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex, on the site of the Greyfriars, the Franciscan friary dissolved at the Reformation.
Elizabethan courts remodelled in the 1820s by Sir Jeffry Wyatville, who gave Hall Court and Chapel Court their battlemented, rendered mock-Tudor appearance; the chapel was rebuilt in the early twentieth century.
On the same walk
Closest to
this one.
On a visit
Don’t miss.
- 01The battlemented Sidney Street frontage
- 02Hall Court and Chapel Court
- 03The antechapel plaque marking Cromwell's burial
- 04The gardens on the old friary site
- 05The Wyatville gatehouse
Connected to
Notable
names.
- Oliver Cromwell, whose head is buried in the antechapel
- C. T. R. Wilson, Nobel laureate in Physics
- Thomas Fuller
- David Owen
- Carol Vorderman
Before you go
Visiting Sidney Sussex College
The grounds are open to the public free of charge for much of the year; visitors should report to the Porters' Lodge on Sidney Street. The college is closed during the examination period from April to June inclusive and on occasional event days, so check with the Porters' Lodge before visiting.
Opening hours, admission and access change often — check the official site before you travel.
- Founded
- 1596
- Area
- Central-n — Sidney Street
- Type
- College
Keep exploring