King's College

About King's College

King’s College is one of the most beautiful colleges in the whole Cambridge, if you ask me, and if you are ever in Cambridge, whether it is a quick visit, or a meeting with friends, or an excursion, or whatever you’d like it to be, my advice would be to have a look at this college. Even if you don’t have enough time, just a glance from outside would be enough for you to be amazed. Of course, if you see it from inside _ that will just be remarkable, but I’m just saying this, well, you know, to advise you to take a look at the building on King’s Parade a little bit.

The World War II

When our school organizer with students and stuff like that, Tom, took us on e brief excursion around the city center of Cambridge, or maybe you can call it the Old Town, he was like a guide to us, obviously, (well, that’s why he from all those people took us to the excursion and not someone else), and so he told us about King’s College, too. It was a brief, short history of this college, and one thing I remember clearly happened not so many years ago, it was during the Second World War, and Tom said, that the stain glass windows that are installed in one of the chapels were all took out and sent to the north of the country in case Germans decided to bomb Cambridge.

The name

King’s College was formerly named The King’s College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge. It lies besides the River Cam and the main entrance is from King’s Parade _ that is a street in the center of the city and a really wonderful place. It was named after Saint Nicholas, because Henry the 6-th was born on Saint Nicholas’s day.

History

King’s College was founded in 1441 on the 12-th of February by Henry the 6-th, but it was not until the 16-th century that the college made some progress on its building and stuff. So, imagine, that the building of the college’s chapel began in 1446 and finally was finished in 1544 during the reign of Henry the 8-th. So it was being built during the reigns of Henry the 6-th, Henry the 7-th and Henry the 8-th! King’s College Chapel is one of the greatest examples oflate Gothic English architecture.

King’s College Chapel

So the chapel is just something one can’t really describe with their own words. It is something you should see and feel its greatness. This is a splendid building with an amazing interior. And, of course, when you hear the word “Gothic” you understand, that it will definitely be something fascinating. The gothic architecture is just wonderful with all those detailed pieces and just surprisingly splendid decorations. So this chapel is really distinguished, hence. It has the largest fan vault ceiling in the whole world, twenty-six large stained glass windows, twenty-four of which are from the 16-th century, and Peter Paul Rubens’ painting _ “Adoration of the Magi” on the altar.

The Chapel choir is famous in the world and their “Nine Lessons and Carols” are broadcast every year on Christmas Eve on the BBC channel.

There you can find Peter Paul Rubens’ “Adoration of the Magi” behind the chapel altar. The painting was purchased by a millionaire Alfred Allnatt in 1959 and he offered this amazing painting to the college in 1961. The painting was so large, that it could not be fit on the eastern altar and so they decided to level the floor for it not to cover the Tudor east window.

Studying at King’s College

King's offers all undergraduate courses available at the University, except for education, Land Economy and veterinary medicine.

King's offers undergraduate courses in the following subjects:

•  Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic
•  Archaeology
•  Architecture
•  Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES)
•  Chemical Engineering
•  Classics
•  Computer Science
•  Economics
•  Engineering
•  English
•  Geography
•  History
•  History and Modern Languages
•  History and Politics
•  History of Art
•  Human, Social and Political Sciences (HSPS)
• Archaeology
• Biological Anthropology
• Politics and International Relations
• Social Anthropology
• Sociology
•  Law
•  Linguistics
•  Mathematics
•  Medicine
•  Modern and Medieval Languages (MML)
•  Music
•  Natural Sciences (Biological and Physical)
•  Philosophy
•  Psychological and Behavioural Sciences (PBS)
•  Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion (TRPR)
  previously called Theology and Religious Studies

The teaching is divided between a faculty and a college. Students attend the faculty for lectures and stuff. There are also some supervisions, and supervisors usually have up to 3 students in one session and they discuss the topics more thoroughly and they write essays and answer the questions, etc.

“Supervisors are interested in working with me in a more thorough and genuine way than I experienced in sixth form. Once I had relaxed and begun to adapt to the idea that the answers would require a little thinking, I started to really enjoy supervisions." - Jonny (2nd year)

Studying there at King’s College, you will also have a Director of Studies who organizes your teaching, advises you and oversees your progress. You usually meet them twice a term and speak about your progress and plans and which subject  to choose and things like that.

Now, if you want to study at King’s College, you must apply before 15-th of October to be enrolled in the following October. Employment rates for Cambridge graduates are very good and the University has a Careers Service that helps students get to meetings with employers and start their careers, they also help them with their CVs and stuff like that.

There are other activities, too, such as Science Festival and Festival of Ideas, as well as language courses. And maybe you will be interested in this extraordinary German course _ Stammtisch, where society’s members gather in a pub and socialize in German. The University also has some travel grants and so that they encourage students to experience other cultures and visit some great sites and stuff.

Of course, there is a great competition and you have to be excellent at school examinations and stuff to be able to enroll in the University, as well as you should have a strong interest in subject.

The college itself had all male students, of course, from the very beginning. It was not until 1972 that the first women appeared there among the students.

Nowadays, there are 420 undergraduates in the college and 280 graduates.

The Library

The College has a large library, which has existed since the College’s foundation in 1441. Its working hours from Monday to Friday are from 9 a.m. till 9 p.m. And on weekends there is  a 24-hour access. Students can access the library via student cards _ the University cards. If you are just a visitor and you would like to visit the library you should make an appointment and you can visit it during the hours when the staff is present there and those hours are from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. till 5:30 p.m.

So, when you enter the College from King’s Parade, you will see the front court with that green lawn and stuff and you should go to your left and there is the library building.

The Archives

Henry the 6-th’s grand plan was to keep records in the new College’s Muniment Tower, however it was not until the 20-th century that his desire was fulfilled. Nowadays you can see many great archives there in the College.