Downing Street is a street in central

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

.Downing StreetCambridge Online
It runs between Pembroke Street and Tennis Court Road at the western end and a T-junction with St Andrew's Street at the eastern end. Corn Exchange Street and St Tibbs Row lead off to the north. Downing Place leads off to the south. To the north at the western end is the New Museums Site of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. To the south is the Downing Site of the University. Many of the University's departments are located here. Downing Place United Reformed Church (St Columba's) is on the corner with Downing Place.

History

The area south of Downing Street was originally known as Pembroke Leys, a boggy area to the south of Cambridge in medieval times. This was acquired for

Downing College Downing College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 950 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to the university between 1596 and 1869, ...

. The architect William Wilkins was tasked by the trustees of the Downing estate to design the plan for the college. Wilkins, a devotee of the neoclassical architectural style, designed the first campus-based college layout in the world with a magnificent entrance planned on Downing Street, reaching back to form the largest court in Cambridge, extending to

Lensfield Road Lensfield Road is a road (part of the A603 road, A603) in southeast central Cambridge, England. It runs between the junction of Trumpington Street and Trumpington Road to the west and the junction of Regent Street, Cambridge, Regent Street and ...

far to the south. However, the estate was much reduced from that expected and these grand plans failed to materialize. Much of the northern end of the Pembroke Leys was sold to the University and is now home to scientific departments and museums on the Downing Site.

Museums

There are several of the University's museums in this location. On the corner with Tennis Court Road is the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. On the corner with Downing Place is the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences. To the north at the eastern end of the New Museums Site is the

Cambridge University Museum of Zoology The University Museum of Zoology is a museum of the University of Cambridge and part of the research community of the Department of Zoology. The public is welcome and admission is free (2018). The Museum of Zoology is in the David Attenborough ...

. Just to the west is the Whipple Museum of the History of Science in Free School Lane off Pembroke Street.

References

{{coord, 52.203, N, 0.122, E, display=title, region:GB_type:landmark Streets in Cambridge Downing College, Cambridge History of Cambridge Museum districts in the United Kingdom

History

Museums

See also

References