The pub has a rich history, with everything from ghost stories the discovery of DNA
Very few pubs carry the deep historical legacy of The Eagle in Cambridge. Tucked along the narrow historic stretch of Bene’t Street, the second-oldest pub in the city has more than 700 years of stories etched into its beams, walls and ceilings.
Dating back to the 14th century, the building has witnessed centuries of Cambridge life. Medieval townsfolk one gathered here after market days centuries before wartime pilots filled its rooms with laughter and cigarette smoke and decades before brilliant scientists raised pints while discussing ideas that would reshape the world.
The Grade II-listed pub is a living archive, just steps away from other notable Cambridge landmarks, including King’s College and The Corpus Clock. The Eagle has never lost its charm, as every time you walk through the doors, you step into centuries of Cambridge history where every pint of ale comes with a story.
A Brief History of The Eagle
‘With beer for three gallons a penny’, the tavern was bought by Corpus Christi College in around 1458 and advertised as a property producing 20s per annum. Cambridge was growing at the time with many University colleges being founded, including Christ’s College, King’s College and Queen’s College.
The town was home to between 1500 and 5000 inhabitant and urban settlements surrounding the town began to lay their foundations.
The Inn was originally known as ‘The Eagle and Child’, with the child being the crest of the Earl of Derby and opened in 1667 as a coaching house for travellers commuting towards London for trade at the market.
A lease to Andrew Pylkynton, the innkeeper and his wife, in the archives of Corpus, mentions “their two tenements, a greater and a lesser nowe made an Inne called the Eagle and Child sett and built together in the parishe of St Benett in Cambridge.”
Inside the Eagle, there are a few places where old decorations are thought to still be standing from the time period. This includes wall paint and ‘broad green stripes’ above the second bar to conceal crooked timber planks.
The Inn was rebuilt in around 1800 with a slate roof and brick-infilled timber frames, and was used as the headquarters of the Cambridge Conservative party during elections in the 1820s.
Ghost Stories
The pub is said to be haunted following a fire in the 1700s. The story goes that a young child was trapped and burned to death because they were unable to open the window to escape.
Detailed in The Eagle’s history leaflet, it says: “The only thing keeping the pub from being plagued by spirits is a window, which must remain open at all times.”
They explain they have kept the window open ever since, as when it has been closed, it has mysteriously reopened and brought bad luck.
“The open window allows these young ghosts to leave the pub as they wish and it is reported that strange things have happened in the past when the window was shut.”
One account said: “That should anyone dare to try and close the window, everybody inside the pub will experience a powerful feeling of suffocation.”
On table 4, a ghostly gentleman sits and watches the punters drinking their pints. The Eagle staff warn people, “if he doesn’t like you, he will spill your drink!”
Tales of the locals
In 1826, two labourers named William Smith and Stephen Woodcock uncovered a haul of hidden coins from below 9 Bene’t Street. The treasure included nearly 200 gold pieces and over 3,500 silver pieces dating back to the reign of Charles I.
The sale of the hoard was £192 in which £162 went to the college, £20 went to the Master mason and £5 each to the labourers.
In 1907, a policeman described in a newspaper article that he could see who entered the yard and overhear conversations in the smoke-room about horse racing and telephonic messages being passed, naming horses and mentioning sums of money.
Police raided the inn and the landlord, Charles W. Hyde, was committed for trial the same day.
The Secret of Life
Just around the corner on Free School Lane stood the Cavendish Laboratory, where some of the University’s brightest minds carried out groundbreaking research. After long days in the lab, scientists and scholars would often drift into The Eagle for a well-earned pint.
It was here that one of the most famous moments in modern science unfolded. At lunchtime in 1953, Francis Crick burst into the pub and reportedly announced to those gathered that he and James Watson had “found the secret of life.”
The declaration referred to their discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA, a breakthrough that would become one of the most significant scientific achievements of the 20th century.
The discovery transformed the field of genetics, and in 1962, Watson and Crick, along with Maurice Wilkins, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work.
Watson’s book ‘The Double Helix’ is commemorated on a blue plaque outside the pub alongside Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins’ contributions and two plaques in the middle room are hung by the table where Crick and Watson lunched regularly.
Today, the pub still celebrates that historic moment. Visitors can raise a glass of DNA Ale, brewed to commemorate the pivotal discovery first announced within The Eagle’s walls.
WWII and RAF Bar
This year marks the 90th anniversary of the first flight of the legendary Supermarine Spitfire, a reminder of the deep aviation history across Cambridgeshire and the surrounding counties that played a vital role during World War II.
At The Eagle, that wartime legacy still hangs overhead, quite literally. The pub is famous for its graffiti-covered ceiling, now known as the RAF Bar.
From the late 1930s through the mid-1940s, the pub became a popular gathering place for RAF and American airmen stationed at nearby air bases across the region. After flying missions, crews would head into Cambridge to share stories and raise a drink together.
Many left a lasting mark on the pub. Local historian Malcolm Osborn once recalled a story in which “a young airman stood precariously balanced on a chair atop a table in the back bar, then using a candle he burned his squadron’s number into the ceiling.”
That moment became part of a wider tradition. Over time, dozens of servicemen added their own marks, including names, squadron numbers, cartoons, signatures, and sketches.
One includes a drawing of a naked woman drawn in lipstick. This created a remarkable patchwork of wartime memories that still covers the ceiling today.
Decades later, the RAF Bar remains one of the pub’s most striking features, preserving the voices and presence of the young airmen who once filled The Eagle with laughter during some of the darkest years of the 20th century.
What’s going on today
In modern times, The Eagle continues to thrive while carefully preserving the character that made it famous.
The pub is now operated by Greene King, and many punters include university students catching pints between lectures and tourists who are drawn by its scientific legacy, wartime history or simply the promise of a good ale.
