The Round Church was modelled after the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, as was the Temple Church in London and was built by crusaders in the 12th century. The rather striking polygonal tower sitting on top of the church was added during the 15th century.
This tower however is a replacement, the 15th century tower having collapsed under its own weight in 1841. The current tower was rebuilt in 1843 and reopened by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who had donated some money to the restoration.
It also had this fabulous stained glass window. Again, this is a replacement dating from 1946 – the original had been destroyed during a bombing raid in 1942 that destroyed ten buildings including one directly behind the church.
It’s a very interesting space and when I visited there was an exhibition circling the church charting the history of Cambridge through the influence of Christianity that was very informative.
The entrance fee was an extremely reasonable £3.50 and they are open 10-5 every day except Sunday. There are also guided walks of Cambridge organised via the church which I didn’t do but you can find the details on their website.
Louise Jayne's Blog 