Sidney Sussex College, The Buildings Surrounding Hall Court And Chapel Court

Sidney Sussex College comprises the buildings surrounding Hall Court and Chapel Court, a significant assemblage of college architecture spanning from the late sixteenth century to the twentieth century.

The main buildings of the college were constructed in 1595-1598 by Ralph Symons and originally formed three sides of an open court. Around 1628, a second detached block of buildings was erected parallel to and south of Hall Court. This range is now connected to Hall Court by the Chapel and ante-Chapel of 1780, thereby creating Chapel Court, which remains open to the street on the west side. The exterior of all these buildings was comprehensively altered into the Gothic taste by Sir Jeffrey Wyatville between 1821 and 1833.

Hall Court dates to 1595-1598. The east range contains the Hall; the remaining sides are three storeys with partial attics. The west side is symmetrical, featuring a two-storey stone porch at the centre with three archways, two and three-light windows with square heads, turrets, and battlements. The interior of the hall was refitted in 1747-1750 when a plaster ceiling was inserted, though the original timber roof survives above it. The moulded panelling, screen (Roman Doric with three unequal bays divided by pilasters), and staircase all date to 1750. The Master's Lodge contains fittings from different periods: the dining room has mid-eighteenth-century fielded panelling and early nineteenth-century heraldic glass in the bay window, along with additional eighteenth-century panelling and a number of nineteenth-century marble fireplaces. The Taylor Library retains the original wall-cases and fireplace from Wyatville's alterations of 1821-1823.

The North Range dates to the late sixteenth century but was heightened and remodelled in 1831-1832 by Wyatville. A cloister on the north wall was added by J L Pearson in 1890 (see Cloister Court). The range features one, two and three-light windows, four-centred doorways, an embattled parapet, stepped gables, and a stone oriel window of two lights at the west end. Internally, the Fellows' Parlour contains mid-eighteenth-century fielded panelling and plasterwork. Several other panelled rooms exist, some dating to circa 1600 and others to the eighteenth century. The staircases are early nineteenth-century.

The South Range also dates to the late sixteenth century and was remodelled in 1831-1832. Wyatville completely rebuilt the west end as a gatehouse in ashlar, three storeys high, with three archways featuring four-centred openings and a ribbed vaulted ceiling in the gate hall. Three-sided oriels occupy the first floor, with an early nineteenth-century oak gate. The remainder of the range comprises three storeys with attics, an embattled and gabled parapet. The interior contains few ancient features: one room with circa 1600 panelling and two with mid-eighteenth-century fielded panelling.

Chapel Court East Range was built in 1776 by James Essex but was entirely remodelled in the Gothic style by Wyatville in 1833 to match the rest of the college. The Chapel was extended by T H Lyon in 1910-1912. The front to the court is symmetrical in seven bays, with the central three bays accentuated with pinnacles and the central bay set slightly forward with a projecting porch faced in ashlar. The windows are two-light transomed openings in four-centred frames. The Chapel fittings are entirely twentieth-century except for a few monuments and a fine altarpiece by G B Pittoni. All library woodwork dates to 1776 and was probably designed by James Essex.

The South Range, known as Sir Francis Clarke's Range, was built in 1628, remodelled by Wyatville in 1833, and completely gutted during restoration in 1970.