To spot St Catharine’s College, look for a stately, open courtyard framed by long rows of elegant red-brick buildings with neat sash windows and a perfectly kept square of green lawn in the center, right across from Corpus Christi College on Trumpington Street.
Ah, welcome to St Catharine’s College-or as the cool folks of Cambridge like to call it, “Catz”! Right in front of you, the college stretches out with its unique open court, inviting sunlight in rather than closing it off with four strict walls. Most Cambridge courts are like castles keeping secrets, but “Catz” throws its arms wide to the world, as if to say, “Come in! Have a look around!” Pretty friendly for a 550-year-old place, don’t you think?
Now, let’s step back in time to 1473. The city’s bustling market streets were filled with horses and traders, mud underfoot… and a certain Robert Woodlark, a big dreamer with empty pockets, was busy snapping up bits of land for his new college. He drained his own savings-some folks whispered maybe a bit of King’s College’s money too-to make his vision real. At first, the college was tiny: three fellows, studying nothing but theology and philosophy. Undergrads? Not a chance! For years, the college was like a club for grown-up thinkers, not a lively student hub.
But by 1550, juniors began to poke their heads in, and Catz gradually became a true college. Imagine those first awkward undergrads, nervously shuffling through this very court. The college’s patron saint, Catherine of Alexandria, brought her symbolic spiked wheel-the “Catharine wheel”-which you can spot on the college arms if you get close enough. The place was officially born on St Catherine’s Day, November 25th, so you could say this whole college starts its story with a birthday party!
Jump forward a couple centuries, and Catz was ready for a glow-up. In the 1600s, its old buildings were falling apart-timbers creaking, walls leaning… So from 1675 to 1757, the college rebuilt itself bit by bit into the striking three-sided court you see today. Since they never entirely boxed in that fourth side, the space always feels more inviting than imposing-like a hug with one arm left open.
But it wasn’t always smooth sailing. In 1861, when it came time to pick a new Master, there was a juicy little drama. Two fellows, Charles Kirkby Robinson and Francis Jameson, stood for election. Instead of voting for himself, Jameson gallantly supported Robinson-who, less romantically, voted for himself and won the top seat by his own hand! Let that be a lesson: at Catz, you make your own luck (and maybe your own rulebook too).
As centuries rolled on, the college kept growing with the times. In the 1970s, they built a chunky modern block called St Chad’s-the rooms are octagonal to echo the famous Catharine wheel. They were such trendsetters that their playful rivalry with Robinson College sprang from competing new buildings! The 21st century brought even more change: the first female students arrived in 1979, and the college finally welcomed Dame Jean Thomas as its first woman Master in 2006. In 2015, Catz became the first college in Cambridge to introduce a gender-neutral dress code for formal dinners. No stuffy traditions here-just progress and a dash of style.
Even more recently, during the 2020 pandemic, St Catharine’s opened its doors to women fleeing domestic violence, giving them a safe place to stay as the city streets fell silent and uncertain. On a lighter note, plenty of laughter echoed through the centuries here-just imagine the excitement as students dream up silly names for new spaces, like the “Catzebo,” their temporary tented hall that popped up in 2020.
The energy inside Catz is always buzzing. The college is famed for sports-its legendary football team dominated the late ‘70s, winning four Cuppers cups in a row. There are grass tennis courts too-imagine the soft thud of a ball, cheers drifting on the breeze-and even a students’ girls’ choir, the first of its kind at a UK university, their voices lifting over the rooftops.
Today, more than 1,000 fellows, students, and staff call “Catz” home, led by their Master, Sir John Benger. The governing body meets in these same historic spaces, with decisions echoing down stone corridors, sometimes more thrilling than an episode of Cambridge’s favorite drama series!
So as you stand here, take a deep breath-imagine centuries of scholars, pranksters, poets, and pioneers. Catz has always been open to the future, open to change, and, well… open to the street!
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