Madingley

"Madingley Hall, the seat of Walter Ambrose Heath Harding esq. M.A., F.L.S. is a large Elizabethan mansion. standing in a park of 300 acres: adjoining the hall is a fine stone gateway leading to the courtyard: King Edward VII. occupied this house during the time he was an undergraduate of Cambridge University"
[Kelly's Directory - 1929]

Madingley Hall was built by Sir John Hynde in 1543 and occupied by his descendants until the 1860s. In 1860 the Hall was rented by Queen Victoria as a residence for the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) while he was an undergraduate at the University. In 1871 the Hall was sold out of the original family to Mr Henry Hurrell who subsequently sold it to Colonel T Walter Harding in 1905. Colonel Harding completely renovated the Hall and ownership passed to his heirs who sold the Hall and its surrounding park and farmland to the University of Cambridge in 1948.

St Mary Magdelene

"The church of St. Mary Magdalene: restored in 1885. and standing in the park, is a small building of stone, chiefly in the Early Decorated style, and consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave of five bays, north aisle and an embattled western tower and spire containing 2 bells; in 1927 the tower and spire were rebuilt at a cost of £2,000, defrayed by the Harding family: the chancel is Early English, rebuilt in 1877, but the chancel arch and the nave arcading are Decorated a very finely moulded arch, acutely pointed, opens into the tower: there is a good Norman font, brought here from the now destroyed church of St. Etheldreda, Histon: a new organ was provided in 1908 by Col. Harding: there are 150 sittings. The register dates from the year 1539."
[Kelly's Directory - Cambridgeshire - 1929]