Downing Site

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The Downing Site is a major site of the University of Cambridge, located in the centre of the city, on Downing Street & Tennis Court Road, adjacent to Downing College. The Downing Site is the larger and newer of two city-centre science sites of the university (the other is the New Museums Site). Largely populated with utilitarian brick buildings dating from the 1930s, the more notable buildings include the Zoology Laboratory (1900-04), Sedgwick Museum of Geology (1904-11) and Downing Street entrance (1904-11).

[edit] History

The current site was part of Pembroke Leys, a boggy area of small fields lying between Regent Street and Tennis Court Road, to the south of the medieval town of Cambridge. The Pembroke Leys was acquired by Downing College on its foundation, but the northern portion of the Leys remained undeveloped. This northern portion was purchased by the university in 1896-97, and forms the current Downing Site.

[edit] Institutions etc

Though several university departments have recently relocated to larger modern buildings elsewhere, the Downing Site still houses many departments, predominantly in the biomedical sciences. These include:

[edit] Sources