The East Anglian Film Archive, the first and largest Regional Film Archive in England, was established in 1976. Since 1984, EAFA has been owned and operated by the University of East Anglia, Norwich (UEA), to support research and work to preserve our moving image heritage. More than 250 hours are freely available online as examples of the wide range of film which attracts interest the world over.
This film is part of Free
Town and Gown
Focusing on each town’s university colleges, main streets, gardens, statues and memorials with a narration of the history of the buildings, notable scholars, and traditions.
From the collection of:
Overview
The graduation anthem, Gaudeamus Igitur accompanies the title sequence to this guided tour of the two university cities, first Oxford then Cambridge, and also the Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester. In Oxford the students carry their caps and gowns in the street to avoid breaking college regulations if they choose to smoke, and in Cambridge we learn that on many maps the river changes its name at the Silver Street Bridge and is called Granta above and Cam below it.
In Oxford, ‘little changed through the centuries’, we visit Magdelen College and its Tower which was built by Wolsey and stands at the end of the High Street, the University Church of St Mary’s, Queens College, St Johns College, the Martyrs’ Memorial, Worcester College founded by Benedictine monks, Folly Bridge over the River Thames to Christ Church, and Wren’s Tom Tower named after the bell, Great Tom. In Cambridge, ‘a more intimate city’, the sights include King's College Chapel, Peterhouse – the first college founded in Cambridge, Jesus College, King's Parade, St John's College, Trinity College with its famous fountain, punting on the Backs, and the picturesque village of Granchester.