Fitzwilliam College is unique in Cambridge. It is not an ancient foundation but exists thanks to a University scheme to encourage student access in Victorian times. In 1869 the first students were admitted to the University without the need to join and reside in a college – at that time an expensive proposition. Known as ‘Non-Collegiate’ students, these young men could attend lectures and take degrees while living in private lodgings. Their teaching was organised from Fitzwilliam House, situated opposite the famous Museum.
When, in 1887, these Non-Collegiate students decided that their various sports clubs needed a distinct identity, they voted to be called ‘Fitzwilliam’ – creating both the name and the shield which the College uses today.
With the introduction of free university education after the Second World War it was suggested that Fitzwilliam should be disbanded. But the support of its students and alumni was mobilised and eventually the University agreed that Fitzwilliam should become a fully-fledged college and the present site was acquired. The original buildings (designed by Sir Denys Lasdun and opened in 1963) form the core of the College today.
The magnificent College grounds were originally the gardens and park of a fine Regency house called The Grove. Emma Darwin, who lived here after the death of her husband, Charles, delighted in the gardens and trees and wrote about them in her diaries. Now fully integrated into the College, The Grove houses the Fellows’ Senior Combination Room and the Master’s Study as well as rooms for graduate students.
Award-winning, inspirational new buildings (including the unusual circular Chapel designed by Sir Richard MacCormac, and the Library & IT Centre designed by Edward Cullinan Architects and opened in 2010) have been added in recent years, making the site a must-see for students of twentieth- and twenty-first-century architecture. The College now fills the tranquil, wooded site and provides superlative accommodation for its large student community.