Architectural Model of Sixteenth-Century First Court at St John's College

A newly completed architectural model depicting the original First Court of St John's College, Cambridge is now on display at the College Library. This model illustrates the initial architectural developments that occurred in the decades following the College's foundation (primarily circa 1516 to 1533). The project began in 2019 when PhD student, Alexander Kusztyk was awarded a grant from the College Annual Fund. Over the next two years Kusztyk conducted research and oversaw the construction of the model, which was completed by model maker Matt Quick of Amalgam Models Ltd. The model is acrylic with laser etched details, approximately 1:100 scale and stands on a base of 50cm x 50cm.

An article on the model project written by Karen Clare and titled, 'Whispers of the past breathe life into College project', was published in the Lent Term 2021 edition of Eagle Eye. Further information on the project can be found at St John's College website.

Project Leader: Alexander Kusztyk

Sponsoring Fellow: Dr Mark Nicholls

Model Maker: Matt Quick (Amalgam Models Ltd)

Front view of the First Court model (see key below)

Rear view of the First Court model (see key below)

    Key to Numbered Buildings

1. Great Gate
2. Chambers
3. Chapel 
4. Chantry of Bishop Fisher
5. Chantry of Thomas Thompson
6. Chantry of John Keyton
7. The Labyrinth (former 'Infirmary' of the Hospital of St John the Evangelist)
8. Staircase to Master's Lodge
9. Lesser Combination Room
10. Kitchen and Offices of Master's Lodge
11. Greater Combination Room
12. Hall
13. Staircase to Master's Lodge
14. Kitchens and Chambers
15. Back Lane
16. Chambers
17. Library

Some Notes on the Court

The twelfth-century Infirmary is the first known stone structure belonging to the Hospital of St John the Evangelist (pre-foundation). The interior was altered during the mastership of James Pilkington (master, 1559-1561), who installed a stable for horses in the western half and converted the easterly oratory into a storehouse. The interior was again altered later that century when the room was divided into three floors of chambers for college accommodation. The Infirmary stood roughly on the site where Sir George Gilbert Scott’s Chapel sits today.

The old Chapel was erected in 1280 as part of a growing Hospital establishment for the Augustinian brethren, structurally modified for Collegiate needs from 1516-19, further altered in the subsequent centuries, and finally demolished in 1869. Materially it was originally composed of clunch (a local gray chalkstone), which was repaired with miscellaneous stone and plaster in the time of Bishop Fisher, stuccoed in the style of imitation stone in 1784, and again refaced with stucco at the turn of the nineteenth century. Its footprint may be found today in the grass beside the current Chapel.

Select Bibliography

Babington, Charles Cardale. 'On some Remains of the Hospital of St John the Evangelist at Cambridge', Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society 2, no. 14 (9 May 1864), pp. 352-363.

Babington, Charles Cardale. History of the Infirmary and Chapel of the Hospital and College of St John the Evangelist at Cambridge. Cambridge: Deighton, Bell, and Co., 1874.

Baker, Thomas. History of the College of St. John the Evangelist, Cambridge, part I, John E. B. Mayor (ed.). Cambridge University Press, 1869.

Bonney, Thomas George. 'The Geology of the College Chapel', The Eagle 28, no. 142 (1907), pp. 174-186.

Crook, Alec C. From the Foundation to Gilbert Scott: A History of the Buildings of St John’s College, Cambridge 1511 to 1885. Cambridge: The Master, Fellows and Scholars of St John’s College, 1980.

Crook, Alec C. 'From the Foundation to Gilbert Scott: A Postscript on the Building of First Court', The Eagle 69, no. 290 (1982), pp. 7-13.

Linehan, Peter (ed.). St John's College Cambridge: A History. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2011.

Mullinger, James Bass. University of Cambridge College Histories: St John’s College. London: F. E. Robinson & Co., 1901.

Newman, M. H. A. “The Foundation of the Hospital of St John the Evangelist.” The Eagle 48, no. 212 (1934), pp. 20-33.

Paley, Frederick Apthorp. 'History of the Infirmary and Chapel of the Hospital and College of St. John the Evangelist', The Eagle 9, no. 50 (Nov, 1874), pp. 136-142.

Willis, Robert & John Willis Clark. The Architectural History of the University of Cambridge and of the Colleges of Cambridge and Eton, volume II. Cambridge University Press, 1886.