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Clare College - Old Court

Trinity Lane, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB2 1TL

Access Guide

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Getting To and Around Clare College (Old Court)

  • Arriving By Car or Bike View
    • Clare College has 3 sites; Memorial Court, Old Court and The Colony. Old Court is located in central Cambridge, at the end of Trinity Lane. Much of the city centre is pedestrianised and vehicular access is restricted. There are various Park and Ride schemes for people who would prefer to not drive into central Cambridge.
    • There is no on-site parking at Old Court but there is limited parking at Memorial Court and The Colony. This is with prior permission only. Students are generally not permitted to use cars in the immediate locality unless given permission based on specific requirements.
    • Cycling is a popular form of transport in Cambridge. The city is relatively flat and there is an extensive network of cycle routes. There is provision for bicycle storage at Clare College.
    • For more information on directions to Clare College please click here (opens new tab).
    • For more information on cycle routes and maps in Cambridge please click here (opens new tab).
  • By Bus View
  • By Train View
  • Accessing the College Site View
    • At the time of the survey there were construction works being carried out at the Old Court site. The Fellows Garden was closed due to this and access around the site was restricted.
    • The main pedestrian entrance to the Old Court site is located in Trinity Lane (Photograph 1). Access is via a single manual gate that opens away from you (push). The opening width of the gate is 112cm although it can be opened up fully to make it even wider. After the gate there is a level flagstone paved path which leads to the Porters’ Lodge (Photograph 2). Before you reach the Porters’ Lodge there is another manual gateway which has temporary ramps over the threshold step to stop people tripping (Photograph 3). The width of the gate opening is 60cm but porters' will open it up fully thereby removing the threshold step. When fully opened the width is 132cm. There is an intercom system to contact the porters' at a height of 120cm. After the second gate the entrance to the Porters’ Lodge is located immediately to the left. In order to continue straight ahead into Old Court there is another gate in the passage (Photograph 4). This gate is automatic and is activated by key card or remotely by the porters'. The width of the gateway opening is 170cm and the height of the card reader is 107cm.
    • There is also pedestrian access to Old Court, for key card holders, from the rear of the site in Queen’s Road, opposite the Memorial Court site (Photograph 5). Access is via a heavy manual gate that opens away from you (push). The width of the gate opening is 110cm and the height of the card reader is 132cm. There is also an intercom system at a height of 151cm. The paths leading to this entrance are uneven or sloped in places. The rear entrance gives access to The Avenue walkway (Photograph 6) from where the Fellows Garden can normally be accessed (it was closed for construction works at the time of the survey).
  • Getting Around the College Site View
    • Old Court itself has level paths running around the edges and through the centre (Photographs 7 and 8). The paths have a flagstone paving surface and are quite wide (120cm – 150cm). The footpaths are slightly uneven in places. At the time of the survey there was a marquee on the grass on the left hand side as you enter from the Porters' Lodge passageway. There were several wooden ramps for access to and around the marquee which had a slight upwards gradient (Photograph 9). The central path was narrowed to 100cm by the positioning of the marquee and there was an electric cable cover over the path (Photograph 10).
    • At the rear of Old Court there is a passageway leading out to the gardens and the River Cam. In the passageway there is an open gate with a width of 118cm (Photograph 11). The gate does have a card reader for times when it is closed. The height of the card reader is 133cm. There is then a straight path, with a flagstone paving surface, leading to a footbridge over the River Cam (Photograph 12). The footbridge has steep upwards then downwards gradients over it (Photographs 13 and 14).
    • After the footbridge there is another open gateway (Photograph 15). The width of this gateway is 100cm and there are short steep ramps leading up to and down (Photograph 16) from the threshold. Alternatively, there are additional open gateways to either side with a step over the threshold. Beyond this gateway is The Avenue walkway which is level and runs past the Fellows Garden to the entrance at the rear of the site, in Queen’s Road, opposite the Memorial Court site.
  • Additional College Site Information View
    • The entrance to Scholars' Garden is located on the Old Court side of the footbridge over the river. Access is via an open gateway (Photograph 17) with 4 unmarked steps. The steps have a handrail on the left (Photograph 18). Once inside the garden there are 2 gravel paths (Photographs 19 and 20) with 3 steps at the intersection (Photograph 21).
    • Many of the buildings at Old Court have stepped access into and around them. Due to the age of the buildings the staircases do vary in materials and layout.
    • There is not much directional signage around the site which means those unfamiliar with the layout might need an escort or a map to reference.
  • AccessAble Related Links View

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