Kettle’s Yard

About the museum

Kettle’s Yard was the home of Jim (H. S.) Ede and his wife Helen between 1957 and 1973. Jim Ede had worked as an assistant at the Tate Gallery in London in the 1920s and 1930s and became friends with many artists, and over the years he built up a remarkable collection. It includes paintings by Ben and Winifred Nicholson, Alfred Wallis, Christopher Wood, David Jones and Joan Miró, and sculpture by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Constantin Brancusi, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.

In 1956 the Edes came to Cambridge looking for a “stately home” and instead found four run-down cottages beneath the ancient church of St Peter. With the help of the architect Rowland de Winton Aldridge, Ede restored and substantially remodelled them. He placed the artworks alongside furniture, glass, ceramics and natural objects such as stones, aiming for a harmonious whole. He wanted a living place where young people could feel at home, rather than a traditional art gallery or museum.

In 1966 the Edes gave the house and its contents to the University of Cambridge. In 1970, three years before they retired to Edinburgh, the house was extended and an exhibition gallery was added. The house is largely as Jim and Helen left it, with artworks in every corner and no labels. Alongside the house, the galleries show changing contemporary exhibitions, and the site also includes a learning studio and a café.

Highlights

• House of Jim and Helen Ede, kept largely as they left it, with no labels
• Works by Ben and Winifred Nicholson, Alfred Wallis, Christopher Wood and Joan Miró
• Sculpture by Brancusi, Gaudier-Brzeska, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth
• Galleries with changing contemporary exhibitions, free to visit
• Garden Kitchen Café with a vegetarian and vegan menu
• Free digital guide with audio recordings on the Bloomberg Connects app

Permanent exhibition

• The house and collection – Jim and Helen Ede’s former home, with their collection of 20th-century art, furniture, ceramics and natural objects arranged without labels as they left it.

Founded

1966

Operated by

University of Cambridge

Admission & discounts

The house ticket costs £14.50 including a donation and £13.00 without; the figures for other tickets are given without donation. Entry to the house is by timed ticket. Temporary exhibitions in the galleries are free to visit; a free exhibition ticket can be booked online or in person on the day, and house tickets do not include exhibition entry (nor do exhibition tickets include the house). Friends and patrons of Kettle’s Yard, and members of ICOM, the Museums Association and NMDC, enter the house free; Open House community cardholders are also free.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description

The galleries, entrance area, Ede Room and Clore Learning Studio are fully wheelchair accessible, with a lift to all floors and accessible toilets on the lower ground, ground and first floors. About three-quarters of the house is not accessible to wheelchair users because of its historic structure; there is no lift in the house, and it has several staircases, including a spiral one. The café has limited access. Hearing loops are at the welcome desk and in event spaces. Audio-described tours of exhibitions, sensory backpacks, a sensory map, a visual story, a BSL introduction video and relaxed sessions are offered. Assistance animals are welcome. There is no visitor parking at Kettle’s Yard.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Hands-on stations
• Baby changing facilities

Free Studio Sunday workshops for families run in the Clore Learning Studio, with relaxed sessions for families with additional sensory needs. A free family guide, activity sheets from the café and the Art Cart with creative activities are available. Baby changing is on the first floor and in the Clore Learning Studio; buggies cannot be taken into the house but can be used in the galleries and stored on the ground floor. Highchairs are available in the café, which can warm bottles.

Getting there & parking

Kettle’s Yard is just over Magdalene Bridge, next to the Museum of Cambridge. Cycle parking is on Northampton Street.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop
• Lockers: not available

Garden Kitchen Café with indoor and outdoor seating and a vegetarian and vegan menu; a shop. Bags are not allowed in the house; there is limited space for visitor bags but no lockers.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties
• Corporate events

The house can host dinners for up to 36 seated guests, the welcome area and galleries can host receptions for up to 200, and three rooms (Ede Room, Clore Learning Studio and Edlis Neeson Research Space) are available for meetings.

Plan your visit