• About St John's College
  • Aims of the College
  • History of the College
  • Tour of the College
    • The Bridge of Sighs Webcam
    • Panoramas of the College
    • Corfield Court
  • Maps of the College
  • Investors in People
  • St John's College Innovation Centre
  • Freedom of Information
  • Vacancies
  • College Photo Gallery
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Tour of the College

Starting from the Main Gate

You are in First Court, the oldest part of the College. The College started here and over the years gradually spread westward. This court is mainly accommodation, but also contains the Samuel Butler Room (which is a common room for graduate students) and alongside the Porters’ Lodge is a room containing pigeonholes where post is delivered. This gate is the main exit for those studying subjects who have lectures in the centre of town and for access to the shops. It is also a good place to bump into people, since everyone visits their pigeonhole a couple of times a day.

Pass through the passageway ahead into Second Court.

As you pass through the passageway, the Dining Hall is on the right and the College Kitchens on the left. The Dining Hall is used for evening meals during term time as an alternative to the self-service Buttery. Although convivial, the set-up is more formal than the Buttery. Dinner in Hall provides an ideal opportunity to invite friends from other Colleges for the odd special occasion. All meals are optional in St John’s.

In Second Court, the entrance to the Buttery (self-service breakfast, lunch and dinner), Bar and Undergraduate Common Room (J.C.R.) is in the far left-hand corner. Visit these and retrace your steps back into Second Court. Most of the rest of the rooms in this court are used as general College meeting rooms, but a few are used for either Fellows or undergraduate accommodation.

Pass through the passageway between Second Court and Chapel Court.

As well as the Chapel and the Admissions Office, Chapel Court contains the Library. This is a must to visit. An excellent place to work with a good many reader places enjoying pleasant views into Chapel Court or the Master’s Garden. The Library contains two computer rooms: a small one on the mezzanine floor and a larger one on the top floor. The majority of College rooms have wiring for Ethernet (World Wide Web) connections, should this be required. The Library is accessible 24 hours a day, with the front door locked outside borrowing hours but operable with an undergraduate library swipe card.

From the Library go back into Second Court and continue westwards into Third Court. This small court contains mainly undergraduate accommodation. First, Second and Third Courts are the usual home for final year undergraduates.

Cross the river by the Bridge of Sighs. You will see another bridge to your left, which is usually accessed from behind the Buttery or from Third Court, and is the normal route on to the ‘Backs’: the large grassed area used as a recreational area ("picnic" lunches, frisbee, etc.), or as a nice place to sit and read during the summer term.

As you cross the river you enter New Court, where most of the second year are housed. From the gate in the cloisters there is a good view of our neighbour. The paths that cross the Backs lead to the College Sports Fields, which are just across Queens’ Road, and to an exit which provides a handy shortcut to the University Library or to the Sidgwick Site where most of the major Arts Faculties are situated.

Passing through New Court, either through the passageway at H staircase or through the passageway through the central tower of New Court, the Cripps Building is visible ahead. The rooms in Cripps are spacious and provide comfortable and popular accommodation for all of the first year students. The cellars under Cripps house the main bikesheds and the Clarkson Room, which is used as a venue for events. The multi-gym and fitness centre is located on the ground floor of the tower of New Court.

The Fisher Building houses a number of useful facilities. The Film Club uses the Palmerston Room, for twice weekly film nights. The seating also pushes back to form a badminton court and a venue for some of the larger events or as a space for dance/aerobics. The Jazz Club makes good use of the foyer, as do various other College societies. Upstairs is a drawing room for architects and engineers, music practice rooms and an art room. There are also a number of other general-purpose rooms in the Fisher Building, which serve as meeting rooms for societies, clubs, etc. The Castlereagh Room has satellite links and serves as another TV room during term.

Pass underneath the raised Cripps Building, and across Merton Court to see the School of Pythagoras (or ‘Pythag’, as we know it). This is the oldest University building in Cambridge still in active use. The ground floor functions as another place to hold meetings/events while the upstairs is used as a theatre by the Drama Society. Pass round underneath Cripps under staircases F, G and H and in front of Pythag. Behind and to the north of Pythag are the College Squash Courts.

That more or less completes the tour. You will have noticed, I think, that St John’s is the largest College (geographically) and this enables us to have most of our facilities on the main College site. The only major facility that is not here is the College Boathouse, which is situated about five minutes walk down river!

Download the full-sized map of the college.