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Selwyn College is a college 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.

With an explicitly Christian foundation, Selwyn remains relatively poor in cash terms, with a small financial endowment which is amongst the lowest of Cambridge colleges at £19m (2003).

History

Selwyn's first undergraduates joined the original Master and twelve other Fellows at the then "Public Hostel" of the university in 1882. Formally approved as a College on March 14, 1958, Selwyn, in common with other Cambridge colleges, originally admitted only men, but was of the first colleges to become mixed when women were admitted from 1976. Selwyn College now has three main courts, Old Court, Cripps Court, and Ann's Court, with some ancillary buildings, including houses serving as student hostels on Grange Road, West Road and Sidgwick Avenue. Selwyn's location was originally considered somewhat remote from the centre of the university. With the growth of departmental buildings, libraries and new faculties, however, Selwyn now neighbours the Sidgwick Site, affording Selwynites the easiest access of any Cambridge college to the many faculty buildings housed there. 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 most 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 Ann Dobson, 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).

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.

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.

Arms

Selwyn College began to use its Arms long before an official grant by the College of Arms (they are displayed above the main gateway, built in 1881, and on the Common Seal, first used in 1882). Arms were finally applied for and granted in the 1960s, and are emblazoned as follows:

Per pale Gules and Argent a Cross potent quadrate Argent and Or between four crosses paty those to the dexter Argent those to the sinister Or For the See of Lichfield inpaling Argent on a Bend cotised Sable three Annulets Or for Selwyn all within a Bordure Sable And for Crest On a Wreath Or & Purpure In front of a Book erect bound Gules edged clasped and garnished Or a representation of the Pastoral Staff of Bishop Selwyn.

The dexter half of the arms (those of the See of Lichfield) are unusual, with or (gold) countercharged on argent (silver), violating the rule of tincture, which prohibits a metal to be charged with another metal. This is thought to refer to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which also famously violates this rule. The Pastoral Staff of Bishop Selwyn is based on a hardwood Māori staff which is held in the College Chapel.

The College was also granted a badge, A Mitre Or within an Annulet Purpure.

The College motto is a biblical quotation from 1 Corinthians, chapter 16, verse 13, in Greek, "ΑΝΔΡΙΖΕΣΘΕ",translated in the King James Version as "quit ye like men"Douay Rheims version, "do manfully"*" target="_blank" >or, in the New American Bible, "be courageous"[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/__PZL.HTM). The motto also appears as part of a longer quotation over the main College gate.

Famous alumni

See also: Category:Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge

See also

External links

Colleges of the University of Cambridge | 1882 establishments

Selwyn College (Cambridge)

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Selwyn College, Cambridge".

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