Kettle's Yard: a Cambridge home arranged around art

Why Kettle's Yard is different

Kettle's Yard combines a historic house displaying a permanent collection with galleries used for changing exhibitions. The house is preserved largely as Jim and Helen Ede arranged it, so the way the art sits among the furniture and everyday objects is part of the experience.

Jim and Helen Ede

Jim and Helen Ede lived at Kettle's Yard from 1957 to 1973. Jim opened the home to University students on weekday afternoons in term, using the domestic setting to encourage direct encounters with art. The house was later given to the University of Cambridge, with Jim remaining as honorary curator.

Four cottages become one home

With the architect Rowland de Winton Aldridge, the Edes joined four dilapidated 19th century cottages into a single house. A later extension and gallery, designed by Sir Leslie Martin and David Owers, expanded the site.

The collection

The collection includes paintings, drawings, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, furniture and natural objects. Artists represented in the museum's interpretation materials include Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Alfred Wallis, Christopher Wood and Winifred Nicholson.

House and galleries

The house and the galleries are separate experiences. Entry to the house is by timed ticket, while temporary exhibitions in the galleries have a separate booking.

What a visit is like

Expect small, intimate rooms and a slower pace than a conventional museum. Visitors are asked not to take bags into the house, and storage is limited, so travel light.

Walking from Quayside

Cross Magdalene Bridge and continue up Castle Street. Castle Mound is a little farther on, so the two combine into a compact outing north of the river.

Accessibility

The house is not fully wheelchair accessible, while the ground-floor galleries are. Check the official page and contact the gallery if you need particular arrangements.