Magdalene College & Pepys Library
Magdalene College
A college on the north bank of the Cam. The Pepys Library preserves, exactly as bequeathed, the 3,000 volumes of diarist Samuel Pepys and his famous diary manuscript.
Magdalene College stands beside Magdalene Bridge, near the starting point of the northern punting route on the Cam. The college's most treasured site is the Pepys Library. The 17th-century naval official and diarist Samuel Pepys bequeathed about 3,000 volumes, together with the oak bookcases he had commissioned, to his alma mater, with the stipulation that they be kept as they were. The collection includes the manuscript of The Diary of Samuel Pepys, written in shorthand, which records the Great Plague of London in 1665 and the Great Fire of London in 1666. The library is free but open only during set hours, usually a short period in the afternoon, so check the official website. Opposite the college are Cambridge's oldest group of half-timbered houses and punting landing stages.
Opening hours
Pepys Library has limited opening hours (check official website)
Nearby sights
- Castle Mound
- St John's College, Cambridge
- Kettle's Yard
- Trinity College, Cambridge
- Great St Mary's Church
- King's College Chapel, Cambridge
- Cambridge Market Square
- The Eagle