St Catharine's College, Cambridge facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St Catharine's College
Main Court, St Catharine's College
Arms of St Catharine's College Blazon: Gules, a Catharine wheel Or.
University	University of Cambridge
Location	Trumpington Street (map)
Full name	The College or Hall of St Catharine the Virgin in the University of Cambridge
Latin name	Aula sancte Katerine virginis infra Universitatem Cantabrigie
Abbreviation	CTH
Founder	Robert Woodlark
Established	1473; 552 years ago (1473)
Named after	Catherine of Alexandria
Previous names	Katharine Hall (1473–1860)
Sister college	Worcester College, Oxford
Master	Sir John Benger
Undergraduates	493 (2022-23)
Postgraduates	296 (2022-23)
Map
Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).

St Catharine's College is one of the colleges that make up the University of Cambridge in England. It was started in 1473 as Katharine Hall and changed to its current name in 1860. People often call the college "Catz".

The college is in the old city centre of Cambridge. It is just south of King's College and across the street from Corpus Christi College. St Catharine's is special because its main court is open towards Trumpington Street, instead of being a closed square.

Life at St Catharine's College

The community at St Catharine's College includes about 1000 people. These are students, both undergraduate and graduate, as well as teachers (called Fellows) and staff.

The college is led by a Master. A group of Fellows, led by the Master, helps run the college. Since it began in 1473, St Catharine's has had 40 Masters. The current Master, Sir John Benger, started his role on October 1, 2023.

History of St Catharine's

How the College Started

A map of the College in 1897, showing how it grew over time

Robert Woodlark, who was in charge of King's College, began planning a new college in 1459. He bought land to build it. He spent a lot of his own money on this project.

At first, the college was very small, with only three teachers. They were meant to study only theology (the study of religion) and philosophy (the study of knowledge and existence). The college was officially started as "Lady Katharine Hall" in 1473.

King Edward IV gave the college its official royal document in 1475. Woodlark might have chosen the name "Katharine" to honour Henry VI's mother, Catherine of Valois. But it's more likely it was named after Catherine of Alexandria. She was a patron saint of learning during the Renaissance. The college was formally founded on St Catherine's Day, November 25, 1473. The Catharine wheel, a symbol of the saint, is on the college's coat of arms.

St Catharine's, seen from Trumpington Street

The college didn't have many resources at first. Woodlark cared most about the teachers, so for many years, there were no undergraduate students. But by 1550, more junior students joined. The college then focused on teaching undergraduates.

Growing and Changing

In the 1600s, St Catharine's was still one of the smallest colleges. However, smart leaders and generous people helped the college grow. As more teachers and students joined, the college needed more space. New buildings were added in 1622. By 1630, the college started to replace its old, worn-out buildings with new ones.

In 1637, the college got hold of the George Inn on Trumpington Street. Behind this inn was a stable run by Thomas Hobson. He was famous for only letting people rent the horse that had been in the stable the longest. This led to the saying "Hobson's choice", which means you have to "take it or leave it".

Between 1675 and 1757, the college was rebuilt into a large three-sided court. Only a few colleges at Oxford and Cambridge have this design. There have been many ideas to build on the fourth side of the court, but it remains open.

The College gates

In 1860, the college got new rules and officially took its current name. In 1966, a big building project took place. This created a larger dining hall, new kitchens, and student rooms. More rooms were built in 1981 and 1998. In 2013, the college finished building a new lecture theatre, a college bar, and a common room for junior students.

In 1979, St Catharine's started to welcome female students. In 2006, Dame Jean Thomas became the first woman to be the Master of the college.

In 2015, St Catharine's was the first college in Cambridge to have a gender-neutral dress code for formal dinners.

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, St Catharine's helped women escaping domestic abuse. They worked with Cambridge Women's Aid to provide college rooms for women and children.

From 2020 to 2022, the college's main buildings on Trumpington Street were updated. A temporary hall, called "Catzebo," was put up during this time. The name "Catzebo" combines "Catz" (the college's nickname) and "gazebo." The new areas officially opened in October 2022.

Academics at St Catharine's

St Catharine's College Boat Club during the May Bumps boat races

St Catharine's usually ranks well in the Tompkins Table. This is an annual ranking of Cambridge colleges based on how well their students do in exams. In 2005, the college reached the top of this table for the first time. Between 1997 and 2010, it was, on average, the 9th best out of 29 colleges.

Student Life and Activities

Chapel at the college

St Catharine's has a friendly competition with Queens' College. This started when the main court of St Catharine's was built. It made one side of Queens' College face a back alley.

The college is known for its strong teams in hockey and racquet sports. It has good facilities like grass tennis courts and an artificial turf hockey pitch. The football club is also very popular. The St Catharine's College Boat Club is the college's rowing club. Each year, they host the Cardinals Regatta, where teams race in costumes.

The college also has other interesting groups. The Shirley Society is the college's literature club, and it's the oldest one in Cambridge. It invites famous artists to speak. The college also has a girls' choir. It's the first of its kind at a UK university and includes girls aged 8–14 from local schools.

Famous People from St Catharine's

Many notable people have studied at St Catharine's College. Here are some of them:

• 

  Jeremy Paxman, a well-known journalist.

• 

  John Ray, a famous naturalist.

• 

  Sir Ian McKellen, a celebrated actor.

• 

  Richard Ayoade, a comedian and actor.

• 

  Rebecca Hall, an actress.

• 

  Lord Glasman, a political thinker.

• 

  Ben Miller, a comedian and actor.

• 

  Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia.

• 

  Rona Fairhead, former Chairwoman of the BBC Trust.

• 

  James Shirley, a playwright.

• 

  Joanne Harris, an author.

• 

  Lilian Greenwood, a Member of Parliament.

• 

  Munira Wilson, a Member of Parliament.

See also

In Spanish: Saint Catharine's College para niños