Online Exhibitions

This new online exhibition section is the quarterly successor to the Archive of the Month, which can also be found below. Each term the exhibition will highlight a particular aspect of the history of King’s College. It will use documents from the archives, and discuss the context in which these documents were created.

If you have any queries about the documents, or would like to visit the Archive Centre, please contact the Archivist (tel: 01223 331444; email: archivist@kings.cam.ac.uk).

Online Exhibitions

Wax Seals

Seals from the College archives.

Science and Religion: Any Common Ground?

A pop-up exhibition in conjunction with an Evensong address on the theme ‘Religion and Enterprise’.

The Gibbs Building

An exhibition on the history of the Gibbs building.

Earliest College Buildings

An exhibition on King's College's buildings prior to the Gibbs building, with the exception of the current Chapel.

Self-portrait by Roger Fry, taken from 'Twelve Original Woodcuts (1921)

Roger Eliot Fry (1866-1934)

This online exhibition will give a biographical sketch of the artist and critic Roger Fry, through his letters and other archives. Particular emphasis will be given to his family, friendships and training, all of which greatly influenced his work.

Apostles group photo, c.1883. J.K. Stephen (KC1878) is wearing a hat and smoking a pipe. [KCAS/39/4/1]

The Apostles, up to 1930

In this exhibition, we shall explore the history of the secret debating society the Apostles, up to 1930.

Edward Morgan Forster (1879-1970)

This exhibition will give a roughly chronological overview of E.M. Forster's life, with particular reference to people and places which influenced his most famous writings.

Saltmarsh study. [The Still-Image Company - Keith Hepel]

Rooms Named After Them

Who's behind the named rooms at King's?

Alan Mathison Turing passport-style photograph [AMT/K/7/11]

Alan Mathison Turing (1912-54)

An exhibition about Alan Turing illustrated with documents from papers held at the Archive Centre.

The messengers pouring out of Senate House, 1897. [MRJ/F/1]

Women at King's

An exhibition about the admission of women and the events leading up to that.

Satisfaction demanded of the “Gentlemen of Caius” by the “Scholars of King’s” in 1947. [KCAS/5/9]

King's College Boat Club

The Archive Centre's online exhibition on the King's College Boat Club.

C.R. Ashbee

The Archive Centre's two-part exhibition on C.R. Ashbee.

Portrait of Rupert, Alfred and Mary Ruth Brooke in period costume. Taken in 1898 by E.H. Speight, Rugby (RCB/Ph/4).

Mothers of Kingsmen

The Archive Centre's online exhibition on mothers of Kingsmen.

Detail from a survey of Great Greenford parish by R. Binfield, 1775, including Holy Cross church and glebe land (GRE/20).

Edward Betham's Livings

The Archive Centre's online exhibition on Greenford Magna and its rector, Edward Betham.

1888 ordnance survey map, annotated by Arthur Hill (CAM/204).

Gardens and Grounds

The Archive Centre's online exhibition on the gardens and grounds of King's.

Illumination of Queen Elizabeth I (SAC/1)

A Royal Visit

The Archive Centre's online exhibition on a Royal visit to the College.

Engraving of Simeon by William Finden after a portrait by Sir William Beechey. (KCAC/1/4/Simeon3)

Charles Simeon

The Archive Centre's online exhibition about Charles Simeon (1759-1836).

The Organ

The Archive Centre's online exhibition about the organ in King's College Chapel.

Amalgamation Club

The Archive Centre's online exhibition about the Amalgamation Club.

West front of Chapel, showing the stone used in the first period (the paler stone at the base of the towers). Photograph: RCHM, 1949. [Coll-Ph-757]

King's College Chapel: Up to 1515

The Archive Centre's online exhibition about King's College Chapel, up to 1515.

Archive of the Month

For five years, the Archive Centre at King's presented monthly selections of documents from the Archives. These allow you to find out about the history of King's and more generally the history of the times the documents were produced. The Archive of the Month was replaced with a new format of online exhibitions in February 2015. These will be updated less frequently but offer a closer look at the chosen subject.

Thomas Thackeray, candidate for Provostship (Coll Photo 545/1)

College Officers: Provosts

December 2014 Archive of the Month

Thomas Brocklebank, former Bursar (Coll Photo 545/86)

College Officers: Bursars

November 2014 Archive of the Month

Charles Simeon, former Dean, engraved by William Say after a drawing by John Jackson, 1822 (KCAC/1/4/Simeon/1)

College Officers: Deans

October 2014 Archive of the Month

First World War: Keynes' Conscientious Objection

September 2014 Archive of the Month

Ferenc István Dénese Gyula Békássy (KCAC/1/3/6/2/Békássy)

First World War: Roll of Honour

August 2014 Archive of the Month

First World War: First Eastern General Hospital

July 2014 Archive of the Month

Signed studio portrait of Rubert Brooke, taken at Rugby by Speight photographers, 1905 (RCB/Ph/23)

Friends: Brooke's Admission

June 2014 Archive of the Month

Page of manuscript alterations inserted into 1932 typescript of Maurice (EMF/vol4/1)

Friends: Forster's Confidants

May 2014 Archive of the Month

E.M. Forster (left) and T.S. Eliot (right) probably at Virginia Woolf’s home Monk’s House, c.1922. (EMF/27/349)

Friends: Feline Friends

April 2014 Archive of the Month

Transcription of a note given to new choristers, on the subject of their attire. (KCHR/3/1/18/1)

Archival Diplomatics: The Reliable Clarke

March 2014 Archive of the Month

Mark of Matthew Whinn, Notary Public on the admission of James Fleetwood to the Provostship, 1660. (KCAC/2/1/3/210)

Archival Diplomatics: Notary Marks

February 2014 Archive of the Month

Founder's temporary grant that the Provost be a Justice of the Peace for Cambridge and Cambridgeshire, 18 February 1459. (KC/37)

Archival Diplomatics: Dating Documents

January 2014 Archive of the Month

Still of chorister singing, taken from ‘Christmas Under Fire’, November 1940. (KCPH/2/16/1)

In the Chapel: Carols

December 2013 Archive of the Month

James Essex’s reredos. (KCC/627/2. Photographer: Scott and Wilkinson.)

In the Chapel: Altar and Reredos

November 2013 Archive of the Month

Photograph of the organ pipes and part of the screen, taken by Edward Leigh for Country Life. (KCC/614)

In the Chapel: Rebuilding the organ

October 2013 Archive of the Month

‘Old Houses, Kersey’, postcard sent to the First Bursar, 1910. (KCE/298)

Estates: Tenants of Kersey Priory Manor

September 2013 Archive of the Month

Part of the conveyance of lands in Grantchester, Cottenham and others in Cambridge from the executors of Henry Somer to King’s College. 20 March 1452. (GRA/11)

Estates: Grantchester

August 2013 Archive of the Month

Foundation charter by Henry VI, granting lands and privileges to benefit his College of St. Nicholas and Our Lady at Cambridge, 1446. (KC/18)

Estates: Lord of the Manors

July 2013 Archive of the Month

John Saltmarsh, taken by Ramsey and Muspratt in 1935 (Coll Photo 383)

King's College Library: John Saltmarsh

June 2013 Archive of the Month

Alan Noel Latimer (Tim) Munby, taken by AC Barrington Brown (Coll Photo 329)

King's College Library: 'Tim' Munby

May 2013 Archive of the Month

Photostat of a cross-section of the furnishings of the Chapel Library, undated, inverted for this website (Coll Photo 1097)

King's College Library: Locations

April 2013 Archive of the Month

Edward J Dent, 1900 (photographer J. Palmer Clarke. EJD/5/1/1)

Fields of Study: Edward Dent, Musicologist

March 2013 Archive of the Month

Self-portrait (Leach, China, c.1934; ERL/4/1)

Fields of Study: Sir Edmund Leach, the Social Anthropologist

February 2013 Archive of the Month

Fields of Study: Roger Fry's Artworks and Art Criticism

January 2013 Archive of the Month

Elevation of the east front of the Hall. Robert Adam, 1787 (WKB/43/8)

King's College Buildings: How King's College Might Have Looked

December 2012 Archive of the Month

EM Forster in his College sitting room (taken by Edward Leigh, 1968; EMF/27/861)

King's College Buildings: Interiors

November 2012 Archive of the Month

Screen, Chapel and Senate House – outside College (Judges Ltd., Hastings, EMF/27/237)

King's College Buildings: A Photographic Tour

October 2012 Archive of the Month

Menu for the Widor Society's 25th Anniversary dinner, 24 November 1962 (KCAS/21/4)

Clubs and Societies: the Widor Society

September 2012 Archive of the Month

'Dadie' Rylands as the Duchess of Malfi, 1924 (GHWR/5/87)

Clubs and Societies: the Dramatic Societies

August 2012 Archive of the Month

Clubs and Societies: the Walpole Society

July 2012 Archive of the Month

Banners, Bunting and Bubbly: Jubilees at King's

June 2012 Archive of the Month

James McBryde: King's own Dr Seuss

May 2012 Archive of the Month

A Trip to Kent: Sketches by H Llewellyn Smith

April 2012 Archive of the Month

EH Baily's design for a monument to Henry VI (1849-50)

Monuments on Paper: Sketches for the Founder's Fountain

March 2012 Archive of the Month

Bookplate of Ethel Rimington Wilson (c. 1905)

Ex Libris: Bookplates in the Archives

January 2012 Archive of the Month

King's Uncorked: Wine in the College

December 2011 Archive of the Month

Dr George Salt, KC Fellow 1933 (photo: AC Barrington-Brown)

George Salt: Alpine Peaks and Parasites

November 2011 Archive of the Month

Cocktails, Mongrels and Moustaches: a Party at the Provost's Lodge

October 2011 Archive of the Month

Henry VII's design for the College (1447-1449)

Bygone King's: Sixteen Engravings

September 2011 Archive of the Month

The Canteen: King's own 'Mail Order' Emporium

August 2011 Archive of the Month

King's May Ball 1925 - the morning after

May Week: Balls, Boats and Bubbly

July 2011 Archive of the Month

Messing about in Boats: Punts on the Cam

June 2011 Archive of the Month

Plan of the brewhouse of King's College by Richard Woods (undated)

Mine's a Pint: Brewing at King's

May 2011 Archive of the Month

Letters from King's: Stephen Betts Dalston

April 2011 Archive of the Month

Postcard from Frank Dingle to his mother (26 July 1907)

Pictures in the Post: King's College

March 2011 Archive of the Month

King's College Chapel through a window (1912)

Edwardian Bluestockings: Women at Cambridge

February 2011 Archive of the Month

Members of the Apostles in Trinity Gardens (19th century)

A Cambridge Secret Revealed: the Apostles

January 2011 Archive of the Month

Edward Morgan Llewellyn Forster (1847-1880)

EML Forster: a Passage to Italy

December 2010 Archive of the Month

Georgian Gothic: the Hall at King's

November 2010 Archive of the Month

Jerusalem Town Planning Scheme by WH McLean, 1918.

CR Ashbee: Arts and Crafts in Jerusalem

October 2010 Archive of the Month

Engraving of boats on the River Cam to mark the Prince and Princess of Wales' visit to Cambridge, 1894. (KCHR/4/1)

King's College: Pomp, Precision and Protocol

September 2010 Archive of the Month

King's College Fountain floodlit. Photo by E. Leigh. (FRO/14)

The Fountain: King's own Water Feature

August 2010 Archive of the Month

RAF soldiers and transport vehicles were billeted at King's during WWII

The Battle for Britain: King's on the Home Front

July 2010 Archive of the Month

The Green Spaces of King's

June 2010 Archive of the Month

Letter seeking employment at King's College, 1925. [STF/34/02]

Upstairs, Downstairs: College Servants 1919-1939

May 2010 Archive of the Month

Title page of 16th century catalogue of Kingsmen (KCAC/1/1/11)

Identifying Features: Coats of Arms

April 2010 Archive of the Month

Puzzling Correspondence

March 2010 Archive of the Month

Royal Letters Patent of Henry VIII, 1539 (OGB/47)

Secular Illuminations: Fine Art in Miniature

February 2010 Archive of the Month

Seal attached to the Royal Letters Patent of Henry VI, 1442 (KCE/134)

Seals: Stamps of Authority

January 2010 Archive of the Month

The pantomime Dossing Dulcie, with Michael Goodliffe (left) as an Immoral Fairy and Brodie Cochrane (right) as a Moral Fairy

POWs in Pantomime

December 2009 Archive of the Month

Receipt from James C. Peters in 1857 for repairs to a candlestick, a wine strainer and a cheese scoop. Peters also added a new prong to a fork.

Silver Receipts

November 2009 Archive of the Month

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The King’s E-Lab (@thekingselab) is delighted to welcome its 2024-2025 cohort of residential students. 💭💼 Thanks to generous support from EFG, this year's cohort of 60 students from across seven @UniversityOfCambridge Colleges, will begin an intensive residential training week at the end of September, prior to the start of the new academic year. Head to the 🔗in bio to learn more. #KingsELab #AcademicYear #HigherEducation #InnovationInLearning #FutureLeaders #LearningCommunity #CambridgeUniversity #UniversityOfCambridge

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🎉Congratulations to Co-Director of the King’s Entrepreneurship Lab, Thomas Roulet! Posted @withregram • @cambridgejudge 🎉Congratulations Thomas Roulet, Professor of Organisational Sociology and Leadership at Cambridge Judge Business School, who is one of 45 new members of the Academy of Social Sciences Fellowship, which recognises substantial contributions to social science and wider society. 🏦Before becoming an academic, Thomas worked in financial trading in London and for the Center for Entrepreneurship at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris. 🤔His academic work has included research on social stigma to leadership, and has recently focused on issues relating to mental health and workplace wellbeing. 🏆Thomas’s teaching at Cambridge Judge was honoured by the 2023 Pilkington Prize, awarded to the best teachers at the University of Cambridge. 👏👏👏 @tomroulet

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Congratulations to Quantedge-Cambridge Refugee Scholar Adewunmi Akingbola (MPhil in Population Health Sciences) who has been awarded a @nebiolabs Passion in Science Award. 🏆 Adewumni is the founder of HealthDrive Nigeria, which combats viral hepatitis in Nigeria. To date, the program has screened more than 15,000 and vaccinated over 10,000 individuals. Read more here 👉external link #QuantedgeCambridge #PopulationHealth #PassionInScience #PublicHealth #GlobalHealth @ade_tesla @cambridgeuniversity @healthdrivenigeria

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Congratulations to King's alumnus Thomas Adès CBE (KC 1989), who has been awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal. 🥇 Adès, who is best known for his work as a composer, pianist and conductor, received his award live on stage at the @BBC_Proms on 5 September, following the premiere of his new orchestral work Aquifer. 👉Read more via the link in our bio #Conductor #Pianist @royalphilsoc #BBCProms #ClassicalMusic #AlumniAchievements #MusicAwards

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What's it like studying Economics at Cambridge? 📈 Discover a day in the life of @Kings.College student Razik! 🏫 #DayInTheLife #CambridgeUniversity #UniversityOfCambridge #Economics

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📚Also at the end of her second year as a History undergraduate student, Ritu decided to apply to the Summer Research Programme, and has been working under the supervision of the Senior Tutor on a project entitled ‘Beyond the break with Eton: Access and Widening Participation at King's in the 20th Century.’ “As a College, King’s is regarded for its reputation for diversity and inclusion - this is why I applied to it myself. And yet, from its foundation in 1441 until the mid-nineteenth century, its membership was constituted exclusively by Etonian boys. This research project gives me the chance to unpick, and historicise, this evolution of King’s into the heterogenous College it now is. Sifting through the College Archives has deepened my appreciation for primary source analysis, and the careful labour it requires, but it has also illustrated that the membership of King’s College has historically been fiercely contested. Henry VI’s founding statutes were invoked by both reformist students and reactionary Fellows as arguments for change, from the admission of non-Etonians to the admission of women in 1972. Though still ongoing, I have thoroughly enjoyed producing this timeline of King’s widening participation so far, and have attempted along the way, to excavate those agents who fought for accessibility and progress.” #HistoryUndergraduate #SummerResearchProgramme #CollegeArchives #WideningParticipation #King'sCollege #UndergraduateResearch #AccessToEducation

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Thinking about studying classics? 💭 Meet Kani as she takes you through a day in the life of a classics student at Cambridge 🏛️ #DayInTheLife #CambridgeUniversity #UniversityOfCambridge #Classics

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If you’re thinking about applying to King’s, we’ll be open as part of the University-wide September Open Day. This is your chance to ask both current students and the admissions team your burning questions and see King’s from the inside. We’ll be on-hand from 10am-3.30pm, and there’s an additional drop-in session with our Admissions Tutor, Dr Zoe Adams, from 1-3pm. You can register here: www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/events/cambridge-open-days Please note that the Open Day is for prospective students only, although the college will be open to visitors as normal. #openday #cambridge #applyingtocambridge #applyingtouni #applyingtokings #undergraduateadmissions @cambridgeuniversity @kings.college

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🎉Congratulations to alumna Errollyn Wallen CBE (KC 1999), who has been appointed Master of the King's Music! 🎼 Following the appointment, Errollyn said "It will be a privilege and a great honour to serve His Majesty The King, the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. I look forward to championing music and music-making for all." 🔗Read more via the link in our bio. 📷Errollyn Wallen © Jooney Woodward 2023. Photographed for ’50 Portraits – An Exhibition’. #Congratulations #Music #Composer Choir of King's College, Cambridge #CambridgeMusic #KingsMusic

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The calm after the storm 🌈 Check out this incredible photo taken after yesterday's heavy downpour. Fingers' crossed for a sunny Bank Holiday weekend 🤞 Share your 📷of King's by tagging us @kings.college 📷Hannah Lucas #BankHoliday #Rainbow #Storm #Weather #CambridgeWeather #UniversityOfCambridge #Rain #StormLilian #Sunshine

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🧠Second year undergraduate Dusan (Psychological and Behavioural Sciences) is also taking part in this year’s Summer Research Programme, working on an on-going study of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. The experience has encouraged him to go on to postgraduate research. “The King’s Summer Research Programme has given me an amazing opportunity to dive into the world of research and work in the Psychology Department of the University of Cambridge. I have been working in the Emotional Cognition Laboratory with Dr Deborah Talmi and her team, researching and testing the Dual Account Theory of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. The current study investigates the impact of emotional intensity of an experience on memory consolidation and retention, which we are testing using a trauma film paradigm. The outcome of the study will have implications for further memory theory research, as well as help in shaping propositions for treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. The experience of working in research has been eye-opening, both in gaining tremendous knowledge, as well as in shaping my future career trajectory.” #SummerResearchProgramme #Psychology #Research #Memory #Study #PBS #BehaviouralSciences #Science @kingscollegeboatclub

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🔬Second year undergrad Luca (NatSci) was one of the students who applied to this year’s Summer Research Programme and in particular to a project entitled ‘Under the microscope: killer cells in action’, devised by King’s Fellow Gillian Griffiths (KC 1980). We caught up with Luca in the Griffiths Lab at the @cambridgeuniversity Institute for Medical Research (CIMR) and managed to have him photographed in the same setting where we photographed Gillian two years ago (swipe to see). Luca says: “Taking part in the King's Summer Research Programme has provided a great insight into academic research. I am currently in my third week, and I am loving working in the lab. I am observing how cytotoxic T lymphocytes target and kill cells via microscopy. I am finding it very interesting and the environment in the lab and the building is perfect to work in. This project has definitely improved my lab skills and efficiency, and I can definitely see myself doing scientific research in the future. In the coming weeks I will be live imaging cells with many different staining techniques to visualise all the different compartments and organelles of a T cell and seeing how they contribute to the death of a target cell.” Working in the same building but with Dr Melissa Gammons as his Supervisor is Harry, also a second year NatSci student. Harry says: “I have been investigating protein localization within cells and the impact of different mutations on this. The pathway is particularly important in embryonic development and aberrant signalling is often observed in cancers. The project has been invaluable in equipping me with the skills and knowledge to be best prepared for my studies and research project next year in the Department of Genetics.” #SummerResearchProgramme #NaturalSciences #MedicalResearch #Microscope #Laboratory #Research

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