Great Court
Trinity College, Cambridge
23 September 2006
The Great Court is the largest court of any of the Cambridge or Oxford colleges, with an enclosed area of 1.8 acres.
In the centre of the picture is the King's Gate, complete with clock; to the right is the Chapel Fountain in the middle of the court. In the northeast corner is the staircase where Isaac Newton had his rooms. The Great Gate is to the right.
On the day of their matriculation dinner, students traditionally attempt to run the 367 metres around the perimeter of the court in the 43 seconds that it takes the clock to strike twelve. Runners were shown attempting the same feat in the film Chariots of Fire, although the scene was actually filmed at Eton College. In fact, only two people are known to have competed the "Great Court Run" successfully: Lord Burghley in 1927 and Sebastian Coe in 1988.