Tab Cribs – Marlowe’s old room

Tab Cribs move on to Corpus in search of somewhere it can really put its feet up.

| UPDATED Cambridge University Corpus Christi lavish mossy Mossy Wittenberg old court set student accomodation suite

After the much-debated Peterhouse stalemate of the past two weeks, Tab Cribs crosses the road in search of pastures more fertile.

If you were worried the oak paneled reception rooms and graveyard-side ledges were beginning to feel crowded, feel free to respire anew into the lauded paddocks of Lucky Mossy of Corpus.

Lucky Mossy amid his choice foliage

Explain the Marlowe thing…

Room O0 is allegedly the room Christopher Marlowe had when at Corpus. He was an atheist, spy, homosexual, brawler and thesp so I can’t live up to it, but sometimes I go to Spoons on a Friday night.

A man reclined is a man aligned

You have a portrait of madonna and child that looks like stretch armstrong. Please tell us more about that.

That’s me and my mum painted by a family friend. Not sure why he thought madonna and child was the appropriate style for the Rabbi’s wife.

The offending Armstrong

Before you we had two Peterhouse sets in a row – how does it feel to break the chain?

Peterhouse is the oldest college but a lot of the architecture is new build. Corpus Old Court is the oldest continually inhabited courtyard in Corpus Christi college in the country. My other set of windows look into the churchyard of St. Benet’s, the oldest building in Cambridge.

There is a lot of space here for just one – does it get lonely?

A little, especially as my door opens straight out into the courtyard, so I have no corridor / staircase. But I have ‘Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog’ above my desk to remind me that the cure for loneliness is solitude.

Empty chairs, empty tables

What does your mom think of this room? What does your dad think of this room?

Mum is proud and tells people at work about it. Dad likes that there is enough space for a minyan.

What is the most interesting thing you have spied happening in old court from your window?

I don’t like closing the curtains, so the question is what interesting things people in old court have spied happening in my room. Answer is not much. I’m working on it though: a previous occupant told me that the problem with having Marlowe’s room is that tourists seem to think he still lives there, and in the summer I’ll play up to this by wearing only a ruff.

A window display for all seasons

Your room number is O0 is that incredible for you?

I call it ‘ooh’.

O0-er

Do you ever sleep in your sitting room / do you ever entertain in your bedroom?

I nap on the chaise longue loads, and I’ve slept on the window seat because when I’m stressed I find it easier to get to sleep on narrow surfaces where I can’t toss and turn. The bedroom is a private space for me and Radio 4.

A thorn among the roses

Please name one common Centre Parcs activity that could take place in your room.

Coffee tasting, wine tasting and a yoga session have all happened. One of the walls backs onto a row of headstones so I think I could run a great ghost tour / murder mystery.

Fauteuils in session

What is your favourite smell?

Wood smoke.