Clive Sinclair

3 Madingley Road, The Stone House, Cambridge

History of 3 Madingley House

Listed building:

3 Madingley Road, also known as The Stone House, was built in 1896 on the south side of Madingley Road on land leased from St John’s College. The house is attributed to Edward Doran Webb (1864-1931), an ecclesiastical architect who practiced in Salisbury between 1889 and 1915. His oeuvre included a number of Roman Catholic churches in Salisbury, Finchley and Aldermaston, as well as designing Birmingham Oratory and Blackfriars Priory, Oxford. Webb was a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and it may have been through the Society of Antiquaries that Webb had connections in Cambridge.

The Stone House was designed for Joseph Robson Tanner (1860-1931), who occupied the house until c1920. Educated at St John’s College, Tanner was an historian and an expert on the writings of Samuel Pepys, holding a wide range of posts over his career at St John’s College including Lecturer (1883-1921), Fellow (1886-1931), Tutor (1900-12), and Tutorial Bursar (1900-21). The house is present on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1903, and street directories show the house was occupied by various figures throughout the C20. One of the more interesting occupants was Sir Clive Sinclair (1940-), who lived in The Stone House in the 1980s. Sinclair is a British entrepreneur and inventor, best known for his inventions in consumer electronics in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including electronic calculators, home computers, digital mobile phones and the C5 electric vehicle. The Stone House was converted to office accommodation in the early C21, and is now in use as barristers’ offices.

1896 – 1920

Joseph Robson Tanner

1980s

Clive Sinclair