Top Things to Do in Cambridge: The Eagle Pub with Town & Gown Tours
Dating back to 1667, the Eagle Pub is the second oldest pub in Cambridge. Opposite the Corpus Clock and a short walk from the Old Cavendish Lab, the Eagle Pub is situated right in the centre of Cambridge.
A classic British pub, The Eagle is a great place to enjoy fish and chips, a Sunday roast or a pint of good ale. But it is also a pub steeped in history.
During the Second World War, The Eagle was the locale for Allied airmen to enjoy their beverages. Today if you head towards the back of the pub you will find the ‘RAF bar’, where the Allied airmen’s names are written, scratched and burnt into the ceiling.
The Eagle is also where in 1953 the scientists and Eagle regulars Francis Crick and James Watson ran in declared that they had discovered ‘the secret of life’ — the double helix structure of DNA.
However, Crick & Watson failed to mention and acknowledge the significant contribution of Rosalind Franklin, whose detailed images of DNA they used without her knowledge or consent.
Whilst Crick & Watson were awarded the Noble Prize in Chemistry for the discovery in 1962, Rosalind Franklin died in 1958 and was therefore never awarded the Noble Prize.
Francis Crick later admitted that Franklin was “two steps away” from making the discovery herself.
In October 2023, a new plaque was unveiled outside the Eagle Pub to replace the previous plaque and acknowledge the contribution of Rosalind Franklin in the discovery of the structure of DNA.
To found out more about Rosalind Franklin and the story behind the discovery of the structure of DNA, book a spot on one of our tours.
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