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Route from Old Court (Trinity Lane) to Memorial Court

Clare College, Memorial Court, Queen's Road, Cambridge, CB3 9AJ

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

Useful Information

Route Information

  • This route is from Old Court to Memorial Court via the Clare College Bridge and Queen's Road.
  • The distance is approximately 470 metres.
  • There are steep slopes along the route.
  • Along the route you will go past and through the following areas.
  • Old Court Porter's Lodge, Chapel, Buttery, Old Court and the Memorial Court Porter's Lodge.

Old Court

  • Head across Old Court heading towards the river.
  • The surface of the path across Old Court is block paving.
  • There was at the time of survey covered electrical wiring along the route (Photographs 2 and 3).
  • There was at time of survey a temporary Buttery building that restricted the width of the path to 102cm (Photographs 4 and 5).
  • As you proceed you will pass the Chapel and Buttery.
  • Head through the archway at the far side of the court (Photograph 6 and 7).
  • In the passageway there is an open gate. The gate does have a card reader for times when it is closed. The height of the card reader is 133cm (Photographs 8 and 9).

Old Court to Clare College Queen's Road Entrance / Exit

  • Upon exiting the Old Court continue ahead across the river and exit Clare College onto Queen's Road.
  • The path ahead of you on exiting Old Court is block paved with uneven areas on either side (Photographs 1 and 2).
  • As you proceed towards the Clare College Bridge, The Scholars Garden is located on the left.
  • After approximately 35 metres you will come to the Clare College Bridge (Photographs 3, 4, 5 and 6).
  • There are steep slopes on either side of the bridge.
  • The bridge has a width of approximately 20 metres.
  • Beyond the bridge there are three single gates with widths of 100cm (Photographs 7 and 8).
  • The middle gate is accessed by a steep ramp in front of it and beyond it. The ramp has a width of 115cm (Photographs 9 and 10).
  • The other gates are accessed via medium steps on either side.
  • There is compact gravel paving after the gates which continues for approximately 120 metres until you reach the exit gate from this part of Clare College (Photographs 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16).
  • To exit this part of Clare College there is a heavy gate that opens towards you (pull) with a width of 110cm (Photograph 17 and 18).
  • There is a key card reader at a height of 135cm.
  • There is a push button to exit the gate to the right at a height of 100cm (Photograph 19).
  • On approach from Queen's Road into Clare College there is an intercom at a height of 151cm (Photograph 20).

Clare College Queen's Road Entrance / Exit to Clare College Memorial Buildings Access

  • After exiting the College head up the steep ramp in front of you. The slope is uneven (Photographs 1, 2 and 3).
  • At the top of the slope turn right and head across the service road into Clare College (Photograph 4).
  • There is a slight slope leading down on the other side of the service road (Photograph 5). The surface of the slope is uneven.
  • At the bottom of the slope turn left and head towards the pedestrian crossing across Queen's Road, a distance of approximately 40 metres (Photographs 6 and 7).
  • The surface of the path is compacted gravel and is uneven. There is a small section of uneven block paving just before the road crossing (Photograph 8).
  • There are bollards in front of the road crossing with gaps between them of 115cm or 190cm (Photograph 9).
  • The crossing has a tactile dropped kerb on either side.
  • The controls for the crossing are at a height of 112cm.
  • There are rotating cones at the lights (Photographs 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14).
  • Turn right after crossing the road and continue for approximately 65 metres.
  • The pavement is tarmac (Photograph 15).
  • The first entrance to the left into the Memorial Buildings is stepped (Photograph 16).
  • For step-free access continue ahead until the next turning into the Memorial Buildings area (Photographs 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21).

Queen's Road to Memorial Court

  • Turn left and head into Memorial Court avoiding or overcoming the clearly marked speed bump (Photographs 1 and 2).
  • Continue ahead keeping to the left side of the road until you reach the pavement (Photographs 3 and 4).
  • On reaching the compact gravel pavement there is a 3cm kerb to gain access (Photographs 5 and 6).
  • Continue along the pavement which at is narrowest has a width of 80cm and a slight uphill gradient (Photographs 7, 8 and 9).
  • At the end of the pavement (Photograph 10) turn left and continue until you reach the entrance to Memorial Court.
  • The pavement was restricted a time of survey by building works reducing the width of the path to 100cm (Photographs 11, 12, 13 and 14).
  • As you approach the entrance into Memorial Court the width of the path is restricted further to 50cm (Photograph 15).
  • The surface of the area outside the entrance is block paving (Photograph 16).
  • There is a gate to enter that opens away from you (push) to a width of 100cm (Photograph 17).
  • To the left after you enter is the Memorial Court Porter's Lodge.
  • The area of the court to the left after you enter can be seen in photograph 19 and the area to the right can be seen in photograph 20.