Eagle, Cambridge

Restoration

The pub reopened in 1992 after a period of closure, which is apt for what is probably the most famous pub in Cambridge. It is also one of the oldest with sale of beer on the site first recorded in 1353. It opened officially in 1667 as a coaching inn. The historic two-bar core remains with an expansion into neighbouring premises that has been sensitively executed, resulting in an impressive interior with an appearance of age, particularly the wood panelled room near the main entrance. The pub retains the galleried courtyard. The back room was a haunt of British, US and other airmen from nearby bases in WW2 and its ceiling is covered with their names, squadron numbers and graffiti, much of it burned into the paint with candles or cigarette lighters or applied with lipstick, in the hope they would never be forgotten. It is also the pub in which in 1953 Francis Crick announced that, with Rosalind Franklin and James Watson, he had worked out the structure of DNA. A window at the back of the pub has been kept open for 300 years because, legend has it, a fire upstairs resulted in the death of a young child who was unable to escape because the window couldn't be opened. There is real ale and meals are served.