| Colleges of the University of Cambridge Christ’s College |
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| College name | Christ’s College | |||||||||||
| Motto | Souvent me Souvient (Old French: I often remember) |
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| Founder | Lady Margaret Beaufort | |||||||||||
| Named after | Jesus Christ | |||||||||||
| Established | 1505 | |||||||||||
| Previously named | God's House (1437-1505) | |||||||||||
| Location | St. Andrew’s Street | |||||||||||
| Admittance | Men and women | |||||||||||
| Master | Frank Kelly | |||||||||||
| Undergraduates | 420 | |||||||||||
| Graduates | 110 | |||||||||||
| Sister college | Wadham College, Oxford | |||||||||||
| Official website | ||||||||||||
| Boat Club website | ||||||||||||
Christ’s College is one of the colleges of the University of Cambridge. It is widely reputed for its high academic standards – in recent years, it has often dominated the Tompkins Table of colleges. As well as this, the College has performed admirably in sporting activities in recent years with the rugby and football teams both performing extremely well in inter-collegiate events.
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College history
The college grew from God’s House founded in 1437 on land now occupied by King’s College Chapel. It received its first royal licence in 1446. It moved to its present site in 1448 when it received its second royal licence. It was renamed Christ’s College and received its present charter in 1505 when it was endowed and expanded by Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII.
Buildings
The original 15th/16th century college buildings now form part of First Court, including the chapel, Master’s Lodge and Great Gate tower. The gate itself is curiously disproportionate: the bottom has been cut off to accommodate a rise in street level, which can also be seen in the steps leading down to the foot of L staircase in the gate tower. The college hall, by George Gilbert Scott, the younger, was added in 1875-1879. The lawn of First Court is famously round, and an impressive wisteria sprawls up the front of the master’s lodge.
Second Court is fully built up on only three sides, one of which is formed by the 1640s Fellows’ Building. The fourth side backs onto the Master’s garden.
The Stevenson Building in Third Court was designed by J. J. Stevenson, in the 1880s. In 1935 Professor Richardson designed the second building, the neo-Georgian Chancellor's Building (Y staircase). Third Court's Memorial Building (W staircase), a twin of the Chancellor's building was completed in 1953 for £80,000.1 Third Court is also noted for its display of irises in May and June, a gift to the college in 1946.2
The controversial tiered concrete New Court (often dubbed ‘the Typewriter’) was designed in the Modernist style by Sir Denys Lasdun in 1966-70, and was described as ‘superb’ in Lasdun’s obituary in the Guardian[1]. Design critic Hugh Pearman comments ‘[Lasdun] had big trouble relating to the street at the overhanging rear’ [2]. It appears very distinctively in aerial photographs, forming part of the northern boundary of the college.
An assortment of neighbouring buildings have been absorbed into the college, of which the most notable is The Todd Building, previously Cambridge’s County Hall.
Through an arch in the Fellows’ Building is the Fellows’ Garden. It includes two mulberry trees, of which the older was planted in 1608, the same year as Milton’s birth. Both trees have toppled sideways, the younger tree in the Great Storm of 1987, and are now earthed up round the trunks, but continue to fruit every year.3
College societies
The Junior Combination Room, Christ’s College Students’ Union, is involved in every aspect of student life. Representative of the student body, it organises social and welfare events, and negotiates on the students’ behalf on important issues. The Middle Combination Room (MCR) represents the graduate students of Christ's College.
The Marguerites Club is one of the oldest surviving College societies, reformed in 1899 by G.L.Jessop the then captain of CUCC. It is believed to have originally formed some ten years earlier, but was soon disbanded. Originally the society was confined to captains and secretaries or those with colours in 3 sports. The name originated from the club's original blazer, which was navy blue in colour with the Foundress's 'rebus' or badge, signifying her name, embroidered on the pocket. Described in the 1908 issue of the college magazine: "The Marguerites have been the premier club of the College in the past, and claim to represent something more than mere athletic distinction"
Also of note are the Christian Union (http://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/cccu/), football club, the CCAFC; the rugby club, the CCRFC; the rowing club, CCBC; a very active college RAG; Christ's College Medical Society; the Music Society(founded 1711) and the Chapel Choir.
The College hosts a biennial May Ball with the most recent, The Jasmine Ball, occurring on 17 June 2008 with an Arabian theme.
Graduate Society
Christ’s College Graduate Society comprises a community of approximately 130 graduate students from every part of the world and with diverse academic interests. All members of the Graduate Society also belong to the Christ’s College Student Union (CCSU) and share their canteen-style Upper Hall. In addition, the college provides graduates with generous travel bursaries for academic and vacation travel and their own computing facilities. Most graduates are accommodated for three years, either in college or in nearby flats and shared houses.
The Graduate Society is one of the few in Cambridge to run its own bar, which is cheap and lively, specializing in Belgian beers and malt whiskies. There are regular graduate Formal Halls and other events, including wine & cheese tastings, a brewery trip, punting, and outings to Oxford, Ely and Norwich. A Garden Party is held every June in the Fellows’ Garden.
Proctors of God’s House
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Masters of Christ’s
See also: Category: Fellows of Christ's College, Cambridge
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See Christ’s College by John Peile (1900)
Famous alumni
See also: Category:Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge
References
External links
- Official Christ’s College website
- Christ’s JCR website
- Christ’s MCR website
- Christ’s biennial May Ball
- Cambridge 2000 — Christ’s College photographs
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- This page was last modified on 28 November 2008, at 21:49.
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