Old Combined Boathouse

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Old Combined Boathouse
Girton College Rowing Blade.svg Sidney Sussex College Rowing Blade.svg Corpus Cambridge Rowing Blade.png Wolfson College Rowing Blade.svg
Cambridge boathouses - Corpus, Girton, Sidney & Wolfson.jpg
View from opposite bank of the Cam
Old Combined Boathouse
Alternative namesGirton, Sidney Sussex, Corpus Christi and Wolfson Colleges' boathouse
General information
StatusGrade II [1]
Type Boathouse
Architectural style Brutalist
AddressCutter Ferry Lane
Town or city Cambridge
Coordinates 52°12′39″N0°07′57″E / 52.21084°N 0.13247°E / 52.21084; 0.13247
Year(s) built1958-9, 1980s
Cost£13,000
Design and construction
Architect(s) David Wyn Roberts

The Old Combined Boathouse is a Grade II listed historic building on the River Cam, Cambridge, England. Built in 1958, it serves as the boathouse for Girton, Sidney Sussex, Corpus Christi, and Wolfson college boat clubs. [1] [2]

When built, Old Combined was the first combined college boathouse in Cambridge. The adjective 'old' being in reference to the New Combined Boathouse, further downstream, the current iteration of which was completed in 2016. [3]

Unlike some other college boathouses, Old Combined does not contain an ergometer room or a place to display or store trophies or blades, the Official List Entry instead describing the first floor changing rooms as 'spartan'. [1] In the 1980s, two wings were added to the ground floor structure, in part to hold Wolfson's boats.

As with many Cambridge boathouses, the arms of the colleges are displayed on the outside, between the concertina doors. Four flag-poles fly the respective college or boat club flags on the days of the Lent or May Bumps.

Old Combined sits between the boathouses of Trinity Hall and Newnham, upstream and downstream respectively, near the similarly listed Goldie Boat House of the Cambridge University Boat Club.

Old Combined Boathouse from the hard (May, 2025) Old Combined 10 May 2025.jpg
Old Combined Boathouse from the hard (May, 2025)

References

  1. 1 2 3 Historic England. "Corpus Christi and Sidney Sussex Boathouse (1021928)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  2. "Clubs on the Cam". www.firstandthird.org. Retrieved 2025-05-25.
  3. "Combined Colleges Boathouse - R H Partnership Architects". www.rhpartnership.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-05-25.