Cambridge Union Society
The University's debating society, founded in 1815 and housed since 1866 in an Alfred Waterhouse building on Bridge Street.
The Cambridge Union Society, usually called the Cambridge Union, is a debating society and educational charity that was founded in 1815. It describes itself as the oldest free speech society in the world. Its clubhouse is on Bridge Street, close to the Round Church.
The building
Alfred Waterhouse designed the Union's Bridge Street premises, which opened formally on 30 October 1866; he later designed the Oxford Union's building too. Sir Charles Dilke, a president who became a Liberal politician, drove the project. A further wing was added several decades afterwards. The rooms include the debating chamber, a dining room, a bar, a snooker room and the Keynes Library. The building is Grade II listed.
In July 1942 an air raid hit the building and badly damaged its library. In March 1944 XXX Corps took over the whole building for a week.
A debating tradition
The Union's early years were uneasy. University proctors broke up a meeting in March 1817 and the society was shut down, and it was allowed to resume in 1821 only under strict conditions. In 1830 it regained the freedom to debate every subject except strictly theological ones. On Armistice Day 1947 the Union staged the first university debate ever broadcast, aired live by the BBC's Third Programme. Women were admitted as full members after a vote in 1965.
Among its past presidents are the economist John Maynard Keynes. Winston Churchill and Theodore Roosevelt are among the speakers it has hosted.
Practical notes
Members have exclusive access to the Union's debates and events. Its facilities are open to the wider public, including The Orator, a brasserie and bar behind the Round Church. The clubhouse can also be hired for private and corporate events. The programme for each term is published on the Union's website. See also the Round Church.
People connected with this place
- Alfred Waterhouse (1830–1905), Architect
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
