Selwyn College, Cambridge

Selwyn College is one of the colleges of the University of Cambridge. It was founded in memory of the Rt Revd George Augustus Selwyn (1809–1878), the first Bishop of New Zealand (1841–1868) and, at the end of his life, Bishop of Lichfield (1868–1878). The Selwyn College coat of arms incorporates the arms of the Selwyn family impaled with those of the Diocese of Lichfield.

History

Selwyn was originally founded as a "Public Hostel" of the university in 1882, but was formally approved as a College on March 14, 1958. It originally admitted only men, but was of the first colleges to become mixed when women were admitted from 1976.

Related Topics:
1882 - March 14 - 1958 - 1976

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Selwyn College has three main courts, Old Court, Cripps Court, and Ann's Court, with ancillary buildings. Old Court, built in red brick in the Tudor Gothic style, was largely designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield and comprises seven staircases (A to G), together with a tower and gateway, master's lodge, chapel and hall. Cripps Court, named after the Cripps Foundation that donated a large part of the funds to build it (and which also funded developments at St John's College and Queens' College), was built and formally opened in 1969 on land on the opposite side of Grange Road which was originally owned by Jesus College. It comprises a further seven staircases (H to N) and is home to all of Selwyn's first-year undergraduates as well as a mix of other undergraduates and postgraduates. Ann's Court, built on the land to the north of Old Court and south of West Road, is the newest court: it is named after one of the principal donors towards the construction costs of the first block, which was completed in July 2005 and consists of 44 ensuite rooms and 15 administrative offices, forming two staircases (O and P).

Related Topics:
Tudor Gothic - Arthur Blomfield - St John's College - Queens' College - Jesus College

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The College has planning permission to add a further four phases to Ann's Court, with the work planned to be undertaken over the next twenty years. The remaining phases of the building project will extend the college's red-brick facade along Grange Road to the corner of West Road, adding two further accommodation blocks, a new library and an auditorium.

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The six acres (24,000 m²) of farm land, between Grange Road, West Road and Sidgwick Avenue, where Old Court stands were acquired from Corpus Christi College, and the site was originally thought to be too far from the centre of Cambridge (indeed, an alternative site on Lensfield Road, where the Catholic church now stands, was rejected as being too small). However, the University of Cambridge has subsequently grown and Selwyn College now stands between the West Cambridge science developments and next to the Arts faculties on the Sidgwick Site.

Related Topics:
Acre - M² - Corpus Christi College - West Cambridge - Sidgwick Site

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