Master's Report

When I looked out of it 18 months ago, I could still see a road running from our garden over a temporary bridge towards a car park in the Fellows’ Garden, and a bright orange digger hard at work, lifting mountains of debris to such a steady beat - forward and back, forward and back - that it seemed it would never be finished. Of course, the herbaceous border in the Master’s Garden is still in its infancy and the plants on the banks of the Fellows’ Garden are only a few months into taking root, but it makes a huge difference to have these spaces back again.

The progress east of the Cam goes further, of course, than Clare’s gardens. In Old Court, we’ve now enjoyed a full year of our restored Hall and how splendid it looks, with its crisp white walls, gleaming jewelled glass, and gilded coats of arms on the ceiling. We’ve also delighted in the long awaited River Room, which finally opened to the College community last Michaelmas, to much critical acclaim. We've quickly become like the Freshers, unable to imagine Clare without its very own café onto the river!

Old Court’s new facilities have, of course, come at a substantial cost. I’m thrilled to report that, thanks to the exceptional generosity of over 1000 Clare alumni and other friends of the College, including seven donors who between them gave a magnificent £2.8m to close the Old Court Campaign together, we have finally reached our £25m fundraising target.

Some of the Old Court Campaign donors were amongst the enthusiastic supporters Toby Wilkinson and I had the good fortune to meet on our trips to the USA, Hong Kong and Singapore over the past year. Closer to home, it has been a particular pleasure to welcome back to College Sir David Attenborough, alumnus and Co-Patron of the Old Court Campaign, to receive our thanks for his inspiration and support.

One of the most generous gifts towards the Old Court renovations was bestowed to renew the Hall and to purchase a new grand piano and new lighting for the Chapel. Thanks to the skill, dedication and vision of our exceptional musicians, there have been two magnificent Hall concerts in celebration, marking a new rhythm in the College calendar which underscores the Hall both as a place for the College community and a place of hospitality for those beyond it.

Our calling, thanks to Lady Clare, is to be a community of scholars living together in harmony under a firm discipline! The students have had an excellent year, as the Senior Tutor’s report explains, with many achieving the highest honours, alongside their impressive extra-curricular achievements and seven receiving the top marks in Tripos across the entire university. There’s been much to celebrate in the Fellowship, too, with several Fellows achieving promotion within the University, and a number receiving external accolades, such as Fellowship of the Royal Society. You can read more about the Fellowship here.

Christopher and I have now finally enjoyed hosting a full academic year of student drinks, recitals, dinners and Fellows’ talks in the Master’s Lodge, the first uninterrupted year of hospitality here since before Covid started. It’s been a particular pleasure to welcome three of our new Honorary Fellows to give talks in the Lodge: Alex Allan, Maggie Faultless and Richard Knighton, each of whom, in their very different roles, impressing us not just with their exceptional expertise, but also with their love of the College and for the strong start it gave each of them. You can read more about the Fellowship here.

As the new academic year gets under way, we are putting down roots not only in the gardens but also for our next century, through our preparations for our 700th anniversary and for the implementation of our new strategic framework, to the shaping of which thousands of people across the College community have already contributed. You can find the full programme of events for this special year here.

We do this in the full knowledge that there remain obstacles to overcome: the shrouding of the Master’s Lodge in scaffolding again so that the roof of the West Range can be renewed reminds me of the orange digger last summer – forward and back, forward and back. The overall direction, now as then, is forward. With your support and encouragement, and the commitment, devotion and skill of all our colleagues here at Clare, the College will reap the rewards of this last period of disruption.

It is only a year or so now until we begin to mark our 700th anniversary and we are all greatly looking forward to it. We hope many of you will be able to visit in 2026. You can find the full programme of events for this special year detailed in this publication. Thank you for your continued support to make sure Clare is a vibrant, engaging, and welcoming community.