I’ve decided to wrap up the Cambridge blogs. This is my seventh blog on Cambridge, I believe, and I just feel like I need to move on. The Round Church deserves a blog by itself but I just don’t have the time for it. I will do my best to give you some history on it. Lots of the pictures will just show you the different architecture around Cambridge, England. Really, if you ever get a chance to visit this magnificent city you should.
Ok, lets start with Sir Isaac Newton. This is not an easy blog to write because Newton was just a complex man. I’ve always been fascinated with Newton. Partly because it was a part of my courses for medical lab. That sparked my interest in his Laws of Motion and things just snowballed from there. Pretty much everyone should know who he is. In the pictures you will see his apple tree or at least a hybrid. In 1826, the tree was blown down in a storm. Branches were removed and much of the tree was re-rooted in Woolsthorpe Manor which is where Newton was born. The Manor reopened to the public in February of this year. Newton’s tree is now over 350 years old. A graft was taken from his original tree to make the one in the picture.
Newton was born two to three months premature on January 4, 1643 so he was not a large man but his premature birth didn’t affect his intellect. He lived to be 84 years old which I think is a long for the time era he was born and the fact that he was born so premature. His cause of death was mercury poisoning. He died in his sleep but he had high levels of mercury in his hair and body which was most likely caused from his experiments. I’m shocked that an autopsy was even done considering he was 84 years old. I mean what better way to die than to live a long productive life and to die in your sleep. He is buried in Westminster Abby in London. I have a picture of his burial site in this collection. Stephen Hawkings and Charles Darwin are buried on each side of Newton.
Ok, the story about an apple falling on Newton’s head if false. He did observe an apple falling straight to the ground and he wondered why it didn’t fall sideways or up. He then came to the conclusion that the forces that caused that apple to fall straight down must be the same forces that keep the moon in place and us anchored to the ground. So, his first law of motion was formed: A body at rest remains at rest, and a body in motion remains in motion, at a constant speed and in a straight line, unless acted on by an external force. This observation by Newton helped us get a space capsule to the moon.
Let me wrap Newton up because I could go on and on and I don’t want to. Newton studied a classical curriculum at Cambridge. A classical curriculum is just a traditional and historic liberal arts education. He earned a spot at Trinity College Cambridge where he wanted to study law but became fascinated by a philosopher by the name of Rene Descartes. I even know who this man was but that is best left alone for he is not the subject of this blog.
Now, for the round church. The Round Church was modeled after the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The church was built by crusaders that are a mystery order of Knights called The Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre and were lead by a guy called Randolph the Bearded in the 12th century around 1130 AD. Yes, this church is that old. It is nearly. 900 years old. It’s beautiful. So much different architecture in this church. Round churches are rare in England. They are mostly associated with The Knights Templar. In these pictures you will see a very rare example of Wooden Angels. These were added in 1400’s. This style of roof is called an Angel Roof. It was typical of churches in England during this period. It’s really impossible to describe this church. Have a look at the picutures of this church.
I’ve also included random pictures of the architect around Cambridge but all the pictures on the round church will be together. Hope ya’ll enjoy.
