Selwyn College, Cambridge
colleges of the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1882 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 and of the Diocese of Lichfield.
Selwyn was originally founded as a "Public Hostel" of the university, 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.
Selwyn College has two main courts, Old Court and Cripps Court, with ancillary buildings. The college has planning permission to add two further courts, and building work on the first of the new buildings has begun.
Old Court, built in red brick in the Tudor Gothic style, was largely designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield and comprises seven staircases, 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) was built and formally opened in 1969 on land on the opposite side of Grange Road which was originally owned by Jesus College.
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.
With an explicitly Christian foundation, and no great endowments, Selwyn remains relatively poor in cash terms. However, it is also one of the smaller colleges, and this encourages a friendly, inclusive atmosphere.
Famous alumni
