The tower platform
The closest view in Cambridge of King's College Chapel and the Senate House, with the market right beneath your feet.
Photos taken for William Winfield; uploaded by Kimberlyblaker — Public domain · Cmglee — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Jean-Christophe BENOIST — CC BY 3.0 · Bob Harvey — CC BY-SA 2.0
The tune the whole world knows as the Big Ben chimes was written for this tower, not for London. When a new clock went in here in 1793, a university professor was asked to compose a short phrase for the quarter-hours, and what he produced was lifted wholesale by Westminster more than half a century later. Cambridge people still call it the Cambridge Quarters, and once you have heard it ring out over the market stalls you understand why they feel the capital borrowed something and never gave it back. This has been the University Church since the Middle Ages: university meetings and ceremonies were held here until the Senate House opened across the street in 1730, the official University Sermons are still preached here, and university ordinances still measure where officers may live from this very church. The present late-Perpendicular building went up between 1478 and 1519, with the tower lagging behind until 1608. The nave is free to enter, airy and light under a handsome timber roof, but it is not the real reason to come. Ten minutes will do it, and it cannot compete with King's College Chapel a couple of minutes' walk away. The tower is the point. A tight spiral of 123 steps ends on an outdoor viewing platform, and from there you get the closest view in the city of King's College Chapel and its pinnacles, the Senate House, the college rooftops and the market stalls directly below your feet. Tickets are sold in the gift shop inside the church with no need to book: GBP 8.50 for adults, GBP 4.50 for children aged 5 to 16, GBP 6.50 for students with ID, and a family ticket of GBP 21 for two adults and two children. There is no lift and no step-free route, the stair is hopeless with a pushchair or for anyone who dislikes enclosed spaces, and the tower can shut at short notice in high winds or during services. Practically: the tower opens from 10:00 to 17:30 Monday to Thursday, until 18:00 on Friday and Saturday, and on Sunday from noon to 16:30 depending on services, with the last ticket sold 30 to 45 minutes before closing. In winter hours may shorten and the light goes after four, so climb early in the afternoon. The church is a 25-minute walk or a ten-minute bus ride from Cambridge station; if you are driving, use a Park and Ride on the edge of town, as the centre is all but closed to cars. The church-run Michaelhouse Cafe is in another old church on nearby Trinity Street, not in this building, and a tower ticket gets you a small discount there.
The closest view in Cambridge of King's College Chapel and the Senate House, with the market right beneath your feet.
The quarter-hour chime composed here in 1793 that later became the famous Big Ben chimes in London.
Seat of the university's official meetings until 1730 and still home to the University Sermons, with a fine timber roof and free entry.
Senate House Hill, Market Square, Cambridge CB2 3PQ
Cambridge Market SquarePeople have been buying and selling on this patch of ground since Saxon times, c1 minute walk4.4
King's College ChapelLook up before anything else. The ceiling of King's College Chapel is the larges2 minutes walk4.6
Corpus ClockA clock that cost a million pounds, has no hands, and is deliberately correct on2 minutes walk4.7
Trinity CollegeLook closely at Henry VIII above the Great Gate: in his right hand is a wooden c3 minutes walk4.9
Museum of ZoologyA fin whale skeleton more than 21 metres long hangs over your head before you ha3 minutes walk4.8They are different things: King's is visited from inside, and this tower is the best place to look down on it from close range. On a clear day with time to spare the climb is worth GBP 8.50; on a wet day, or with small children or a pushchair, stick to the free church and save the money.
Children aged five and over climb on a reduced ticket and under-fives go free, but the spiral stair is narrow and steep with nowhere to leave a pushchair; school-age kids love it, while with a baby one parent is better off waiting below.