Bridge of Sighs
St John's covered Gothic Revival bridge over the Cam, completed in 1831.
The Bridge of Sighs is a covered stone bridge at St John's College. It spans the Cam, joining Third Court to New Court. Henry Hutchinson drew up the Gothic Revival design in 1827, and the work was finished in 1831, not long before he died. The bridge is Grade I listed.
Why the name
The nickname is borrowed from the bridge of that name in Venice, though the two share little beyond a roof and an arched base. Early in the nineteenth century the college added New Court across the water, on the Backs side (the Backs), and the bridge was designed alongside it to tie the new buildings to the old. Queen Victoria is said to have preferred it to any other spot in the city.
Pranks and screen time
Students have twice hung a car beneath the span. The first time, in the summer of 1963 (June), the car was a 1928 Austin 7, floated downriver on four punts tied together and then hauled beneath the span with ropes; the second, in 1968, involved a three-wheeler, a Bond or a Reliant Regal. Neither incident damaged the bridge. The bridge has appeared as a filming location in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) and The Theory of Everything (2014), and it is visible in the video for Pink Floyd's "High Hopes".
Practical notes
The bridge belongs to a working college, so check St John's own visiting arrangements before planning around it. Other bridges over the same river, including Trinity College Bridge and Clare Bridge, lie within an easy walk along the Backs.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
