The Eagle, Cambridge

Main signboard of The Eagle, as seen from Corpus Christi College accommodation above
A blue plaque outside The Eagle
The RAF Bar ceiling with graffiti of World War II airmen

Originally opened in 1667 as the "Eagle and Child", The Eagle is one of the larger pubs in Cambridge, England, on the north side of Bene't Street in the centre of the city.[1] The site is owned by Corpus Christi College and is managed by Greene King brewery. Apart from the main bar, it sports a beer garden and the so-called RAF bar, at the rear, with graffiti of World War II airmen covering the ceiling and walls.

Significance

When the university's Cavendish Laboratory was still at its old site at nearby Free School Lane, the pub was a popular lunch destination for staff working there. Thus, it became the place where Francis Crick interrupted patrons' lunchtime on 28 February 1953 to announce that he and James Watson had "discovered the secret of life" after they had come up with their proposal for the structure of DNA.[2] The anecdote is related in Watson's book The Double Helix,[3] and is commemorated on a blue plaque next to the entrance, and two plaques in the middle room by the table where Crick and Watson lunched regularly . Today the pub serves a special ale to commemorate the discovery, dubbed "Eagle's DNA".

Also in 1953 Watson and Crick worked over lunch in the Eagle to draw up a list of the 20 canonical amino acids. This has been a very influential rubric for molecular biology, and was a key development in understanding the protein-coding nature of DNA. [4]

Opposite The Eagle is St Bene't's Church,[5] the oldest standing building in Cambridge, with the Saxon tower dating from around 1033.[6]

The Eagle is a grade II listed building.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Bene't Street: The Eagle pub, Cambridge 2000.
  2. ↑ Ed Regis, What Is Life?: Investigating the Nature of Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology, Oxford University Press, 2009, ISBN 0-19-538341-9, p.52
  3. ↑ "'Secret of life' discovery turns 50". BBC. 27 February 2003.
  4. ↑ Freeland., Judson, Horace (1996-01-01). The eighth day of creation : makers of the revolution in biology. CSHL Press. ISBN 0879694777. OCLC 33357310.
  5. ↑ St Bene't's Church website
  6. ↑ 800 Years of Death and Disease in Cambridge: St Bene't's Church.
  7. ↑ "The Eagle Inn, Cambridge". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 7 December 2016.

Coordinates: 52°12′14″N 0°07′06″E / 52.204°N 0.1182°E / 52.204; 0.1182


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