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Newnham College


Newnham College is a women's college founded by Henry Sidgwick in 1871. Its attractive red brick facade was designed by Basil Champneys in Queen Anne style and is complemented by the beautiful gardens surrounding it. The building on the south side, called the Old Hall (formerly Newnham Hall), was erected in 1875.

Those on the north side were begun in 1880, and comprise Sidgwick Hall, the eastern block, continued in a westerly direction by the Library, a large and convenient building, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Yates Thompson ; next to the west, the College Dining Hall, which contains portraits of Miss Clough, the first principal, and other founders and benefactors, by J. J. Shannon; next Clough Hall, and furthest to the west the block (built in 1904) called Kennedy Buildings.

The north and south buildings are connected on the east side by a block called Pfeiffer Building, under which are the beautiful Memorial Gates, erected in memory of Miss Clough, which form the main entrance to the College. The whole affords accommodation for the Principal, three Vice-Principals, the Resident Staff of Lecturers, research Fellows, and students, as well as dining halls, common rooms and a gymnasium. The grounds are extensive.

The College was incorporated in 1880, on the amalgamation of the Newnham Hall Company with the Society for the Higher Education of Women in Cambridge.

The College obtained a measure of recognition by the University since 1881, when the Graces were passed admitting its students, under specified conditions, to Tripos Examinations.

Website: Newnham College