We had a fantastic trip to Trinity College a great opportunity to get inside a college we usually just walk past on Broad Street.
It began with a fascinating tour of the buildings with Professor Bryan Ward- Perkins. He showed us some of the oldest original walls of the buildings, the chapel with amazing Grinling Gibbons carvings and into some of the halls. He also told us about life at college when some of the wealthy students brought their own servants and had wine cellars in the basement as well as showing us photos of recent women alumni on the dining room walls.
We all enjoyed the gardens and were excited to meet Librarian Sharon Cure for a tour of the incredibly old college Library. Sharon showed us a book which had belonged to Henry the eighth, explained how chained books were used in libraries. We were amazed to see a medieval edition of The Canterbury Tales and a first edition of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
Finally, we had a fascinating hour exploring the college archives with College Archivist Clare Hopkins. We were able to handle rare medieval manuscripts from farming and land related to the college, see old rent books and college records of who had eaten what.It was a fascinating insight to college life throughout the ages.
We ended with a wonderful picnic in the gardens with Clare. It was really interesting to find out the story of how she became the archivist.
Huge thanks to Mark Shelton for arranging the visit and providing our picnic and the Bryan, Sharon and Clare for a wonderful and informative morning.
