Not so Beautiful Cambridge

We tend to think of Cambridge as a picturesque tourist city, and indeed there are still some attractive sites to see. Recent years, however, have seen an unprecendented amount of building work in and around the city, and not all it has been an improvement.

Redevelopment of Bath in the seventies prompted Adam Fergusson to write “The Sack of Bath”, and kindled an awareness of the loss of architectural heritage, which still persists in Bath to this day.

Not so in Cambridge, where the architectural vandalism continues unabated. The following photographs illustrate some of Cambridge’s less than masterpieces in the field of architecture, which depressingly are still being created.

Not Exactly Very Well Hidden

You really wonder about how some buildings gained planning permission. This is the John Lewis / Grand Arcade, which opened in 2007. Here is the view from Emmanuel Street.

Now to just opposite the 12th century Round Church. What can you say?

Round Church Street — They really went out of their way to make this building inconspicuous.

Beauty and the Beast

This is Cambridge’s famous Jesus Lock footbridge.

Well at least the staff at the Job Centre have a nice view.

Spoiling the Ship for a Ha’p’orth of Tar Award

This used to be a car saleroom with a vehicle entrance and exit. Someone has gone to a good deal of trouble to restore the building’s original design of window and door brickwork. The same cannot be said for the brick colour.

Jesus Lane — Bricks? Yes we have both kinds – red and white. You would have thought there’d be a glut of Cambridge Whites after destoying Wilton Terrace.

Historic Street short of Historic Buildings

Kings Street, famous for the King Street Run pub crawl. There are now only four pubs left. Very few of the original, mainly 19th century buildings exist today.

Empty for Years

This Art Deco 1936 former cinema closed in 1972. It was a bingo hall until 2009. Plans to turn it into a music venue have been thwarted by the university, on fears of excessive noise. Similar opposition kept the Corn exchange closed for many years in the 1980s.

Stories of May Balls waking people up in the small hours from over two miles away seem to cut little ice.

Art Deco Cinema — Opposition from the colleges is blamed for plans to turn this former cinema in a venue being thwarted.

Monstrous Carbuncle Part II

Few people mourned the removal of the ugly modern front of the University Arms Hotel, during its recent major modernisation. See the original here: https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/how-new-improved-university-arms-12785929

The pictures of inside look impressive, but I’m no fan of the outside. The bricks are a poor match to the earlier parts of the building and the front is what is colloquially called “All fur coat and no knickers”; ideas above its station.

What Tourists Expect to See

The image below is typical of what tourists expect to see when visiting Cambridge.

Peterhouse College — This is typical of the sort of architecture tourist expect to see when visiting Cambridge

What they are increasingly likely to see is this:

Is it any wonder that campaigns were set up to save Wilton Terrace https://capturingcambridge.org/hills-road-area/station-road/wilton-terrace-station-road/ (demolished 2016) or the Kite https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/kite-before-grafton-gold-street-11973313 (demolished early 80’s to make way for the Grafton Centre)? If architecture has progressed so far, why was the Grafton Centre full of yellow buckets every tme it rained?

New Houses for Old

Anyone who has walked down Chaucer Road will know it is home to some of the most magnificent (and expensive) homes in the city. I remember attending a party in the 80’s in one such house, which would have been worth several million pounds today. I particularly recall marvelling at the staircase.