A stunning location for your event

Conferences and Events

St John's College is a truly inspiring venue to host an event for your organisation due to its beautiful setting and fascinating heritage.

From William Wilberforce to Douglas Adams, there are hundreds of leaders and artists whose education here was the springboard to them making their mark on the world. It's perhaps this knowledge that lends the College an atmosphere of inspiration and achievement.

Our purpose built facilities provide an ideal location for both residential and non-residential occasions: lunches, meetings, training programmes, conferences, seminars, exhibitions, receptions, product launches and more.

On one end of the scale, our Sixteenth century Hall can accommodate up to 300 people for standing receptions and the Fisher Building's auditorium seats 250. For smaller events, there are meeting and dining rooms across College suitable for groups of 50 and fewer.

See the venues section below for more details.

Cambridge itself is perfectly placed for business travel with London less than an hour away by Fast train from Kings Cross. The London airports are within easy reach, and Stansted Airport is only a 40 minute journey.

The College's 512 years of history will impress and inspire your delegates, and provide the perfect location for your event, so contact us today.

Conference and Function Accommodation

Guests attending your event can stay on-site in comfortable rooms with views of the college grounds.

Up to 250 people can be accommodated in a choice of single and twin-bedded rooms, with tea and coffee making facilities, towels and toiletries. Rooms are serviced daily.  We have been awarded a 4* Campus Quality in Tourism Accreditation given by Visit England

A considerable number of rooms have en-suite bathrooms, but otherwise facilities are shared between two or three delegates.

Some ground floor rooms are available for guests with minor disabilities. Please note that children under the age of 16 cannot be accommodated in the college.

Other facilities

Charged car parking may be available for up to 100 vehicles, by prior arrangement.

Conference Tariff 2022-2023

 

Wedding Receptions

Few other venues can provide the sense of occasion that you'll find at St John's College, with impressive architecture steeped in history, and the beautiful surroundings of the sweeping College grounds.

Anyone is welcome to have their wedding reception in College, and Members of the College who are within current residence, or out of residence for no more than five years, may have their wedding ceremony in the College Chapel itself.

You can begin with reception drinks in the spectacular College grounds or in one of our reception rooms. Photographs can be taken in some of the unique locations around the College, including the world famous Bridge of Sighs overlooking the River Cam.

The reception can be held in one of a selection of venues, including the 16th century Hall, seating up to 300 people. You can choose your menu from a large selection of dishes suggested by our catering team, or we can cater for your own menu.

Our chefs have trained at some of the world's top schools, and provide an exceptionally high level of cuisine.  Much of our produce is locally sourced, and we are a member of the Sustainable Restauranteurs Association.

To ensure that such an important day runs smoothly for you, a member of our team will be dedicated to supporting you.

A wedding breakfast at St John's College, Cambridge, is a truly special and memorable occasion. You can contact us to find out more information, or to arrange a visit to the College.

The College is not licensed for civil ceremonies, for a ceremonies in Chapel please follow this link.

Private Dining

Dinners, wedding receptions and breakfasts, canapé parties, buffets, lunches and private dinners - whatever the occasion, be it Corporate or Family occasion, the magnificent dining rooms and grounds of St John's can provide the perfect setting.

You can host an intimate dinner for up to 16 people in the Parsons room – or an impressive Dinner for up to 250 in the 16th century Hall. For receptions we can cater for up to 280 people. See our venues section for the full selection of dining rooms.

The College prides itself on the reputation it has gained over the years, for its excellent standards of cuisine from the most formal banquet, to an intimate dinner party. A wide choice of menus and wines are available for every occasion and special requests can be accommodated.  We are able to accommodate for dietary and allergen expectations.

Our hospitality and catering team is experienced in hosting a wide range of events, and will help you to realise your ambitions for a tailor-made function to impress.

Contact us today to talk about your plans.

Tariff and booking form

Wine List 2023-24

Canape Menu

Buffet Menu

Lunch Dinner 2023-24

 

Room Capacity

Allergy Policy

St Johns College Food wastage policy 2023

Bed & Breakfast

During the summer St John's College also offers accommodation to individuals on a Bed & Breakfast basis. Use the form below to request a booking. The booking system is managed by the SpeedyBooker.com Network, and any questions in regards to your booking must be dealt directly with the booking agent.

Please note that we cannot accommodate anyone under the age of 16.

 

University Rooms

Sustainability in Catering

Click on the image below to see what the St John's Catering team have been doing regarding sustainability.

sustainability in catering poster

Click to see the full St Johns College Sustainable Food Policy

Venues

The Hall

A magnificent, 16th century building with a hammerbeam roof and fine old linen-fold panelling, ideal for large sit down functions. It can seat 250 in comfort and up to a maximum of 300 for receptions and buffets.

 

 

 

Hall

Wordsworth Room

This attractive 450 year old room was where William Wordsworth lived when he was an undergraduate in the 1780’s.  He described these rooms in his autobiographical poem, The Prelude. The room is ideally suited for functions of between 20 to 50 sitting down, or up to 60 for stand up buffets or Drinks receptions.

 

 

Wordsworrth Room

Parsons Room

Steeped in history this room which is named after Charles Parsons the well-known engineer. Its intimate setting lends itself for smaller dinner parties, seating up to 16 people or a maximum of 28 for buffets or receptions.

 

 

 

 

Parsons Room

The College Bar

A fully licensed, newly refurbished, traditional College Bar. This can be used for pre or post-Dinner drinks.  The College Bar operates on a cashless basis and can accommodate up to 100 people

 

 

 

College Bar

Old Music Room

Situated in First Court the Old Music Room, which originally was a teaching room for the students, is the ideal venue for drinks, receptions and light finger buffets for up to 60 guests.

Old Music Room

Getting Here

St John's College actively promotes all forms of sustainable (Environmental policy) travel options to all visiting guests to the college, whether it be by car/taxi sharing from the Train station, to the use of the electric scooters which can be readily found all around the city centre for ease of transport from one area to another.  The main entrance to College is through the Forecourt Porters' Lodge, accessed from St John's Street, Cambridge, CB2 1TP.

By Road


The College is easily accessible from the M11, M1, and A1(M) motorways, and the A14. Parking on site is limited, and available only by prior arrangement. For full directions please see the main college Getting Here page.

By Rail

Cambridge is a 50 minute journey from London's Kings Cross and slightly longer from Liverpool Street stations. There are also good cross country services from Peterborough to link with trains from the North and the Midlands. For further information please see http://www.nationalrail.co.uk or call 08457 484950. A taxi from the station takes about 15 minutes, costing around £10.

By Park & Ride, Bus or Coach

Cambridge operates a convenient 'Park & Ride' service, with five sites around of the city. The Madingley Road and Newmarket Road sites' bus route passes just outside the College, stopping on Bridge Street; the other services stop at central bus station. More information is available on the City Council's Park& Ride website.

Most services terminate at the Cambridge Bus Station. From here make your way towards the centre of town, down St Andrew's Street. At Lloyds Bank, bear left into the pedestrianised city centre, and follow Sidney Street. Follow this road until you see the College Chapel. Turn left opposite the Round Church, enter the College through the iron gates to the right of the Chapel and enquire at the Forecourt Porter's Lodge under the arcade at the opposite end of the court.

By Air

London Stansted is just a 40 minute journey. London Gatwick, Heathrow and Luton airports, along with Birmingham Airport, are less than a two hour drive.

Full information is available on our main Contact Us page.

About Us

The Hospitality team at St John's College will help you to ensure that your event runs smoothly and impresses your guests.

Our chefs have trained with some of the most renowned schools in the world, and bring a very high standard of cuisine to events held at the college. We pride ourselves on sourcing quality ingredients with full traceability, and creating interesting menus with inspiration from around the world.  In 2013 St Johns College came 2nd in the vitality sourcing awards.

Our kitchen staff have trained at hotel and catering schools within the UK and also at the Emirates Academy in Dubai - one of the top hotel schools in the world - and the Saigon Cookery school in Vietnam. We also have partnerships with: Kendal College, Westminster College London, University College Birmingham and The School of Artisan Food in Nottinghamshire.

 

Supported by:

Chris Pope, Catering and Hospitality Manager

Ean Hogg, Deputy Catering Manager

Sarah Hardy, Hospitality Assistant Manager

John O'Sullivan, Fellows' Butler

Malcolm Pearson, Functions Manager

Ray Stevenson, Buttery Dining Room Manager

James Wocha, Wine and Provisions Manager

Jason Barker, College Bar Manager

Veronica Rivers, Catering and Hospitality Manager's Secretary

To ensure the highest quality we operate a variety of systems, and are particularly proud of our HACCP Systems and Food Hygiene Safety Documentation. We also have have external food and systems auditors who regularly audit the Catering Department.

All our staff are trained well above the minimum level on food hygiene and we are possibly the market leader on food allergies including the new allergy regulations which have recently come into force.

We are very proud of our wine list. Some staff members have worked on vineyards in France and Australia, and all our wines have been individually selected; to reflect the ever changing trends within the industry.  We regularly meet with our wine suppliers and hold wine training sessions with all our Front of House staff, so that they are fully aware of the wines which they will be serving.

Contact Us

We'd be delighted to discuss your event, and the venues and services that are available at St John's. Simply email or phone us to discuss your needs, find more information, or to arrange a visit.

Telephone: +44 (0)1223 338615 or 338616 
Fax: +44 (0)1223 338766 
Email: catering@joh.cam.ac.uk

Or fill in the form below: