Girton College, Cambridge
Encyclopedia
Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges
of the University of Cambridge
. It was England's first residential women's college
, established in 1869 by Emily Davies
and Barbara Bodichon
. The full college status was only received in 1948 and marked the official admittance of women to the university. In 1976, it was Cambridge's first women's college to become coeducational. As of 2010, the college's net assets were valued at £104.5 million, including £49 million of endowment, and in 2009-10 it admitted 674 full-time undergraduates and postgraduates. The college's formal governance is assured by a Mistress, currently Susan J. Smith
.
The main college site, situated in the village of Girton
about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of the university town, spreads 33 acres of land. Held in typical Victorian
red brick design, most was built by architect Alfred Waterhouse
between 1872 and 1887. It provides extensive sports facilities, including an indoor heated swimming pool, an award-winning library and a chapel with two organs. There is an accommodation annexe, known as Wolfson Court, situated in Cambridge's western suburbs, close to the Centre for Mathematical Sciences
. This annexe was opened in 1961 and provides housing for graduates, and for second year undergraduates and above.
The college has a tradition of fostering equality that has been kept alive by keeping a balanced male-to-female ratio, distributing student rooms through a ballot system, and enforcing equal-access admittance schemes. It also has a reputation of encouraging talent in music. Several art collections are held on the main site, including People's Portraits, the millennial exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters
, and an Egyptian collection containing the world's most reproduced portrait mummy
. Among Girton college's notable alumni are the queen Margrethe II of Denmark
, The Huffington Post
co-founder Arianna Huffington
, the comedian/author Sandi Toksvig
, the comedian/broadcaster Phil Hammond
and the anthropologist Marilyn Strathern
, also Mistress from 1998 to 2009.
and Barbara Bodichon
met through their activism at the Society for the Employment of Women
and the Englishwoman's Review
. They shared the aim of securing women's admission to university.
In 1862, they met to determine whether girls could be admitted at Oxford or Cambridge to sit the Senior and Junior Local Examinations. A committee was set up to that effect, and in 1865, with the help of Henry Tomkinson, ninety-one girls entered the Cambridge Local Examination. This first concession to women's educational rights met relatively little resistance, as admission to the examination did not imply residence of women at the university site.
In 1869, Henry Sidgwick
helped institute the Examinations for Women, designed to be more challenging than the Poll examinations, which were special examinations for candidates taking an Ordinary instead of an Honours degree, but easier than the Tripos
examinations - an idea heavily opposed by Emily Davies, as she demanded admittance to the Tripos examinations.
The college was established on 16 October 1869 under the name of College for Women at Benslow House, Hitchin
, a convenient distance from Cambridge and London. It was thought to be less 'risky' and controversial to locate the college away from Cambridge in the beginning. In July and October 1869, entrance examinations were held in London, to which 21 candidates came; 16 passed. The first term started on 16 October 1869, when five students began their studies. The first three students to unofficially sit the Tripos exams
in Lent term
1873, Rachel Cook and Louisa Lumsden, who both took the Classical Tripos
, as well as Sarah Woodhead, who took the Mathematical Tripos, were known as The Pioneers.
In 1871, with £7000 raised, land for building was to be bought either at Hitchin or near Cambridge. By 1872, sixteen acres of land from the present site were purchased near the village of Girton
. The college was then renamed Girton College, and opened at the new location in October 1873. The buildings had cost £12,000, and consisted of a single block which comprised the east half of Old Wing. At the time, thirteen students were admitted.
In 1876, Old Wing was completed, and Taylor's Knob, the college laboratory and half of Hospital Wing built. In 1884, Hospital Wing was completed, and Orchard Wing, Stanley Library and Old Kitchens added. At that time, Girton had 80 students. By 1902, Tower, Chapel and Woodlands Wing as well as the Chapel and the Hall were finished, which allowed the college to accommodate 180 students.
In 1921, a committee was appointed to draft a charter for the college. By summer 1923 the committee completed the task, and on 21 August 1924 the King
granted the charter to "the Mistress and Governors of Girton College" as a Body Corporate.
Girton was not officially a college yet, nor were its members part of the University. Girton and Newnham
were classed as "recognised institutions for the higher education for women", not colleges of the university. On 27 April 1948, women were admitted to full membership of the University of Cambridge, and Girton College received the status of a college of the university.
lead to an increasing number of British universities to become co-educational. In Cambridge, Churchill college
, King's college
and Clare college
were the first men's colleges to admit women in 1972. Girton had already amended its statutes in 1971 in such a way as to allow the admission of men should the Governing Body vote in favour at an unspecified date in the future. The decision to become mixed came in November 1976, when the Governing Body voted to act upon the statute, which made Girton the first women's college to admit men. In January 1977, the first two male Fellow
s, Frank Wilkinson and John Marks, arrived, followed by male graduate students in 1978, and, finally, undergraduates in October 1979. One reason for the change was that the first mixed colleges in Cambridge immediately shot to the top of the Tripos league tables, as they seemed to attract bright students, who preferred to stay in co-educational colleges.
Girton became co-residential as well, which meant that male and female students shared the same facilities. Only one all-female corridor in which rooms were reserved exclusively for women remained. Upon the arrival of male undergraduates, JCR and MCR
social facilities had to be enlarged. The college bar was opened in 1979 as well as rugby, cricket and soccer pitches provided from 1982 onwards.
On the Tompkins Table
, Girton has averaged at about rank 20 out of 29 colleges in the past 15 years. In 2011, it came 23rd, with 16.3% of all undergraduate students gaining a First class
.
is the formal head of the college. Her main task is to exercise general superintendence over the college's affairs. She presides the College Council and several college committees. The Mistress is elected by the Council, and has to reside at the college precincts for at least two thirds of each term, or 210 days of each academic year. Ever since the establishment of Girton college, this position has been held by a female, even though male candidates have had equal rights for running for the office since 1976.
: The architect built the main site with the Old Wing, the Hospital Wing, the Orchard Wing, the Stanley library and Old Kitchens between 1873 and 1886, as well as the parapet
ted gatehouse tower in 1886/1887. The red brick design (English bond
) is typical of Victorian architecture
, and is enhanced by black mortar courses and terracotta details to the eaves, windows and doorways. The roofs are steeply pitched with crested tiles. In 1913, the site consisted of 33 acres.
and grandson of Alfred Waterhouse
and Giles Gilbert Scott
, the new library consists of an upper reading room, crafted in oak, and a ground floor, in which the book collections are held. An annexe containing archives was added in 1967. The Duke building, a modern library extension offering IT facilities and a reading room, was openend in 2005. Named after Alison Duke, a fellow and major donor, the building was designed by Allies and Morrison
. It won a national RIBA
award in 2006, a SCONUL
Library Design Award in 2007, and a Civic Trust
Award in 2007.
and Paul Waterhouse
, was completed in 1901, and inaugurated on 23 May 1902. It seats about 200 people and the interior is held very simply with the exception of oak carvings at the Chancel
end and on two long desks in front of the choir seats, which were crafted by students and friends of the college.
In 1910 came a fine Harrison & Harrison
organ, the purchase of which was made possible through donations from students and friends of the college. The organ was rebuilt in 1974 and can still be found in the college chapel. A second organ was acquired in 2002.
In 1952, the year of the jubilee of the inauguration, a stained glass window was erected. In the Girton Review, the college's official termly newsletter, from Michaelmas term
1955, a description of the glass window can be found:
In the original statement of aims and scope for the 'Proposed College for Women' in 1867, it was announced that religious services and instruction would be in accordance with the principles of the Church of England
, but where conscientious objections were entertained, attendance would not be necessary. A modified version of this statement appears in the modern college statutes, where it reads that " services in the Chapel shall normally be held in accordance with the practice of the Church of England, but other religious services may also be held there."
At the outset, Chapel was used for morning prayers, usually said by the Mistress, and for Sunday services, taken by clergy of various denominations. Today, at least two services are held on a weekly basis: Evensong
on Sunday at 5:30pm, and Compline
on Tuesday at 10pm. They are organised by the college's part-time chaplain, who is being assisted by student chapel wardens. The Mistress holds general responsibility in regard to services in the chapel, which she partly delegates to the Chapel Committee.
s can sometimes be seen in Girton.
, an Eyptian
and a Mediterranean collection. Before the establishment of the Lawrence room in 1934, antiquities had been stored in and around the college library. Donations allowed for refurbishments in 1946, 1961, 1991 and 2008. In 2010/11, Lawrence room is opened once a week to visitors. The exhibitions are free of charge.
The Anglo-Saxon collection stems from excavations on the college main site made during construction work in 1881 and 1886, when an Anglo-Saxon cemetery, presumably from the fifth and sixth century AD
, was discovered. Most findings, such as domestic utensils and personal items, were long held in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
in Cambridge. Some were only returned to the college as late as in 2008.
The highlight of the Egyptian collection consists of a portrait mummy bearing the inscription Hermionê Grammatikê (translation: 'Hermione the literary lady' or 'Hermione the language teacher'). It is one of the most widely reproduced and famous portrait mummies
. Dating from the first century AD, it was discovered in the Roman cemetery of Hawara
by the archeologist Flinders Petrie in 1911. 'Hermione' is thought to be an 18- to 25-year-old girl from a wealthy background. Petrie and his wife Hilda wanted the mummy to go to a women's college due to its inscription. Funds were gathered, and in 1911 'Hermione' moved to Girton college, where she has remained since then. The Egyptian collection also holds four mummified baby crocodiles, which were thought to bring favour of Sobek
, the ancient god of fertility and water. They were presented to the college by Afred Waterhouse senior, the father of architect Alfred Waterhouse
.
The Mediterranean collection offers both Classical
and pre-Classical material. A collection of Greek Tanagra figurine
s, which date to the fourth and third century BC
, form the most remarkable pieces of this collection.
, entitled People's Portraits. The exhibition, aimed at showing 'ordinary' British people at the verge of the 21st century, toured Britain in 2000. Girton then won the bid to house the collection, to which new works are added annually. All pictures were created by members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. The collection currently holds 45 paintings, and artists include Anthony Morris, Daphne Todd
, June Mendoza and Alastair Adams, the current president of the Society. Being one of the largest and thus most diverse colleges in Cambridge, the fact that People's Portraits are houses by Girton college is thought to represent the college ethos of community and interest in art.
) and rugby. Hockey has a mixed team as well. Cricket, cross country, lacrosse, netball, squash, swimming, table tennis, tennis, volleyball and waterpolo teams are open to both male and female participants. The college has outdoor tennis and indoor squash courts, and a gym
. The indoor-heated swimming pool has been in use since 1900. A one-mile running path leads around the college grounds. College alumni are currently raising money in order to build a new sports pavilion.
), a double-manual harpsichord
and two organs. The chapel's organ is a four-manual, crafted by the Swiss firm St. Martin and acquired in 2002. All undergraduate music students are provided with a practice piano in their room for the duration of their course.
The chapel choir has 28 members and sings Choral Evensong (Sunday) and Compline (Tuesday) in the college chapel every week. It has given well-received performances in Cambridge, other parts of the UK and internationally, such as in Sardinia, Japan and the USA. In summer 2011, the choir performed in Manchester
, Angers
and Paris
. The choir has released six CDs: All in a Garden Green (1995), Cantique (1998), O Porta Caeli (2000), The Ages of Elizabeth (2002), Volume 17 of The Complete New English Hymnal (2004), Res Miranda (2005) and Feast Celestial (2009). Girton grants two undergraduate organ scholarships for ₤300 per annum and 20 choral scholarships for ₤100 per annum each.
society), Geography, Medicine and Law. There is furthermore the Art society, the Film society and the Girton Amateur Dramatic Society (GADS) which produces up to two plays per year. Finally, Girton Amnesty
and the Orchestra on the Hill serve students with specific interest in human rights and music, respectively.
, are the only colleges to charge the same fee for undergraduate accommodation on their premises. The main site offers 348 rooms, rented for the entire year (38 or 39 weeks, depending on the term dates). The weekly rent for the undergraduate cohort of 2010/11 will be £103.25. The rooms range in several quality grades. Every year, a ballot is organised by the JCR
to determine room distribution. To first years, rooms are allocated randomly.
Rooms in the main site and in Wolfson court are arranged along corridors, which makes it possible to walk from one location in the building to another without going outside. Some of the rooms originally designed as sets by Alfred Waterhouse
.
Most undergraduate students live in the main site, and second and third years have the option of living at Wolfson court, or at one of the college houses: The college owns six houses along Girton road, another one located opposite the college on Huntingdon Road
called The Gate and one house located on the college grounds, called The Grange. These houses are available for second and third year undergraduates.
The college applied for a coat-of-arms derived from the arms of its founders and benefactors: Mr H.R. Tomkinson, Madame Bodichon (née Leigh Smith)
, Henriette Maria, Lady Stanley of Alderley
(daughter of the 13th Viscount Dillon
), and Miss Emily Davies
who did not have arms and was instead represented by the Welsh colours
, vert
and argent
. The Rev. E.E. Dorling submitted a great variety of designs to the council, however the task was not easy. "A patch-work of elaborate charges and many colours was to be avoided. Mr Tomkinson's fascinating martlets and Lady Stanley's lion had to be abandoned with regret, as was also a design of green and silver chequers which would have given more prominence to Miss Davies
."
Finally in 1928 the design was accepted by all and the College was granted the following:
, with the sleeves sewn up for a length of eight inches from the shoulder. The proper dress of the gown and cap was observed at the first honorary degree to a woman, given to the Queen
, an LL.D. on 21 October 1948. As academic dress
, gowns were adopted with little changes (the sleeves had to be closed so that even in the summer, when women wear short-sleeved dresses their bare shoulders do not show), and square caps were chosen as head-dress. However, to remember the time when women were not allowed to obtain degrees of the University of Cambridge, no gowns are worn during the college feast, when students in their final year are celebrated.
, the two-word graces are spoken, Benedictus benedicat (May the blessed one give blessing) at the start of the meal, and Benedictus benedicatur (May praise be given to the blessed one) at the end of the meal. There is evidence that the two-word grace was used in 1926, and it is thought the two-word grace was used from the foundation of the college onwards.
The words and the music of the full grace were composed in 1950 by Alison Duke and Jill Vlasto respectively. The grace came after the admission of women to full membership of the university so as to bring Girton in line with the other colleges. It is used on the most formal occasions, such as the Foundation Dinner, and it is sung once a year at the College Feast, which all final year students attend.
Full grace (in Latin):
Full grace (English translation):
The oldest college song, The Girton Pioneers, was composed by several students in Hitchin in 1873. Its purpose was to celebrate the first three students who sat the Tripos examinations in 1871. It is sung with the tune of The British Grenadiers
. This is the first stanza:
More recently, Girtonians have become known for their chant of We are Girton - super Girton! No one likes us, but we don't care!, in imitation of the Millwall
fans' famous song: No one likes us, we don't care. The reference to no one likes us is supposedly due to the relative distance of Girton in comparison to many of the other colleges. The college song I love to go a-bicycling, sung with the tune of I love to go a-wandering also alludes to Girton's 2.5 miles distance from the town centre. It has been sung since the 1960s. For example, the second stanza reads:
Another relatively recent song, composed in 1972 by JCR
president Anna Cocconi, is called Song to Wolfson Court. The annexe of the college was opened in that year. Students often found fault with the modern architecture of the building, which was less spacious and elegant than the main site. The first two stanzas go as follows:
:Category:Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge
:Category:Fellows of Girton College, Cambridge
Colleges of the University of Cambridge
This is a list of the colleges within the University of Cambridge. These colleges are the primary source of accommodation for undergraduates and graduates at the University and at the undergraduate level have responsibility for admitting students and organising their tuition. They also provide...
of the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
. It was England's first residential women's college
Women's college
Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women...
, established in 1869 by Emily Davies
Emily Davies
Sarah Emily Davies was an English feminist, suffragist and a pioneering campaigners fore women's rights to university access. She was born in Southampton, England to an evangelical clergyman and a teacher in 1830, although she spent most of her youth in Gateshead...
and Barbara Bodichon
Barbara Bodichon
Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon was an English educationalist, artist, and a leading early nineteenth century feminist and activist for women's rights.-Early life:...
. The full college status was only received in 1948 and marked the official admittance of women to the university. In 1976, it was Cambridge's first women's college to become coeducational. As of 2010, the college's net assets were valued at £104.5 million, including £49 million of endowment, and in 2009-10 it admitted 674 full-time undergraduates and postgraduates. The college's formal governance is assured by a Mistress, currently Susan J. Smith
Susan J. Smith
Susan Jane Smith is Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge. Smith previously held the Ogilvie Chair of Geography at the University of Edinburgh from 1990–2004 and until 2009 was a professor of geography at Durham University, where she played a key role in establishing the Institute of Advanced Study...
.
The main college site, situated in the village of Girton
Girton, Cambridgeshire
Girton is a village of about 1,600 households, and 4,500 people in Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about two miles to the northwest of Cambridge, and is the home of Cambridge University's Girton College, a pioneer in women's education, which was moved there from a previous site in Hertfordshire in...
about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of the university town, spreads 33 acres of land. Held in typical Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
red brick design, most was built by architect Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse was a British architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture. He is perhaps best known for his design for the Natural History Museum in London, and Manchester Town Hall, although he also built a wide variety of other buildings throughout the...
between 1872 and 1887. It provides extensive sports facilities, including an indoor heated swimming pool, an award-winning library and a chapel with two organs. There is an accommodation annexe, known as Wolfson Court, situated in Cambridge's western suburbs, close to the Centre for Mathematical Sciences
Centre for Mathematical Sciences (Cambridge)
The Centre for Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge houses the university's Faculty of Mathematics, the Isaac Newton Institute, and the Betty and Gordon Moore Library. It is situated on Wilberforce Road, formerly a St...
. This annexe was opened in 1961 and provides housing for graduates, and for second year undergraduates and above.
The college has a tradition of fostering equality that has been kept alive by keeping a balanced male-to-female ratio, distributing student rooms through a ballot system, and enforcing equal-access admittance schemes. It also has a reputation of encouraging talent in music. Several art collections are held on the main site, including People's Portraits, the millennial exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters
Royal Society of Portrait Painters
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters is a British association of portrait painters which holds an annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London...
, and an Egyptian collection containing the world's most reproduced portrait mummy
Fayum mummy portraits
Mummy portraits or Fayum mummy portraits is the modern term given to a type of naturalistic painted portraits on wooden boards attached to mummies from the Coptic period. They belong to the tradition of panel painting, one of the most highly regarded forms of art in the Classical world...
. Among Girton college's notable alumni are the queen Margrethe II of Denmark
Margrethe II of Denmark
Margrethe II is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Denmark. In 1972 she became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margaret I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1375-1412 during the Kalmar Union.-Early life:...
, The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
co-founder Arianna Huffington
Arianna Huffington
Arianna Huffington is a Greek American author and syndicated columnist. She is best known as co-founder of the news website The Huffington Post. A popular conservative commentator in the mid-1990s, she adopted more liberal political beliefs in the late 1990s...
, the comedian/author Sandi Toksvig
Sandi Toksvig
Sandra Brigitte “Sandi” Toksvig is a Danish comedian, author and presenter on British radio and television.-Career:...
, the comedian/broadcaster Phil Hammond
Phil Hammond (comedian)
Dr Philip Hammond is a general practitioner who has become noted as a comedian and commentator on health issues in the United Kingdom. Hammond was educated at Marlborough Grammar School, St John's Comprehensive, Marlborough, and Marlborough College...
and the anthropologist Marilyn Strathern
Marilyn Strathern
Dame Ann Marilyn Strathern, DBE, FBA is a British anthropologist who was Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge from 1998 until her retirement in 2009...
, also Mistress from 1998 to 2009.
1869 to 1976: Pioneering for women's education
The wish to improve women's education developed from the early feminist movement in the 1860s: Emily DaviesEmily Davies
Sarah Emily Davies was an English feminist, suffragist and a pioneering campaigners fore women's rights to university access. She was born in Southampton, England to an evangelical clergyman and a teacher in 1830, although she spent most of her youth in Gateshead...
and Barbara Bodichon
Barbara Bodichon
Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon was an English educationalist, artist, and a leading early nineteenth century feminist and activist for women's rights.-Early life:...
met through their activism at the Society for the Employment of Women
Society for Promoting the Employment of Women
The Society for Promoting the Employment of Women was one of the earliest British women's organisations.The society was established in 1859 by Jessie Boucherett, Barbara Bodichon and Adelaide Anne Proctor to promote the training and employment of women...
and the Englishwoman's Review
Englishwoman's Review
The Englishwoman's Review was a feminist periodical published in the United Kingdom between 1866 and 1910.Until 1869 called in full The Englishwoman's Review: a journal of woman's work, in 1870 it was renamed The Englishwoman's Review of Social and Industrial Questions.One of the first feminist...
. They shared the aim of securing women's admission to university.
In 1862, they met to determine whether girls could be admitted at Oxford or Cambridge to sit the Senior and Junior Local Examinations. A committee was set up to that effect, and in 1865, with the help of Henry Tomkinson, ninety-one girls entered the Cambridge Local Examination. This first concession to women's educational rights met relatively little resistance, as admission to the examination did not imply residence of women at the university site.
In 1869, Henry Sidgwick
Henry Sidgwick
Henry Sidgwick was an English utilitarian philosopher and economist. He was one of the founders and first president of the Society for Psychical Research, a member of the Metaphysical Society, and promoted the higher education of women...
helped institute the Examinations for Women, designed to be more challenging than the Poll examinations, which were special examinations for candidates taking an Ordinary instead of an Honours degree, but easier than the Tripos
Tripos
The University of Cambridge, England, divides the different kinds of honours bachelor's degree by Tripos , plural Triposes. The word has an obscure etymology, but may be traced to the three-legged stool candidates once used to sit on when taking oral examinations...
examinations - an idea heavily opposed by Emily Davies, as she demanded admittance to the Tripos examinations.
The college was established on 16 October 1869 under the name of College for Women at Benslow House, Hitchin
Hitchin
Hitchin is a town in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 30,360.-History:Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce people mentioned in a 7th century document, the Tribal Hidage. The tribal name is Brittonic rather than Old English and derives from *siccā, meaning...
, a convenient distance from Cambridge and London. It was thought to be less 'risky' and controversial to locate the college away from Cambridge in the beginning. In July and October 1869, entrance examinations were held in London, to which 21 candidates came; 16 passed. The first term started on 16 October 1869, when five students began their studies. The first three students to unofficially sit the Tripos exams
Tripos
The University of Cambridge, England, divides the different kinds of honours bachelor's degree by Tripos , plural Triposes. The word has an obscure etymology, but may be traced to the three-legged stool candidates once used to sit on when taking oral examinations...
in Lent term
Lent term
Lent term is the name of the spring academic term at the following British universities:*University of Cambridge*Kings College London*London School of Economics and Political Science*Exeter University*University of Lancaster...
1873, Rachel Cook and Louisa Lumsden, who both took the Classical Tripos
Classical Tripos
The Classical Tripos is the taught course in classics at the University of Cambridge, equivalent to Literae Humaniores at Oxford. It is traditionally a three year degree, but for those who have not studied Latin and Greek at school a four year course has been introduced...
, as well as Sarah Woodhead, who took the Mathematical Tripos, were known as The Pioneers.
In 1871, with £7000 raised, land for building was to be bought either at Hitchin or near Cambridge. By 1872, sixteen acres of land from the present site were purchased near the village of Girton
Girton, Cambridgeshire
Girton is a village of about 1,600 households, and 4,500 people in Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about two miles to the northwest of Cambridge, and is the home of Cambridge University's Girton College, a pioneer in women's education, which was moved there from a previous site in Hertfordshire in...
. The college was then renamed Girton College, and opened at the new location in October 1873. The buildings had cost £12,000, and consisted of a single block which comprised the east half of Old Wing. At the time, thirteen students were admitted.
In 1876, Old Wing was completed, and Taylor's Knob, the college laboratory and half of Hospital Wing built. In 1884, Hospital Wing was completed, and Orchard Wing, Stanley Library and Old Kitchens added. At that time, Girton had 80 students. By 1902, Tower, Chapel and Woodlands Wing as well as the Chapel and the Hall were finished, which allowed the college to accommodate 180 students.
In 1921, a committee was appointed to draft a charter for the college. By summer 1923 the committee completed the task, and on 21 August 1924 the King
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
granted the charter to "the Mistress and Governors of Girton College" as a Body Corporate.
Girton was not officially a college yet, nor were its members part of the University. Girton and Newnham
Newnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1871 by Henry Sidgwick, and was the second Cambridge college to admit women after Girton College...
were classed as "recognised institutions for the higher education for women", not colleges of the university. On 27 April 1948, women were admitted to full membership of the University of Cambridge, and Girton College received the status of a college of the university.
1976 to present: Pioneering for gender equality
Social and cultural changes in the post-war periodAftermath of World War II
After World War II a new era of tensions emerged based on opposing ideologies, mutual distrust between nations, and a nuclear arms race. This emerged into an environment dominated by a international balance of power that had changed significantly from the status quo before the war...
lead to an increasing number of British universities to become co-educational. In Cambridge, Churchill college
Churchill College, Cambridge
Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.In 1958, a Trust was established with Sir Winston Churchill as its Chairman of Trustees, to build and endow a college for 60 fellows and 540 Students as a national and Commonwealth memorial to Winston Churchill; its...
, King's college
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
and Clare college
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...
were the first men's colleges to admit women in 1972. Girton had already amended its statutes in 1971 in such a way as to allow the admission of men should the Governing Body vote in favour at an unspecified date in the future. The decision to become mixed came in November 1976, when the Governing Body voted to act upon the statute, which made Girton the first women's college to admit men. In January 1977, the first two male Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
s, Frank Wilkinson and John Marks, arrived, followed by male graduate students in 1978, and, finally, undergraduates in October 1979. One reason for the change was that the first mixed colleges in Cambridge immediately shot to the top of the Tripos league tables, as they seemed to attract bright students, who preferred to stay in co-educational colleges.
Girton became co-residential as well, which meant that male and female students shared the same facilities. Only one all-female corridor in which rooms were reserved exclusively for women remained. Upon the arrival of male undergraduates, JCR and MCR
Common Room (university)
In some universities in the United Kingdom — particularly collegiate universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and Durham — students and the academic body are organised into common rooms...
social facilities had to be enlarged. The college bar was opened in 1979 as well as rugby, cricket and soccer pitches provided from 1982 onwards.
On the Tompkins Table
Tompkins Table
The Tompkins Table is an annual ranking that lists the Colleges of the University of Cambridge in order of their undergraduate students' performances in that year's examinations...
, Girton has averaged at about rank 20 out of 29 colleges in the past 15 years. In 2011, it came 23rd, with 16.3% of all undergraduate students gaining a First class
British undergraduate degree classification
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading scheme for undergraduate degrees in the United Kingdom...
.
Mistresses
The MistressMaster (college)
A Master is the title of the head of some colleges and other educational institutions. This applies especially at some colleges and institutions at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge .- See also :* Master A Master (or in female form Mistress) is the title of the head of some...
is the formal head of the college. Her main task is to exercise general superintendence over the college's affairs. She presides the College Council and several college committees. The Mistress is elected by the Council, and has to reside at the college precincts for at least two thirds of each term, or 210 days of each academic year. Ever since the establishment of Girton college, this position has been held by a female, even though male candidates have had equal rights for running for the office since 1976.
Main site
Architecture
The initial and defining parts of the college were designed by Alfred WaterhouseAlfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse was a British architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture. He is perhaps best known for his design for the Natural History Museum in London, and Manchester Town Hall, although he also built a wide variety of other buildings throughout the...
: The architect built the main site with the Old Wing, the Hospital Wing, the Orchard Wing, the Stanley library and Old Kitchens between 1873 and 1886, as well as the parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
ted gatehouse tower in 1886/1887. The red brick design (English bond
Brickwork
Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar to build up brick structures such as walls. Brickwork is also used to finish corners, door, and window openings, etc...
) is typical of Victorian architecture
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
, and is enhanced by black mortar courses and terracotta details to the eaves, windows and doorways. The roofs are steeply pitched with crested tiles. In 1913, the site consisted of 33 acres.
Library
Girton's first library, the Stanley library, was established in 1884 with a donation from Lady Stanley of Alderley. It was considered to be luxurious and comfortable, as it contained stained-glass windows, leather furniture and a large chimney. Books were gathered mostly through donations. By 1932 the collection had become so large that a new library was opened. Designed by Michael Waterhouse, son of Paul WaterhousePaul Waterhouse
Paul Waterhouse, , was a British architect.He was son and business partner of Alfred Waterhouse and father of Michael Waterhouse, who were all architects who designed buildings in England...
and grandson of Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse was a British architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture. He is perhaps best known for his design for the Natural History Museum in London, and Manchester Town Hall, although he also built a wide variety of other buildings throughout the...
and Giles Gilbert Scott
Giles Gilbert Scott
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, OM, FRIBA was an English architect known for his work on such buildings as Liverpool Cathedral and Battersea Power Station and designing the iconic red telephone box....
, the new library consists of an upper reading room, crafted in oak, and a ground floor, in which the book collections are held. An annexe containing archives was added in 1967. The Duke building, a modern library extension offering IT facilities and a reading room, was openend in 2005. Named after Alison Duke, a fellow and major donor, the building was designed by Allies and Morrison
Allies and Morrison
Allies and Morrison is a London-based architectural practice founded by Bob Allies and Graham Morrison in 1984. The practice is now headed up by 10 Partners and employs around 210 people in their purpose designed studios at 85 Southwark Street...
. It won a national RIBA
Riba
Riba means one of the senses of "usury" . Riba is forbidden in Islamic economic jurisprudence fiqh and considered as a major sin...
award in 2006, a SCONUL
SCONUL
SCONUL is the membership organisation for all academic and national libraries in the UK and Ireland.-History:...
Library Design Award in 2007, and a Civic Trust
Civic Trust
The Civic Trust of England was a charitable organisation founded in 1957. It ceased operations in 2009 and went into administration due to lack of funds/...
Award in 2007.
Chapel
Emily Davis first mooted plans for a chapel in Girton college in 1890; however, building only started in 1899. The chapel, which was designed by AlfredAlfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse was a British architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture. He is perhaps best known for his design for the Natural History Museum in London, and Manchester Town Hall, although he also built a wide variety of other buildings throughout the...
and Paul Waterhouse
Paul Waterhouse
Paul Waterhouse, , was a British architect.He was son and business partner of Alfred Waterhouse and father of Michael Waterhouse, who were all architects who designed buildings in England...
, was completed in 1901, and inaugurated on 23 May 1902. It seats about 200 people and the interior is held very simply with the exception of oak carvings at the Chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
end and on two long desks in front of the choir seats, which were crafted by students and friends of the college.
In 1910 came a fine Harrison & Harrison
Harrison & Harrison
Harrison & Harrison Ltd are a British company that make and restore pipe organs, based in Durham and established in 1861. They are well known for their work on instruments such as King's College Cambridge, Westminster Abbey and the Royal Festival Hall....
organ, the purchase of which was made possible through donations from students and friends of the college. The organ was rebuilt in 1974 and can still be found in the college chapel. A second organ was acquired in 2002.
In 1952, the year of the jubilee of the inauguration, a stained glass window was erected. In the Girton Review, the college's official termly newsletter, from Michaelmas term
Michaelmas term
Michaelmas term is the first academic term of the academic years of the following British and Irish universities:*University of Cambridge*University of Oxford*University of St...
1955, a description of the glass window can be found:
The centre light depicts Our Lord in Majesty, as it were the culmination of the Tree of Jesse and in the form described in the book of Revelation. The Lamb who may alone open the book sealed with seven seals is shown at the foot of the light, while the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove is shown at its apex. The flowers and fruit in the centre light represent the Tree of Jesse. The two lights flanking that in the centre depict scenes from the Passion of Our Lord. On the left are the entry into Jerusalem, the Betrayal of Judas and the Ecce Homo: on the right, the Scourging, Christ bearing His Cross, the Crucifixion. The scenes are linked with a pattern of leaves. Palm is used for the Entry into Jerusalem, and among other plants represented are the Star of Bethlehem, the Passion Flower and the Thorn. The lowest medallion on the right, portraying the crucifixion, is darker then the others, suggesting the darkness that was over the land. The uppermost tracery light depicts the Pelican in her Piety, and the remaining tracery lights contain the symbols of the Passion; the betrayal money, Peter’s lantern, pillar and scourges, dice, ladder and nails, hammer and pincers, crown of thorns and chalice.
In the original statement of aims and scope for the 'Proposed College for Women' in 1867, it was announced that religious services and instruction would be in accordance with the principles of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, but where conscientious objections were entertained, attendance would not be necessary. A modified version of this statement appears in the modern college statutes, where it reads that " services in the Chapel shall normally be held in accordance with the practice of the Church of England, but other religious services may also be held there."
At the outset, Chapel was used for morning prayers, usually said by the Mistress, and for Sunday services, taken by clergy of various denominations. Today, at least two services are held on a weekly basis: Evensong
Evening Prayer (Anglican)
Evening Prayer is a liturgy in use in the Anglican Communion and celebrated in the late afternoon or evening...
on Sunday at 5:30pm, and Compline
Compline
Compline is the final church service of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours. The English word Compline is derived from the Latin completorium, as Compline is the completion of the working day. The word was first used in this sense about the beginning of the 6th century by St...
on Tuesday at 10pm. They are organised by the college's part-time chaplain, who is being assisted by student chapel wardens. The Mistress holds general responsibility in regard to services in the chapel, which she partly delegates to the Chapel Committee.
Gardens
When the land was bought, trees were planted on bare land. Today, the gardens of Girton are large compared to those of other Cambridge colleges. They became a preoccupation for the college in 1875 when Miss Davies handed over the responsibility for developing the gardens to Miss Bernard. A pond, which originated from excavations for the construction of the Stanley library and the Orchard Wing, dates from 1884. A 1983 report of the college ornithologists' society found sixty species of birds, and a moth report from 1986 recorded over 100 species. The Fellows' garden was redesigned in 1992 and hosts a green theatre. Outdoor plays are no longer performed in the Fellows' garden because of noise from the A14. A rare breed of black squirrelBlack squirrel
The black squirrel is a melanistic subgroup of the Eastern Grey Squirrel. They are common in the Midwestern United States, Ontario, Quebec, and in parts of the Northeastern United States and Britain.-Habitat:...
s can sometimes be seen in Girton.
Lawrence room
In 1934, the Lawrence room on the college main site was dedicated to be the college museum. Named after Girton natural scientist Amy Lawrence, it houses an Anglo-SaxonAnglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
, an Eyptian
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
and a Mediterranean collection. Before the establishment of the Lawrence room in 1934, antiquities had been stored in and around the college library. Donations allowed for refurbishments in 1946, 1961, 1991 and 2008. In 2010/11, Lawrence room is opened once a week to visitors. The exhibitions are free of charge.
The Anglo-Saxon collection stems from excavations on the college main site made during construction work in 1881 and 1886, when an Anglo-Saxon cemetery, presumably from the fifth and sixth century AD
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
, was discovered. Most findings, such as domestic utensils and personal items, were long held in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge
The MAA : Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge houses the University's collections of local antiquities, together with archaeological and ethnographic artefacts from around the world...
in Cambridge. Some were only returned to the college as late as in 2008.
The highlight of the Egyptian collection consists of a portrait mummy bearing the inscription Hermionê Grammatikê (translation: 'Hermione the literary lady' or 'Hermione the language teacher'). It is one of the most widely reproduced and famous portrait mummies
Fayum mummy portraits
Mummy portraits or Fayum mummy portraits is the modern term given to a type of naturalistic painted portraits on wooden boards attached to mummies from the Coptic period. They belong to the tradition of panel painting, one of the most highly regarded forms of art in the Classical world...
. Dating from the first century AD, it was discovered in the Roman cemetery of Hawara
Hawara
Hawara is an archaeological site of Ancient Egypt, south of the site of Crocodilopolis at the entrance to the depression of the Fayyum oasis. The first excavations at the site were made by Karl Lepsius, in 1843...
by the archeologist Flinders Petrie in 1911. 'Hermione' is thought to be an 18- to 25-year-old girl from a wealthy background. Petrie and his wife Hilda wanted the mummy to go to a women's college due to its inscription. Funds were gathered, and in 1911 'Hermione' moved to Girton college, where she has remained since then. The Egyptian collection also holds four mummified baby crocodiles, which were thought to bring favour of Sobek
Sobek
Sobek , and in Greek, Suchos was the deification of crocodiles, as crocodiles were deeply feared in the nation so dependent on the Nile River...
, the ancient god of fertility and water. They were presented to the college by Afred Waterhouse senior, the father of architect Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse was a British architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture. He is perhaps best known for his design for the Natural History Museum in London, and Manchester Town Hall, although he also built a wide variety of other buildings throughout the...
.
The Mediterranean collection offers both Classical
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
and pre-Classical material. A collection of Greek Tanagra figurine
Tanagra figurine
The Tanagra figurines were a mold-cast type of Greek terracotta figurines produced from the later fourth century BCE, primarily in the Boeotian town of Tanagra. They were coated with a liquid white slip before firing and were sometimes painted afterwards in naturalistic tints with watercolors, such...
s, which date to the fourth and third century BC
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
, form the most remarkable pieces of this collection.
People's Portraits
Since 2002, Girton college houses the millennial exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait PaintersRoyal Society of Portrait Painters
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters is a British association of portrait painters which holds an annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London...
, entitled People's Portraits. The exhibition, aimed at showing 'ordinary' British people at the verge of the 21st century, toured Britain in 2000. Girton then won the bid to house the collection, to which new works are added annually. All pictures were created by members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. The collection currently holds 45 paintings, and artists include Anthony Morris, Daphne Todd
Daphne Todd
Daphne Todd OBE is an English artist who was the first female President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters from 1994–2000, and who won the BP Portrait Award 2010 with a painting of her 100-year-old mother's corpse....
, June Mendoza and Alastair Adams, the current president of the Society. Being one of the largest and thus most diverse colleges in Cambridge, the fact that People's Portraits are houses by Girton college is thought to represent the college ethos of community and interest in art.
Wolfson Court
Wolfson Court is an annexe to Girton College built on a three acre site. It was funded by the 1969 Centenary Appeal, and designed in 1971 by Cambridge architects David Roberts and Geoffrey Clarke. It has its own catering and accommodation facilities (106 single student rooms). Queen Elizabeth Court, which is linked to the main building and comprises two blocks of three linked houses (36 large single student rooms), was built for the purpose of graduate accommodation in 1992. It is frequently used as a location for conferences. The site also contains a nursery, operated by Kids Unlimited.Sport teams
Girton college has a variety of student-run sports teams and it provides its own sports pitches for cricket, football, hockey, lacrosse, netball and volleyball. An extensive refurbishment of the pitches was completed in 2009. There are men's and women's teams for badminton, football, hockey, rowing (Girton College Boat ClubGirton College Boat Club
Girton College Boat Club is the rowing club for members of Girton College, Cambridge. Girton was originally a college for women only, but first allowed men in 1977. A men's crew first appeared in 1980 in both the Lent and May Bumps, rising to the 1st division in the Lent Bumps by 1995. Since then,...
) and rugby. Hockey has a mixed team as well. Cricket, cross country, lacrosse, netball, squash, swimming, table tennis, tennis, volleyball and waterpolo teams are open to both male and female participants. The college has outdoor tennis and indoor squash courts, and a gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
. The indoor-heated swimming pool has been in use since 1900. A one-mile running path leads around the college grounds. College alumni are currently raising money in order to build a new sports pavilion.
Music
The college has a strong history of music, which is supported by the university's Chairman of the Faculty Board of Music, also Director of Studies in Music at Girton. In the last decade, the college has consistently been within the top three colleges for music in the university. In 2005, the highest ever first-class honours in the music Tripos was attained by a Girtonian. The student-run and fellow-led Girton College Music Society hosts weekly concerts in term time, as well as termly orchestral concerts. The college provides four practice grand pianos (including a Steinway Model BSteinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway , is an American and German manufacturer of handmade pianos, founded 1853 in Manhattan in New York City by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg...
), a double-manual harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
and two organs. The chapel's organ is a four-manual, crafted by the Swiss firm St. Martin and acquired in 2002. All undergraduate music students are provided with a practice piano in their room for the duration of their course.
The chapel choir has 28 members and sings Choral Evensong (Sunday) and Compline (Tuesday) in the college chapel every week. It has given well-received performances in Cambridge, other parts of the UK and internationally, such as in Sardinia, Japan and the USA. In summer 2011, the choir performed in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Angers
Angers
Angers is the main city in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France about south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins....
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The choir has released six CDs: All in a Garden Green (1995), Cantique (1998), O Porta Caeli (2000), The Ages of Elizabeth (2002), Volume 17 of The Complete New English Hymnal (2004), Res Miranda (2005) and Feast Celestial (2009). Girton grants two undergraduate organ scholarships for ₤300 per annum and 20 choral scholarships for ₤100 per annum each.
Societies
Admitting undergraduate students studying all subjects except for the Education Tripos, the college hosts a variety of student-run societies which cater for a wide range of interests. Six subjects have their own society: Biology, History, Economics (Joan RobinsonJoan Robinson
Joan Violet Robinson FBA was a post-Keynesian economist who was well known for her knowledge of monetary economics and wide-ranging contributions to economic theory...
society), Geography, Medicine and Law. There is furthermore the Art society, the Film society and the Girton Amateur Dramatic Society (GADS) which produces up to two plays per year. Finally, Girton Amnesty
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
and the Orchestra on the Hill serve students with specific interest in human rights and music, respectively.
Accommodation
Undergraduates
It is customary for Cambridge colleges to provide accommodation for the first three year undergraduate students. Girton, along with Newnham CollegeNewnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1871 by Henry Sidgwick, and was the second Cambridge college to admit women after Girton College...
, are the only colleges to charge the same fee for undergraduate accommodation on their premises. The main site offers 348 rooms, rented for the entire year (38 or 39 weeks, depending on the term dates). The weekly rent for the undergraduate cohort of 2010/11 will be £103.25. The rooms range in several quality grades. Every year, a ballot is organised by the JCR
Common Room (university)
In some universities in the United Kingdom — particularly collegiate universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and Durham — students and the academic body are organised into common rooms...
to determine room distribution. To first years, rooms are allocated randomly.
Rooms in the main site and in Wolfson court are arranged along corridors, which makes it possible to walk from one location in the building to another without going outside. Some of the rooms originally designed as sets by Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse was a British architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture. He is perhaps best known for his design for the Natural History Museum in London, and Manchester Town Hall, although he also built a wide variety of other buildings throughout the...
.
Most undergraduate students live in the main site, and second and third years have the option of living at Wolfson court, or at one of the college houses: The college owns six houses along Girton road, another one located opposite the college on Huntingdon Road
Huntingdon Road
Huntingdon Road is a major arterial road linking central Cambridge, England with Junction 14 of the M11 motorway and the A14 northwest from the city centre. The road is designated the A1307....
called The Gate and one house located on the college grounds, called The Grange. These houses are available for second and third year undergraduates.
Graduates and fellows
Graduate students have the option of either living in Wolfson court or in one of the seven graduate houses the college owns. They are located on Huntingdon Road, Chesterton Road, Albert Street, Thornton Road and Park Parade, all in central Cambridge. Furthermore, there are four flats available at Cockcroft place in Clarkson road. One house on Huntingdon Road is used to accommodate research fellows.Arms
Barbara Bodichon
Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon was an English educationalist, artist, and a leading early nineteenth century feminist and activist for women's rights.-Early life:...
, Henriette Maria, Lady Stanley of Alderley
Edward Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley
Edward John Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley PC , known as The Lord Eddisbury between 1848 and 1850, was a British politician.-Background:...
(daughter of the 13th Viscount Dillon
Henry Dillon, 13th Viscount Dillon
Henry Augustus Dillon-Lee, 13th Viscount Dillon was an Irish peer, writer and MP for Harwich and for County Mayo.His daughter Henrietta Maria married Edward John Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley.- Biography :...
), and Miss Emily Davies
Emily Davies
Sarah Emily Davies was an English feminist, suffragist and a pioneering campaigners fore women's rights to university access. She was born in Southampton, England to an evangelical clergyman and a teacher in 1830, although she spent most of her youth in Gateshead...
who did not have arms and was instead represented by the Welsh colours
Flag of Wales
The Flag of Wales consists of a red dragon passant on a green and white field. As with many heraldic charges, the exact representation of the dragon is not standardised and many renderings exist....
, vert
Vert
The colour green is commonly found in modern flags and coat of arms, and to a lesser extent also in the classical heraldry of the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period....
and argent
Argent
In heraldry, argent is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures, called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it...
. The Rev. E.E. Dorling submitted a great variety of designs to the council, however the task was not easy. "A patch-work of elaborate charges and many colours was to be avoided. Mr Tomkinson's fascinating martlets and Lady Stanley's lion had to be abandoned with regret, as was also a design of green and silver chequers which would have given more prominence to Miss Davies
Emily Davies
Sarah Emily Davies was an English feminist, suffragist and a pioneering campaigners fore women's rights to university access. She was born in Southampton, England to an evangelical clergyman and a teacher in 1830, although she spent most of her youth in Gateshead...
."
Finally in 1928 the design was accepted by all and the College was granted the following:
We … grant and assign unto The Mistress and Governors of Girton College the Arms following that is to say: Quarterly VertVertThe colour green is commonly found in modern flags and coat of arms, and to a lesser extent also in the classical heraldry of the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period....
and ArgentArgentIn heraldry, argent is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures, called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it...
a cross flory countercharged a RoundelRoundelA roundel in heraldry is a disc; the term is also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of different colours.-Heraldry:...
ErmineErmine (heraldry)Ermine is a heraldic fur representing the winter coat of the stoat . Many skins would be sewn together to make a luxurious garment, producing a pattern of small black spots on a white field...
and in the second and third quarters a CrescentCrescentIn art and symbolism, a crescent is generally the shape produced when a circular disk has a segment of another circle removed from its edge, so that what remains is a shape enclosed by two circular arcs of different diameters which intersect at two points .In astronomy, a crescent...
GulesGulesIn heraldry, gules is the tincture with the colour red, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of vertical lines or else marked with gu. as an abbreviation....
, … to be borne and used for ever, hereafter by the Mistress and Governors of Girton College and by their Successors upon Seals Shields or otherwise according to the Laws of Arms.
Gown
The college gown has the standard pattern of an undergraduate gown at the University of CambridgeAcademic dress of the University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge has a long tradition of academic dress, which it traditionally refers to as academical dress . Almost every degree which is awarded by the University has its own distinct gown in addition to having its own hood...
, with the sleeves sewn up for a length of eight inches from the shoulder. The proper dress of the gown and cap was observed at the first honorary degree to a woman, given to the Queen
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
, an LL.D. on 21 October 1948. As academic dress
Academic dress of the University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge has a long tradition of academic dress, which it traditionally refers to as academical dress . Almost every degree which is awarded by the University has its own distinct gown in addition to having its own hood...
, gowns were adopted with little changes (the sleeves had to be closed so that even in the summer, when women wear short-sleeved dresses their bare shoulders do not show), and square caps were chosen as head-dress. However, to remember the time when women were not allowed to obtain degrees of the University of Cambridge, no gowns are worn during the college feast, when students in their final year are celebrated.
Graces
Girton College has a traditional two-word grace and a more recent full grace, both in Latin. On regular formal occasions, such as Formal HallsFormal (university)
Formal Hall or Formal Meal is the meal held at some of the oldest , universities in the United Kingdom at which students dress in formal attire and often gowns to dine...
, the two-word graces are spoken, Benedictus benedicat (May the blessed one give blessing) at the start of the meal, and Benedictus benedicatur (May praise be given to the blessed one) at the end of the meal. There is evidence that the two-word grace was used in 1926, and it is thought the two-word grace was used from the foundation of the college onwards.
The words and the music of the full grace were composed in 1950 by Alison Duke and Jill Vlasto respectively. The grace came after the admission of women to full membership of the university so as to bring Girton in line with the other colleges. It is used on the most formal occasions, such as the Foundation Dinner, and it is sung once a year at the College Feast, which all final year students attend.
Full grace (in Latin):
Benedic Domine, nobis et omnibus huius collegii alumnis,
donisque tuis quae de munificentia tua sumus iam sumpturi;
et illis salubriter nutriti debitas tibi gratias pie reddamus.
Custodi, quaesumus, Domine, filios et filias
et consule necessitatibus animarum et corporum,
hoc ipso momento et in aeternum.
Full grace (English translation):
Bless us, O Lord, and all members of this college,
and also thy gifts, which of thy bounty we are about to receive;
and having been wholesomely nourished by the same let us dutifully render to thee the thanks that are owed.
Protect, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy sons and daughters and provide for the needs both of our souls and bodies,
at this present time and for evermore.
Songs
The British Grenadiers
The British Grenadiers is a marching song for the grenadier units of the British and Commonwealth militaries, the tune of which dates from the 17th century. It is the Regimental Quick March of the Grenadier Guards, Corps of Royal Engineers, the Honourable Artillery Company and the Royal Regiment of...
. This is the first stanza:
Some talk of Senior Wranglers,
And some of Double Firsts,
And truly of their species
These are not the worst;
But of all the Cambridge heroes
There’s none that can compare
With Woodhead, Cook and Lumsden,
The Girton Pioneers.
More recently, Girtonians have become known for their chant of We are Girton - super Girton! No one likes us, but we don't care!, in imitation of the Millwall
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
fans' famous song: No one likes us, we don't care. The reference to no one likes us is supposedly due to the relative distance of Girton in comparison to many of the other colleges. The college song I love to go a-bicycling, sung with the tune of I love to go a-wandering also alludes to Girton's 2.5 miles distance from the town centre. It has been sung since the 1960s. For example, the second stanza reads:
But when I climb up Castle Hill
In the wind and squall
A strong desire does then me fill
To be-e at New Hall.
Chorus:
Fol-de-re, Fol-de-ra,
Fol-de-re, Fol-de-ra-a-a-a-
.... To be-e at New Hall.
Another relatively recent song, composed in 1972 by JCR
Common Room (university)
In some universities in the United Kingdom — particularly collegiate universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and Durham — students and the academic body are organised into common rooms...
president Anna Cocconi, is called Song to Wolfson Court. The annexe of the college was opened in that year. Students often found fault with the modern architecture of the building, which was less spacious and elegant than the main site. The first two stanzas go as follows:
In a wheat field, west of Cambridge,
Off a lane called Clarkson Road,
Wolfson Court is standing proudly;
Let its story now be told
Hundred rooms with running water,
Could you ever ask for more?
Not unless you choose a boy-friend,
Meas’ring over five foot four!
Eponymous institutions
- Girton Grammar School, Bendigo, VictoriaBendigo, VictoriaBendigo is a major regional city in the state of Victoria, Australia, located very close to the geographical centre of the state and approximately north west of the state capital Melbourne. It is the second largest inland city and fourth most populous city in the state. The estimated urban...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... - Girton Hall, University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
See also
- Girton College Boat ClubGirton College Boat ClubGirton College Boat Club is the rowing club for members of Girton College, Cambridge. Girton was originally a college for women only, but first allowed men in 1977. A men's crew first appeared in 1980 in both the Lent and May Bumps, rising to the 1st division in the Lent Bumps by 1995. Since then,...
:Category:Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge
:Category:Fellows of Girton College, Cambridge