The Bridge of Sighs, Cambridge - Student Suicide Legend
Despite its romantic appearance, Cambridge's Bridge of Sighs has a dark reputation involving student suicide legends and ghostly manifestations along the River Cam.
The Bridge of Sighs at St John’s College, Cambridge, completed in 1831, is a covered bridge designed in the Victorian Gothic style by Henry Hutchinson. Named after the famous Bridge of Sighs in Venice, it connects the Third Court to the New Court and spans the River Cam. The bridge’s enclosed design and atmospheric Victorian architecture have contributed to numerous legends about student suicides, though historical records show no verified suicides actually occurred there. Nevertheless, the persistent folklore has created a genuinely haunted reputation that continues to this day.
The most common legend tells of a student who, overwhelmed by exam stress, hanged himself from the bridge’s interior in the 19th century. Variations of the story exist, with some claiming multiple students have taken their lives there over the years. Punters navigating beneath the bridge at night report seeing a shadowy figure hanging from the interior ceiling, only to find nothing there when they pass under. Others describe hearing desperate sobbing and the creaking of rope from within the enclosed bridge, particularly during exam periods in May and June. Some witnesses claim to have seen a young man in Victorian student dress standing at the windows, staring down at the water with a melancholic expression.
Cambridge students have long observed a superstitious tradition of holding their breath while passing under the bridge during examinations, believing it will bring good luck and prevent being “cursed” by the bridge’s sorrowful spirits. College officials and historians emphasize that no suicides have been documented at the bridge, suggesting the haunting stories may be products of exam anxiety and urban legend. However, paranormal investigators who have studied the bridge note that belief and emotional energy can themselves create genuine supernatural phenomena, regardless of historical accuracy. The Bridge of Sighs remains one of Cambridge’s most photographed locations by day and one of its most unsettling by night.