'800th Anniversary Light Show'
January 17, 2009

On January 17 and 19, Cambridge’s historic Senate House and Old Schools façades were lit up in a spectacular light show featuring iconic images from the University's past and present, as well as new drawings of two of Cambridge’s most famous alumni, Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, produced by world-renowned illustrator and Downing College alumnus Quentin Blake.

The light show accompanied a world-wide bell ringing ceremony to mark the beginning of the 800th Anniversary Year. 

Four churches in central Cambridge -- Great St Mary's, St Bene't's, St Edward King and Martyr and St Andrew the Great -- all rang a new work for bells composed for the occasion by Clare College alumnus Phil Earis. The sound of bells celebrating the University's octocentenary also reverberated across the world as churches from the United States of America to Australia marked the occasion.

Click here to view video of the light show.