Step inside College libraries, uniquely curated gardens and meet the makers of Cambridge
Open Cambridge starts next week
From rarely seen College archives to open gardens co-curated by some of the homelessness community in the city, Open Cambridge 2025 starts next week with a unique mix of drop-in events for everyone – and everything is free!
Westminster College is opening its doors to welcome the public on Sunday 21 September. Visitors will have the chance to explore the Dining Hall, Library, Assembly Room, and the Chapel, with its beautiful Douglas Strachan stained glass as well as take a stroll through the campus grounds to admire the architecture from the outside.
The ever popular Makespace Open Day is taking place on Saturday 13 September. Visitors will chance to tour the workshops and see all kinds of equipment, ranging from 3D printers to the glassworking area. You will also be able to see previous making projects, including professional prototypes and educational and hobbyist makes created by Makespace’s membership of engineers, artists, biologists, games developers, costume designers, roboticists, guitar builders and many more. And drop in to the monthly Robot Club between 1:30 and 3:30 in the classroom space.
We are delighted the once again Cambridge Access Surgery will be opening their community garden for Open Cambridge. Co-created through Earth & Mind’s gardening, woodwork, and nature-based art project and maintained by people with experience of homelessness, the garden is a living structure that grows skills, confidence, and community alongside its plants and handcrafted features. Visitors are welcome to wander through this co-created space, meet the people who help it thrive, and even take part in nature-based art activities, including creating beautiful sun prints inspired by the garden itself.
In Looking over Time: Julia Ball, explore a new exhibition of Julia Ball (1930-2025) painter, teacher and co-founder of Cambridge Open Studios, who lived and worked in Cambridge for over 60 years. Located in a new gallery space at 54 Cherry Hinton Road.
The Painted Church on Jesus Lane is opening both weekends during Open Cambridge with two different exhibitions. On 13/14 September, take the chance to see the newly conserved textiles in The Painted Church and to marvel at both the skills of the 19th century maker and the 21st century textile conservator.
On 20/21 September, visitors will be able to see an exhibition of work created by students from the Rowan, an arts centre and charity based in Cambridge dedicated to supporting adults with learning disabilities. Rowan students were invited to explore the All Saints', Cambridge, Painted Church, drawing inspiration from its architecture and the wonderful Arts and Crafts interior.
Cambridge Colleges are putting on a host of special exhibitions for Open Cambridge this year, including:
‘This Stone Can Tell the Story’: Metals, Rocks and Building Blocks at the Old Library, St John’s College
The Old Library of St John’s presents an exhibition on stone, rock and metal: the stuff of archaeology, architecture, astronomy and more all in the stunning surroundings of the 17th-century Old Library. (Saturday 13 September)
Travellers' Tales at the Richard Powell Library, Sidney Sussex College
From the men who mistook a whale for an island to students searching for Siberian ibex, this exhibition will examine the ways in which explorers reacted to the novel environments they encountered. Items will include a recently discovered Elizabethan image of an iceberg, John White's depiction of Powhatan Indian ritual, the account of a Sidney Fellow who accidentally circumnavigated the globe, the botanist who employed monkeys as his research assistants, and the student who settled in a remote part of Colombia. (Friday 19 and Saturday 20 September)
Churchill Archives Centre Open Day
Home to over 600 collections on the history of modern Britain, Churchill Archives Centre opens its doors for an open day. The Archives Centre looks after the papers of politicians, civil servants, social scientists, campaigners, journalists, military leaders, and scientists. Meet the friendly team to learn more about both the collections and all the work that goes into sharing them. (Wednesday 17 September)
Open Day at the Parker Library, Corpus Christi College
Visitors will have a chance to see the old library and view our current exhibition with some of the collection highlights on display. There will be demonstrations of how manuscripts were assembled and are conserved today by the Cambridge Colleges’ Conservation Consortium. The College Archives will have an exhibition on display just for today. (Thursday 18 September)
The Lawrence Room at Girton College
One of the hidden gems of Cambridge is Girton's Lawrence Room museum, where Roman and Anglo-Saxon artefacts discovered on the college site itself sit alongside artworks from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece donated by college members over the years. Find out about a recent excavation in the College grounds, and discover the stories of the pioneering women scholars and supporters who brought the collection together. (Saturday 20 September)
Wren Library
The Wren Library is one of the world's great library buildings and houses an internationally significant collection of medieval manuscripts and early printed books. Alongside being able to witness Wren’s architectural masterpiece, there will be general treasures of medieval manuscripts and early printed books on show, and special exhibitions on women in early modern science and socialist movements against fascism and war. (Various dates, see website)
Jane Austen at King's
To mark two hundred and fifty years since the birth of novelist Jane Austen, King’s College Library and Archives are hosting an exhibition showcasing first and early editions of the author’s much-loved novels, alongside the autograph manuscript of her unfinished novel Sanditon and treasures highlighting the Austen family’s connection with the College. This one-day event is a rare opportunity to take a look inside the College’s beautiful early nineteenth-century library designed by the architect William Wilkins. (Wednesday 17 September)
Wolfson’s Cambridge Collection
The Cambridge Collection is normally stored in the Wolfson Library basement and so is rarely on display. Compiled by a variety of Fellows and librarians over the years, the collection includes a diverse array of books, many of which date from nineteenth century. It includes volumes on history, architecture, memoirs, poetry, satire and, of course, the Night Climbers! (Friday 12 September)
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Published: Monday 1 September 2024
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