The Backs - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

King’s College Chapel is the oldest surviving building within the College site and perhaps the most iconic building in Cambridge. Work on this Chapel only started five years after King’s College was founded by Henry VI in 1441. Construction of the chapel started in 1446 and forced the relocation of Christ’s College – known then as God’s House, which was, at that time, on the site where King’s chapel now stands. It was one of the iconic building in this area and is attracted by many tourists.

The Mathematical Bridge is the popular name of a wooden footbridge in the southwest of central Cambridge. This bridge is built with entirely straight timbers, though it maintains an arch shape. This makes for some interesting architectural study while punting down the river below it. The bridge spans a 50-foot river using multiple shorter lengths of timber.

King's Parade is a street in central Cambridge, England. King’s Parade is overflowing with culture. It might very well be the most quintessentially Cambridge street of all. It is a major tourist area in Cambridge, commanding a central position in the University of Cambridge area of the city. It is also a place frequented by many cyclists and by students traveling between lectures during term-time.

The Corpus Clock is one of the most distinctive public monuments in Cambridge and has been admired by residents and tourists since its inauguration in 2008. As a relatively new feature, it certainly stands out against the historic brickwork with its gold plated face, with many dubbing it as ‘the strangest clock in the world.’

The Wren Library is the library of Trinity College in Cambridge. The Wren Library houses 750 incunabula, the Capell collection of Shakespeariana, many books from the library of Sir Isaac Newton including his annotated copy of the Principia Mathematica, the Rothschild collection of 18th century literature, the Kessler collection of livres d’artistes, and over 70,000 books printed before 1820.

St. Bene’t’s Church stands on the eponymous street, close to King’s and Corpus Christi colleges, and The Backs, an area of parkland around the River Cam to the west. The church is dedicated to Saint Benedict of Nursia, the founder of the Benedictine order of monasticism. It is the oldest church in Cambridgeshire as well as the oldest building in Cambridge.