A new walking trail has launched around one of Cambridge’s most underrated museums

Cambridge is mostly known for its gothic spires, its grand university buildings and the enormous treasure trove of art and antiquities that is the Fitzwilliam Museum. All magnificent pieces of architecture, and all pretty difficult to miss. But elsewhere in the city, there’s an unassuming little house that contains its own treasure trove.  

David Parr House was the home of Victorian working class artist David Parr. From the outside, it appears a fairly ordinary terraced home. But inside, it’s adorned with extraordinary hand-painted interiors that look as though they belong in a stately home. Parr filled the house with his own colourful, intricate artwork, including wall tiles, handmade furniture and decorative glass windows. 

This year, the underrated museum is putting on a programme of exhibitions and talks on the theme of maps, travel and journeys. And as part of that programme, it has created a self-guided walking map of Cambridge to spotlight more hidden gems of the city. 

It’ll take visitors on a tour of the surviving work of the Cambridge decorative firm F. R. Leach & Sons, Parr’s employer. The firm, founded by Frederick Richard Leach in 1862, was nationally renowned, specialising in church decoration and working with some of the foremost artists and craftsmen of the time, from George Frederick Bodley to William Morris. 

The trail includes stops at St Peter’s Church, St Clement’s Church, All Saints’ Church, Jesus College Chapel and 3 St Mary’s Passage, which is the Grade II listed showroom of F. R. Leach & Sons. It also takes visitors along the same walk that David Parr would have taken to get home each day – from All Saints’ Church, past the City Road workshops and to his front door at 186 Gwydir Street.

All in all, the trail covers around 2km, and the museum recommends allowing up to four hours to complete it. The self-guided map will be available for £5 from April 1 and there’ll be a guided tour along the route on April 4 for £25 per person. David Parr House is open Thursday to Saturday, with entry starting at £15 per person. 

You can find out more on the David Parr House website here.

Did you see that a new British forest just launched its first walking trail? 

Plus: Four new walking trails make it easier to explore this majestic English county.

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