University of Cambridge

As far back as Neolithic times, the lowest reliable fording point on the River Cam or Granta – near Castle Hill – was an important strategic site. Over the centuries it was successively developed by the Romans, Saxons and Normans into the prosperous town of Cambridge, a busy trading centre on the route between eastern and central England. It was in this thriving market town that a group of students, fleeing riots in Oxford, arrived in 1209. Cambridge soon became a teaching centre for scholars from the monasteries in the area, and was well established by the end of the 13th century.

In 1284 the first college was established in the south of the city, to house and support a few scholars. During the next 700 years, the other 30 colleges were founded by bishops and businessmen, kings and queens.

The shape of the city changed considerably during the 14th and 15th centuries, and the physical impact of the university was felt as more land was used for the new buildings, particularly when the Tudor kings appropriated a large area of medieval Cambridge to found their city centre colleges. Not surprisingly, disputes between townspeople and town and University authorities were many and occasionally led to violence.

Today the serenity of the immaculate lawns and gardens makes such a state of affairs difficult to imagine although the tranquillity of the cloistered courts still provides a welcome refuge from the hectic pace of life in any expanding city.

Famous people from all walks of life have studied and researched at Cambridge, including religious leaders such as Cranmer, Latimer and Ridley; writers such as Samuel Pepys, Charles Kingsley and the poets John Milton, Lord Byron, William Wordsworth and Sylvia Plath; and brilliant scientists such as Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Ernest Rutherford and Dorothy Hodgkin. With a long history of illustrious names and surroundings of such stunning beauty, it is hardly surprising that Cambridge makes a deep impression on all how come to this ancient centre of learning.

The University and the Colleges


Many visitors to Cambridge find the relationship between the University and the colleges confusing. A Cambridge college plays a far more significant part in an undergraduate’s life than a hall of residence in a non-collegiate university.

The college provides a ‘community of scholars’ in which the students live, work and study during their years at Cambridge. A student must be admitted to a college before he or she can become a member of the University.

The 31 colleges contribute funds to the University, which provides the central resources for promoting research and teaching – such as lecture theatres, faculty libraries and laboratories; sets the curriculum; conducts the examinations and confers the degrees; and meets a major part of the bill for academic salaries. The University has its own central administration, whilst every college has a governing body which runs the organisation and decides on policy. Each college is, therefore a self-governing community with its own way of life, providing opportunities for students and fellows of many disciplines to intermingle. As each individual college operates independently and chooses its own members, this very much sets the character of the college.

In the past college life revolved around the three great communal areas – the chapel, the library and the dining hall – and these are still an essential parts of even the most recent colleges. Access to the colleges is usually restricted, and so conference delegates may find themselves in the privileged position of being able to enjoy facilities not normally open to the general public.

Cambridge Today


In recent years Cambridge has become an internationally acknowledged centre of excellence for technology and science. The growth of the city’s science and innovation parks has been so rapid that the area around the city is now affectionately known as ‘Silicon Fen’ and has a reputation that rivals that of America’s Silicon Valley.

Despite its ultra modern image however, the city has retained its picturesque charm and continues to delight visitors from all over the world.

Fitzwilliam College

The Past

Fitzwilliam started life in 1869, when Cambridge was very different from today. It was created as a non-collegiate institution, to provide undergraduates unable to afford membership of a college with a base from which to study at Cambridge. It organised teaching from a handsome house opposite the Fitzwilliam Museum.

In the second half of the twentieth century the need for a separate body of non-collegiate undergraduates disappeared as Cambridge became more accessible, and the system of student grants allowed everyone to belong to a college. Fitzwilliam House, as it was then called, became Fitzwilliam College, and received its royal charter in 1966.

But the college remains true to its roots. Facilitating access to Cambridge remains at the heart of the college's perception of its role within the modern university. The proportion of applicants to Fitzwilliam from maintained schools remains significantly higher than to most colleges and this is reflected in the composition of the student body. Students from all backgrounds settle happily into the Fitzwilliam community, but the college is particularly proud of its success in making welcome candidates who thought that Cambridge was elitist and not for them.

The Present


 Fitzwilliam College is one of the more modern colleges within the University of Cambridge, situated away from the busy town centre at the top of Castle Hill. It is a fairly large community, but a very friendly one, with around 450 undergraduates and 150 graduate students, and over 60 Fellows.

The college enjoys a large and peaceful site, off the tourist routes but within ten minutes' cycle ride of all the major Faculties and Departments. The college was built in the 1960s in the grounds of the Grove, a splendid Regency house which is now part of the college. The first student buildings were designed by Sir Denys Lasdun and completed in 1966; these were followed by New Court and Wilson Court, and the award-winning chapel designed by Richard MacCormac. The College presents a rather austere face to the Huntingdon Road, from which most visitors to the town approach it, and its beautiful gardens enclosed by student accommodation are one of Cambridge's best-kept secrets.

But Fitzwilliam College is more than a collection of attractive buildings. Welcoming and unstuffy, it is known throughout the University for its friendliness. It looks for intellectual achievement and commitment among its members, but seeks to foster academic success within a relaxed and supportive atmosphere.

 

Sidney Sussex College

Located at the heart of Cambridge, Sidney Sussex College is a small, historic college founded in 1596. Sidney offers an unpretentious, diverse and welcoming community. It is encircled by supermarkets, shops, pubs and restaurants. Sussex Street, one of Cambridge’s prettiest shopping areas, runs between the two halves of the main site. Despite its locality, once inside the compounds of the college, it transforms into a place of welcome tranquillity with its harmonious gardens, courts, and gracious buildings of many styles and periods. Students will have a chance to venture farther from campus; the countryside is very close with pleasant walking and cycle routes from City Centre to villages like Coton and Madingley, and along the river to the pubs and Orchard tea gardens at Grantchester. Further afield, it is possible to visit Ely to see the magnificent Ely Cathedral and to absorb the unique and mysterious atmosphere of the Fens.