Magdalene College: six centuries beside Cambridge's Great Bridge

Magdalene beside the Great Bridge

Magdalene College stands beside Magdalene Bridge and the river crossing at the heart of Quayside's history. It is a working University college, not a visitor attraction, so this page explains its story and what can be seen from outside. For anything official, use the college's own website.

Magdalene is pronounced "Maudlyn".

From monks' hostel to college

The college traces its beginning to 1428, when Abbot Lytlington of Crowland Abbey received royal permission to acquire the site for a hostel for Benedictine student-monks. After 1472 it became known as Buckingham College. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Lord Audley refounded it in 1542 as the College of St Mary Magdalene.

First Court and the chapel

Construction of First Court and the chapel began in the 1470s under Abbot John de Wisbech. These are the earliest college buildings that survive.

Samuel Pepys at Magdalene

Samuel Pepys entered Magdalene in 1650. His diary covers 1660 to 1669, and his collection of 3,000 books and manuscripts reached the college in 1724 under the terms of his bequest.

The Pepys Library

The collection is still arranged by height in the bookcases Pepys commissioned, together with his catalogue, shelf list and library desk. The Pepys Library is currently closed for refurbishment. The college's Pepys Library page says it is closed to visitors until 2027, with no public visits, tours or group visits, and that it will reopen in spring 2027.

Architecture across six centuries

The college spans several periods, from First Court to the Pepys Building and the modern New Library, completed in 2021, which won the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2022. The New Library is a working college library, not a public attraction.

Modern history

The college decided to become co-educational in 1987 and admitted its first women undergraduates in 1988.

Magdalene and Quayside

The modern Quayside development is generally dated to 1989. A commemorative stone at the site records that date and carries the college's motto, Garde ta Foy. Read more in the history of Quayside.

Can you visit?

The college's visitor information says visitors are generally welcome year-round except from mid-April to mid-June, and should report to the Porters' Lodge. Because this is a private, working college, access can change at short notice. Check the official page just before you go.

What can be seen from outside

From the street and the bridge you can see the college frontage on Magdalene Street, the bridge itself and the river edge at Quayside. Nothing here guarantees access to the college grounds or the Pepys Library.