Grantchester - Nobel Winners' Village

Navigating The Route

This is a circular Spy Mission around Grantchester Nobel Winners' Village, with Agents helping the villagers get the code to deactivate Jemima Rhymer's clock-stopping device before her enemy agents stop you.

The operation covers approximately 2 miles and should take around 2 hours to complete. You'll start at the mill pond by the bridge at the southern end of the village, investigate historic and picturesque Grantchester, follow public footpaths and pavements, explore the church grounds, pass the Orchard Tea Gardens / Tea Rooms, enjoy the meadow and riverside area, then loop back to the grassy area by the millpond before returning to the car park.

This Trail is not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs. Expect a few twists and turns, public footpaths, pavements, a brick-paved driveway entrance, cattle grids, a narrow pavement in places and a hill on the return stretch.

Take care around open, unfenced water in the meadow and riverside area, and be aware that cattle and calves may be grazing. Watch your footing in the church grounds because of ongoing renovations, and be cautious when crossing roads and cattle grids.

Getting There

By car: Start your mission at the mill pond by the bridge at the southern end of the village (CB3 9ND). The recommended parking is the Community Car Park (CB3 9ND), located in a field near the mill pond, just as you enter the village from Trumpington, or as you exit the village after passing the Orchard Tea Rooms, heading towards Trumpington. If this car park isn't open, park on the roadside in the village with due consideration.

By public transport: Make your way to the mill pond by the bridge at the southern end of the village to begin the operation. The route loops back to the grassy area by the millpond where it began, then you turn left at the road to return to the car park.

Need the Loo?

Plan ahead, Agents - there are no public toilets in the village. You may need to use one of the pubs between Clue 06 and 08 or the famous tea rooms during your two-hour operation.

Bring Your Furry Sidekicks

Four-legged Agents are welcome to join this village mission. 🐾

Keep canine recruits close around roads, cattle grids, narrow pavements and the church grounds. There is open, unfenced water in the meadow and riverside area, and cattle and calves may be grazing, so leads are a sensible bit of field kit.

Food & Drink Stops

Clock-defusing is thirsty work. The Orchard Tea Gardens / Tea Rooms are on the route, and the Trail suggests popping in for a brew there. There are also pubs between Clue 06 and 08.

If you'd rather bring your own provisions, the meadows after Clue 05 are marked as a safe zone for picnics.

Want to Make a Day of It?

Orchard Tea Gardens

The Orchard Tea Gardens are a well-known stop on the route and a very suitable refuelling point for undercover Agents. In the early 20th century, the 'Neo-Pagans' gathered here, including Virginia Woolf, EM Forster, John Maynard Keynes and Rupert Brooke.

Grantchester Meadows and Riverside

The mission gives you time to enjoy the meadow and riverside area, with the meadows after Clue 05 marked as a safe picnic zone. Keep the team alert near the open, unfenced water, and remember that cattle and calves may be grazing.

The Church and Churchyard

The route enters the grounds of the church and asks you to explore anti-clockwise. This is consecrated ground, so keep to the beaten track where possible and watch your footing, especially with the ongoing renovations. The churchyard contains graves of academics with Cambridge connections, and the village is thought to have the world's highest concentration of Nobel Prize winners.

Rupert Brooke Memorials and Links

Rupert Brooke keeps resurfacing during the operation. Look out for the blue plaque dedicated to him and the local links to his 1912 poem 'The Old Vicarage' and Grantchester. There is also a statue set within private property, which must not be entered. The village is associated with his poem 'Grantchester Meadows' too.

Grantchester Village

Grantchester is described as historic and picturesque, with a magnificent medieval church, quaint thatched cottages and a pool where Lord Byron used to swim. Many illustrious visitors walked, rode or boated from Cambridge when they were students there, making the village well worth a slower wander once Jemima Rhymer's clock-stopping plot has been dealt with.