Queens’ College

 All the guest rooms in Queens' are centrally heated and comfortably furnished. All have private telephones, tea and coffee making facilities and complementary bathroom accessories - in short, everything you require to make your stay comfortable and enjoyable.

 Queens' College has been catering for its discerning clients for over 550 years and offers many different rooms including: the Cripps Dining Hall, clad in sweet chestnut with a marble floor, which is suitable for Dinners for up to 354 guests; the well renowned and much revered Old Hall, a luxurious setting for Weddings, Banquets and Formal Dinners for up to 114 guests, or Receptions for 150; the Old Kitchens for Dinners up to 54 people; the Munro Room for Dinners up to 34 guests; the Old Senior Combination Room, an oak panelled 15th century room, with chandeliers a fire and old portraits, can be used to entertain 20 guests for Dinner in grand style, and finally, the Armitage Room, which overlooks an ancient mulberry tree, can be used for 20 to 60 guests. On fine days, pre-dinner drinks can be served in the courtyards.

These wonderful dining rooms are complemented by very high standards of cuisine, catering expertise and a professional and congenial level of service that will ensure your occasion is memorable in every way.

Long before Queens’ College Cambridge became a venue for weddings, conferences and banquets, the site was licensed to become a College.

Over the years the buildings and their uses have changed, portraying a sense of history and tradition that you can be part of. Each building displays its heritage proudly and proclaims its age. The older buildings date from as far back as the 15th Century, while the 20th Century buildings are clearly modern rather than built to look old.

15th Century In 1448, work began to erect the Old Court – the first buildings of the newly chartered Queen’s College. The Queen in question was Queen Margaret of Angou. The Old Hall, Old Kitchens, the Munro Room and the Erasmus Room all date from this time. Further buildings were added during the rest of the 15th Century and in 1475 King Edward IV’s queen, Elizabeth Woodville refounded the College, giving it the patronage of two queens.

16th Century The site west of the River Cam was laid to gardens and a bridge was erected over the river. There was further development on the original site. This was when the Fellow’s Garden (now Erasmus Lawn) was laid out.

17th Century In 1642 the sundial was installed in Old Court and 1685 saw major repairs and renovations to Old Court buildings. In 1686 new panelling was added to the Senior Combination Room.

18th Century The original oak panelling in Old Hall was replaced by the decorated panelling in the early 1730s. In 1749-50 a wooden bridge was constructed on the site of today’s Mathematical Bridge and shortly after, the first, 16th Century bridge was removed.

19th Century Stained glass was installed in the Senior Combination room and there were significant alterations to what is now the Munro room in 1840. During the 1850s, the windows in the Old Hall were raised and given new stained glass and the Hall was given a new fireplace and a tiled floor.

20th Century In the early part of the century the wooden bridge was completely rebuilt (1905), the rafters in the Senior Combination room ceiling were exposed and the paint on the oak panelling was removed. In 1936 squash courts were built and the stables were converted into Fitzpatrick Hall later demolished and rebuilt in 1989.

The second half of the 20th Century saw the construction of the Erasmus building with further accommodation around Cripps Court added from 1974. Cripps Hall opened in 1979 and the Angevin Room in 1983.