Old Kitchens Old Kitchens
This was formerly the medieval kitchen of the College, put up in 1449 as part of Old Court. The old kitchens closed at Christmas 1977, when the new Dining Hall and kitchens opened in Cripps Court. After lying idle for some years, they were restored and altered to become a general purpose room for parties, receptions, meetings, and dinners.
The old kitchens originally had three large fireplaces. The middle one can be seen on the left. The right-hand one (with three bread-ovens) was converted to a passage to the kitchen extensions put up as part of Essex Building in 1756. The left-hand fireplace is not visible in this photograph. On the extreme right is a doorway to Pump Court that was blocked in 1756.
What remains of the original 1449 fabric was left on show in the restoration. The plastered areas cover later alterations. The primary building material in 1449 was clunch (a soft white chalk which was quarried close to Cambridge), with a skin of red brick. Brick was also used for relieving arches, and for packing gaps in the clunch. The red brick must have come from far away, as there is no local clay which would produce red brick.