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13 February 2026

U is for…Unicorn

A priority for any newly-founded Cambridge college was the accrual of a property portfolio that would yield a decent rental income, as the money received from student fees and study rents was nowhere near enough to cover its running costs. Emmanuel therefore used many of its early bequests and donations to purchase residential and commercial properties in Cambridge. In December 1621 the college bought a building on the south side of Petty Cury, partly with money recently bequeathed by a former Fellow, William Branthwaite. The property comprised seven tenements, including ‘a messuage or ynne called the Unicorne’. Together, the tenancies yielded an annual rental income of £41 7s. As the purchase price was £480, the college could not expect to receive a return on its outlay for more than a decade, but the Master, Laurence Chaderton, had the foresight to invest his old friend’s legacy wisely. The college archives contain a fine series of title deeds to the Unicorn, dating from 1573. One of them bears a particularly well-preserved example of the college’s official seal (pictured above, left). An even more remarkable survival is an early archival catalogue of the title deeds. Compiled in 1675, it was probably drawn up by the Master, John Breton, as the writing closely resembles his hand and the initials at the foot of the document can plausibly be interpreted as ‘J B’ (above, right). Some of the deeds he catalogued no longer survive, but the principal conveyances are still extant. The college sold the Unicorn in 1962. It had little choice, as the entire south side of Petty Cury, including several ancient and picturesque inns and shops, had been earmarked for demolition and redevelopment.

U is for…Utilities

Utility services such as running hot water, sewerage, electricity, gas and telephones are now taken for granted, but before their introduction in the second half of the nineteenth century, little had changed since the college’s foundation. Heating and cooking relied principally on coal, an enormous heap of which was stored in the kitchen yard. Lighting was supplied by lanterns and candles, with an ever-present risk of fire; a student’s neglected candle resulted in a conflagration that gutted the Westmorland Building in 1811. ‘Fresh’ water was delivered via a pump in the kitchen yard, while the Paddock pond supplied water to the college brewhouse. The tenants who ran the brewery were contracted to provide the college with beer that was ‘well boiled, fit for mans body’, a prudent stipulation. The college’s sewerage arrangements involved latrines that required regular ‘cleansing’. They are referred to in the early accounts by phrases such as ‘the house of office’ or ‘the necessary house’, but tradesmen were less dainty, being wont to use phrases like ‘the boys boghouse’ when submitting their invoices. The Master, Fellows and students had separate latrines, all of which were sited in the gardens, away from the buildings. An inevitable consequence was the ubiquitous use of night-time jerries. A bill run up by freshman Charles Chadwick upon his admission in 1657 (pictured), records an expenditure of 7s 2d on ‘A chamber:pott, candlestick [and] bason’. This entry neatly summarises the basic nature of the sewerage, lighting and personal washing facilities then on offer. Students and Fellows alike had their coal, ashes, hot water jugs and chamber pots carried up and down staircases by bedmakers and porters. While it is true that Cambridge college servants had a reputation for rapaciousness, one feels that they earned their tips and perquisites.

Amanda Goode, College Archivist

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