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New Medical School and Humphrey Museum Downing Street

New Medical School and Humphry Museum, Downing Street

History of New Medical School and Humphrey Museum

Downing Street: Humphry Museum and University Bicycle Club

Downing Street c.1905

A detailed description of the Cambridge Medical School building which was designed in 1899 can be found here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Medical_School_building

The inscription on the window facing Tennis Court Road is described in Cambridge Inscriptions Explained by Nancy Gregory (2006).

Medical School inscription, Downing Street

DANS LES CHAMPS DE L’OBSERVATION LE HASARD NE FAVORISE QUE LES ESPRITS PRÉPARÉS

Where observation is concerned, chance favours only the prepared mind

These are words of Louis Pasteur and the architect was Edward Prior, who believed that inscriptions made buildings more intelligible to the passer-by. The inscription was the very first professional assignment of Eric Gill.

1913 Anatomical Museum etc

John Chaplin, porter

Biology Labs from car park (MoC2/89/70)

Humphry library (MoC439/74)

 

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This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Dear Visitor,

Thank you for exploring historical Cambridgeshire! We hope you enjoy your visit and, if you do,  would consider making a donation today.

Capturing Cambridge makes accessible thousands of photos and memories of Cambridge and its surrounding villages and towns. It is run by the Museum of Cambridge which, though 90 years old, is one of the most poorly publicly funded local history museums in the UK. It receives no core funding from local or central government nor from the University of Cambridge.

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Thank you,
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Museum of Cambridge