King’s College Chapel
King’s Parade Cambridge CB2 1ST
This prize of English Gothic architecture was begun in 1441 by Henry VI and completed eight decades later by the Tudors, who, victorious after the Wars of the Roses, festooned their end with portcullis and rose iconography. It is famed for its fan vaulting, but look also at the stained glass for an image of Henry VIII as wise King Solomon, just beyond the oak choir screen – another of Henry’s additions that bears his ‘H’ monogram intertwined like a love-knot with an ‘A’ for his ill-fated wife, Anne Boleyn. This is also cambridge's most musical college, with it's choir famously singing a televised carol service each christmas. If you're lucky students promoting an evening concert may be singing on the grass outside the gates, while keen listeners should also return for Evensong at 5.30pm (term-time only).
