Cloister Staircase

Cloister Staircase

That staircase itself was probably inserted around 1756, into the medieval riverside building of the 1460s. It serves rooms at the south end of Essex Building, which cannot be reached from Essex staircase. This was made necessary by the non-completion of the original scheme for Essex Building, which would have extended much further along the river, entirely eliminating the 1460s building. This staircase is surrounded by very attractive original 1460s half-timbering, showing how the original buildings of Queens' are timber-framed inside the clunch and brick walls.

This staircase was lettered staircase L (and Essex Building was staircase K) until the opening of Erasmus Building in 1959 caused the transfer of K and L to Erasmus Building.

It is characteristic of Cambridge colleges to see the Gate Porters dressed in black suits and wearing bowler hats. This is the uniform of their office. The word "Porter" in this context refers to someone who attends to gates and security (c.f. the "Porter" in Shakespeare's Macbeth), and does not imply that they carry luggage, as a railway porter would.