I left the family to explore town while I toured King's College, which was founded by King Henry VI in the fifteenth century. Along with Eton, it was to be a 'royal and religious' foundation which Henry hoped would be the greatest of any Oxbridge college. As beautiful as it is, I'm not sure that was fully achieved, but that's just my opinion! Pictured here is the classical façade of the Gibbs Building.
Like all colleges, King's has a magnificent chapel (with some outstanding stained glass and a large original Rubens painting), which is where my visit started.
Here we have the obligatory organ shot (and it's a nice one) in which it is also possible to see the magnificent vaulted ceiling, for me the highlight of the Chapel.
After exiting the Chapel the tour continued in the Front Court, which is essentially the college's main quadrangle. The main entrance to the college, the Gatehouse, is seen here along with the Statue of Henry VI
One of the most interesting things about King's in comparison to the other colleges I've seen is the wide range of architectural styles used. This can be seen in this picture, where the Gibbs Building (begun in 1724) and the Chapel (begun in 1441) are side by side
After leaving Cambridge we continued our journey south past London on the Ring Road and across the Thames at the Dartford Crossing. We didn't encounter nearly as much traffic as expected and arrived at our hotel in Folkestone in the late afternoon; it's comfortable, but very, very minimalist and functional. Our day ended at my aunt and uncle's house in Kent for a delicious supper before returning to the hotel to prepare for the Channel crossing tomorrow.
GWV
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