Corpus Christi College, Cambridge facts for kids

Quick facts for kids

Corpus Christi College

Corpus Christi College New Court

Arms of Corpus Christi College
Blazon: Quarterly gules and azure, in the first and fourth quarters a pelican in its piety and in the second and third three lily-flowers slipped and leaved all argent.

University

University of Cambridge

Location

Trumpington Street (map)

Coordinates

52°12′11″N 0°07′05″E / 52.2031°N 0.1180°E

Full name

The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary in the University of Cambridge

Abbreviation

Motto

The college has no motto, but there is a toast used at many events: Floreat Antiqua Domus (Latin)

Motto in English

May the old house flourish

Founders

The Guild of Corpus Christi,
The Guild of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Established

1352; 672 years ago

Previous names

Informal: Bene’t College or Benedict College (until about the 1820s)

Sister college

Corpus Christi College, Oxford

Master

Christopher Kelly

Undergraduates

266

Postgraduates

201

Map

Location in Central Cambridge

Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus", or previously "The Body"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century it was also commonly known as St Benet's College.

The college is notable as the only one founded by Cambridge townspeople: it was established in 1352 by the Guild of Corpus Christi and the Guild of the Blessed Virgin Mary, making it the sixth-oldest college in Cambridge. With around 250 undergraduates and 200 postgraduates, it also has the second smallest student body of the traditional colleges of the University, after Peterhouse.

The College has traditionally been one of the more academically successful colleges in the University of Cambridge. In the unofficial Tompkins Table, which ranks the colleges by the class of degrees obtained by their undergraduates, in 2012 Corpus was in third position, with 32.4% of its undergraduates achieving first-class degrees. The college's average position between 2003 and 2012 was 9th, and in the most recent rankings, it was placed 10th.

Corpus ranks among the wealthiest Cambridge colleges in terms of fixed assets, being exceptionally rich in silver. The College's endowment was valued at £90.9M at the end of June 2017, while its net assets were valued at £227.4M.

Notable alumni

The Marlowe portrait, often claimed to be Christopher Marlowe, playwright

Archbishop Matthew Parker, Master of the College and Archbishop of Canterbury. He was the college's greatest benefactor.

Sir Nicholas Bacon Lord Keeper of the Great Seal in the court of Elizabeth I, attended Corpus Christi College in 1524.

John Fletcher, influential playwright and contemporary of Shakespeare, attended Corpus Christi College in 1591.

William Stukeley, antiquarian, attended Corpus Christi College in 1708.

John Cowper Powys, novelist and philosopher, attended Corpus Christi College in 1891.

Christopher Isherwood, influential novelist, attended Corpus Christi College in 1925 without completing his degree.

Edward Upward, novelist, Isherwood's friend and mentor, graduated in 1925.

E. P. Thompson, social historian and political activist, graduated from Corpus in 1946.

Rt Hon Sir Terence Etherton, Master of the Rolls of England and Wales, jurist and high-ranking judge, attended Corpus in 1969.

Name	Birth	Death	Career
St Richard Reynolds	c1492	1535	Catholic martyr
Matthew Parker	1504	1575	Archbishop of Canterbury (1559–1575), Master of Corpus (1544–1553), Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge (1545, 1548)
Sir Nicholas Bacon	1509	1579	Politician and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal
George Wishart	1513	1546	Scottish reformer and Protestant martyr
Robert Browne	1540	1630	English Congregationalist and separatist
Francis Kett	1547	1589	Free-thinker; burned for heresy at Norwich
Sir Thomas Cavendish	1555	1592	Navigator
Robert Greene	1558	1592	Author, playwright, and wit
John Greenwood		1593	Puritan and Separatist
Christopher Marlowe	1564	1593	Dramatist, poet, translator
Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork	1566	1643	English Courtier and Lord Treasurer of Ireland
Benjamin Carier	1566	1614	Chaplain to King James I, Fellow of Chelsea College and convert to Catholicism
John Robinson	1575	1625	English Dissenter and pastor to the Pilgrim Fathers
John Fletcher	1579	1625	Playwright
Sir John Wildman	1621	1693	English soldier, Leveller, and politician
Thomas Tenison	1636	1715	Archbishop of Canterbury (1694–1715)
Samuel Wesley	1662	1735	Poet and writer, father of John Wesley and Charles Wesley
Stephen Hales	1677	1761	Physiologist, chemist and inventor
William Stukeley	1687	1765	Antiquarian and biographer of Sir Isaac Newton
Sir John Cust	1718	1770	Speaker of the House of Commons (1761–1770)
Charles Yorke	1722	1770	Lord Chancellor (1770), Attorney General (1762–1763, 1765–1766)
Richard Rigby	1722	1788	Paymaster of the Forces (1768–1784)
Frederick Augustus Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol	1730	1803	Bishop of Cloyne (1767–1768) and Bishop of Derry (1768–1803)
Richard Gough	1735	1809	Antiquarian
Sir William Ashburnham, 5th Baronet	1739	1823	Member of Parliament (MP) for Hastings (1761–1774)
George Capel-Coninsby	1757	1839	5th Earl of Essex and Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire (1802–1827), MP for Lostwithiel (1781–1784), Okehampton (1785–1790), Radnor (1794–1799) and Westminster (1779–1780)
William St Julien Arabin	1791	1841	British jurist
Joseph Blakesley	1808	1885	Clergyman and author
John James Stewart Perowne	1823	1904	Theologian
George Evans Moule	1828	1912	English clergyman and first Bishop of Mid-China (1880–1907)
Frederick Barff	1840	1886	Chemist and co-inventor of the Bower-Barff process
Sir Horace Avory	1851	1935	English Judge and the prosecution against Oscar Wilde
William Henry Dines	1855	1927	English meteorologist
Sydney Copeman	1862	1947	British medical doctor and civil servant
Albert Harland	1869	1957	Conservative MP for Sheffield Ecclesall (1923–1929)
John Cowper Powys	1872	1963	Writer, lecturer, philosopher
Llewelyn Powys	1884	1939	Writer
Sir Wilfred Marcus Askwith	1890	1962	Bishop of Blackburn (1942–1954) and Bishop of Gloucester (1954–1962)
Captain Henry Macintosh	1892	1918	British athlete, 1912 Olympic gold medal winner and World War One soldier
Captain Sir B. H. Liddell Hart	1895	1970	Military historian
Boris Ord	1897	1961	Composer and Director of Music and Choirmaster at King's College, Cambridge
Edward Upward	1903	2009	Novelist
Christopher Isherwood	1904	1986	Novelist
Sheldon Dick	1906	1950	American publisher, photographer, filmmaker and literary agent
Edward Curzon, 6th Earl Howe	1908	1984	Conservative politician
Sir Desmond Lee	1908	1993	Classical scholar
Robert Hamer	1911	1963	Film director
Dudley Senanayake	1911	1973	Prime Minister of Ceylon (1952–1953, 1960, 1965–1970)
Sir Gordon Wolstenholme	1913	2004	Medical pioneer
Nigel Trench, 7th Baron Ashtown	1916	2010	Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (1969–1971) and to Portugal (1974–1976)
John Chadwick	1920	1998	Classicist and decipherer of Linear B
Robin Coombs	1921	2006	Immunologist
T. E. Utley	1921	1988	English journalist and author
Sir Alan Cook	1922	2004	Professor of Geophysics and President of the Royal Astronomical Society (1977)
Sir Campbell Adamson	1922	2000	Director General of the CBI (1969–1976)
Sir Colin St John Wilson	1922	2007	British architect
E. P. Thompson	1924	1993	Historian, socialist, peace campaigner
Michael William McCrum	1924	2005	English academic and Headmaster of Eton College (1970–1980)
Alistair Macdonald	1925	1999	Labour MP for Chislehurst (1966–1970)
Sir Rhodes Boyson	1925	2012	Conservative MP for Brent North (1974–1997), Minister of State for Northern Ireland (1984–1986), Minister of State for the Environment (1986–1987)
Eric Sams	1926	2004	Musicologist and Shakespearean scholar
Christopher Hooley	1928		British mathematician
Sir John Michael Gorst	1929	2010	Conservative MP for Hendon North (1970–1997)
The Very Revd Michael Mayne	1929	2006	Dean of Westminster Abbey (1986–1996)
Joe Farman	1930	2013	Geophysicist and discoverer of the ozone hole over Antarctica
David Blow	1931	2004	Chemist and inventor of X-ray crystallography
John C. Taylor	1933		Inventor, entrepreneur, horologist and philanthropist
General the Rt Hon the Lord Ramsbotham	1934		Soldier and Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons (1995–2001)
General Sir Jeremy Blacker	1939	2005	Master-General of the Ordnance (1991–1995)
Prof Sir Alan Wilson	1939		Scientist, Master of Corpus (2006–2007)
Oliver Rackham	1939	2015	Ecologist, Master of Corpus (2007–2008)
Sir Anthony Bottoms	1939		Wolfson Professor of Criminology at Cambridge (1984–2006)
Michael Steed	1940		Psephologist and Liberal politician
Christopher Andrew	1941		Official historian of MI5
Stewart Sutherland, Baron Sutherland of Houndwood	1941		Academic and Crossbench peer
John Elliot Lewis	1942		Headmaster of Eton College (1994–2002)
Sir Richard Armstrong	1943		British conductor and musician
Prof Sir Colin Blakemore	1944		Neurologist and academic
Simon May	1944		Musician and composer
John Cameron	1944		Musician and composer
Richard Henderson	1945		Nobel Prize-winning biologist
Edward Higginbottom	1946		Musician and former Director of Music at New College, Oxford
Sir Mark Elder	1947		Current Conductor and Musical Director of the Hallé Orchestra
Neil Hamilton	1947		UKIP Welsh Assembly Member for Mid and West Wales (2016–), Deputy Chair of the UK Independence Party (2014–2016), Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Corporate Affairs (1992–1994), Conservative MP for Tatton (1983–1997)
Sir David Omand	1947		Former British civil servant and Director of the Government Communications Headquarters (1996–1997)
Karol Sikora	1948		Controversial oncologist and Chief of the World Health Organization cancer programme (1997–1999)
Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent	1949		Commander-in-Chief Fleet (2005–2007)
Richard Shephard	1949	2021	Composer
Sir Stephen Lamport	1951		Receiver General of Westminster Abbey, Private Secretary to HRH Prince of Wales (1996–2002)
Rt Hon Sir Terence Etherton	1951		Master of the Rolls of England and Wales (2016–), Chancellor of the High Court (2013–2016), Lord Justice of Appeal (2008–2013). Former Olympic fencer (1980).
Kenneth Falconer	1952		Regius Professor of Mathematics, University of St. Andrews (2018–)
Lord Hodge	1953		Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Lord Maude of Horsham	1953		Minister of State for Trade and Investment (2015–2016), Minister for the Cabinet Office (2010–2015), Conservative MP for Horsham (1997–), Conservative MP for North Warwickshire (1983–1992), Financial Secretary to the Treasury (1990–1992) and Chairman of the Conservative Party (1999–2001)
Robert McCrum	1953		Writer and editor
Tom Utley	1953		English journalist
Tony Little	1954		Headmaster of Eton College (2002–2015)
Peter Luff	1955		Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology (2010–2012), Conservative MP for Mid Worcestershire (1997–), MP for Worcester (1992–1997)
Sir Jeremy Stuart-Smith	1955		English High Court judge
Owen Paterson	1956		Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2012–2014), Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (2010–2012), Conservative MP for North Shropshire (1997–)
Kevin McCloud	1959		Designer, presenter of Grand Designs
Bernard Jenkin	1959		Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party for Candidates (2005–2006), Shadow Secretary of State for the Regions (2003–2005), Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (2001–2003), Conservative MP for Harwich and North Essex (1997–present), MP for Colchester North (1992–1997)
Shah Mehmood Qureshi	1956		Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan (1993–1996; 2002–2007; 2008–2013; 2013–2018; 2018–), Vice-Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (2011–), Minister of Foreign Affairs, Government of Pakistan (2008–2011; 2018–), Minister for Planning and Development of Punjab (1988–1990), Minister for Finance of Punjab (1990–1993)
Makhdoom Ali Khan	1954		Barrister, Attorney General of Pakistan (2001–2007)
Simon Heffer	1960		Journalist
Andrew J. Watson	1961		Bishop of Guildford (2014– ), Bishop of Aston (2008–2014)
David Gibbins	1962		Novelist and archaeologist
Marty Natalegawa	1963		Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Indonesia), Government of Indonesia (2009–2014), Permanent Representative of Indonesia to the United Nations (2007–2009)
Hugh Bonneville	1963		English actor
Madeleine Bunting	1964		Author, editor, and journalist
Philip Jeyaretnam	1964		Singaporean lawyer and writer
Murray Gold	1969		English composer for stage, film, and television
David Saint-Jacques	1970		Astronaut, physicist and physician
Ivo Stourton	1982		Author
Helen Oyeyemi	1984		Author
Pierre Novellie	1991		Comedian

Thomas Cavendish, explorer and privateer, attended Corpus Christi College in 1575 without completing his degree.
Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, Great Earl of Cork, Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom of Ireland, attended Corpus Christi College in 1583.
John Wildman, Politician and soldier, attended Corpus Christi College in 1639.
Stephen Hales, Plant physiologist, attended Corpus Christi College in 1696.
Dudley Senanayake, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for three terms, attended Corpus Christi College in 1930.
Colin Blakemore, neurobiologist, attended Corpus Christi College in 1962.
Kevin McCloud, designer and TV presenter, attended Corpus Christi College in 1976.
Owen Paterson, MP and former Environment Secretary, attended Corpus Christi College in 1974.
Hugh Bonneville, TV and film actor, attended Corpus Christi College in 1981.
Helen Oyeyemi, British author, attended Corpus Christi College in 2003.

Images for kids

The main gate of the college
The back of Old Court, built in 1356, seen from outside the Old Cavendish Laboratory.
The New Court seen from Trumpington Street
New Court
The corner of Old Court. In the background is the Old Cavendish Laboratory.
The War Memorial plaques in the college Chapel: unusually, there are more names from the Second World War than the First
The 16th-century gallery which used to connect the Old Court with St Bene't's Church. To the right is the Old Court.
St Bene't's Church with its Saxon tower viewed from Bene't Street. To the right, one can see the passage leading into Corpus.
The interior of the college chapel viewed from the west door facing the altar
The chapel looking back towards the organ and entrance
A view along the Wilkins Room in the Parker Library
Library Court
Leckhampton House viewed from the gardens
The Bursars garden including the mulberry tree donated by James I
Corpus Christi rowing in the May Bumps
New Court during Corpus's 2009 May Ball, "The Grand Tour"
The Taylor Library and the Corpus Clock on the north-western corner of the college
The arms of the college over the main gate
Two Corpus scarves. On the left is the normal scarf and on the right is the Chapel scarf
The sundial in Old Court
The Dining Hall seen from Old Court
The terraced houses between New Court and the Taylor Library
The entrance to the college

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge facts for kids

Notable alumni

Images for kids

See also