The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall and renamed Clare Hall in 1338. The rows of 17C buildings are the work of Robert Grumbold and his father, Thomas and are among the most harmonious in Cambridge. Clare Bridge was built by Thomas Grumbold. Note the missing segment of one of the stone balls on the bridge parapet. Grumbold vowed he would never finish the bridge until he was paid. He never was.

Trinity was founded in 1546 by Henry VIII whose statue stands over the Great Gate. It is the largest Cambridge college. The Great Court with its Renaissance fountain, designed by Thomas Neville, the architect who was responsible for the current layout of the buildings and King Edward's Tower (1432) (clocktower) form a remarkable complex. In the antechamber of the Perpendicular chapel stand statues of Trinity's most famous pupils, such as Newton, Macaulay and Bacon.

Designed by Georges Basevi in a monumental neo-Classical style, verging on Victorian Baroque, the famous University Museum opened its doors to the public in 1843. The treasures in the Upper Galleries include 25 Turner watercolours, a gift from John Ruskin in 1861, some of William Blake's best works and an outstanding collection of prints by Rembrandt. The Lower Galleries contain Far Eastern, Near Eastern and Classical Antiquities.

Fenton House is one of the most attractive houses in Hampstead and was built in 1693. It contains paintings, porcelain and furniture as well as a collection of old instruments.