Pembroke College

The story

Behind a sandstone doorway and a big wooden door on Trumpington Street, old stone buildings with climbing ivy frame calm green courts, set alongside impressive Victorian architecture. Wren's chapel, dating from 1665, stands in a courtyard, and a memorial remembers some 450 people connected with the college who died in the two World Wars. Ridley's Walk leads into the gardens, where very ancient trees shelter birds and squirrels and there is plenty of room to sit. A large statue honours William Pitt the Younger, who studied here and became Britain's youngest prime minister at 24 in 1783; students touch his toe for luck before exams. Sculptures on loan, including one by Henry Moore, are placed around the grounds, and the college is known for producing bishops and poets.