Newnham College

Newnham College stands on a quiet site off Sidgwick Avenue in Cambridge, its buildings arranged around lawns and mature trees. Founded in 1871 by the organisers of Lectures for Ladies, it was the second women’s college at Cambridge after Girton. The college grew from a single rented house into a group of Queen Anne style buildings designed by Basil Champneys. These include halls, a laboratory and a library added before the First World War. The Pfeiffer Building was funded by a bequest from the poet Emily Jane Pfeiffer in 1893. The college celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2021 and 2022. The college is worth the journey for its role in opening higher education to women. Henry Sidgwick and Millicent Garrett Fawcett were among its early supporters. In 1890 Philippa Fawcett ranked above the Senior Wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos, the first woman to achieve this. The college’s founders allowed students to progress at their own pace when formal schooling was scarce. By the First World War most Newnham students entered degree courses directly. In 1948 Newnham attained full college status within the university. Visitors find a calm environment of lawns, terraces and brick buildings in warm reds and yellows. The library holds collections built since the 1870s, and the Pfeiffer Building still bears its donor’s name. Portraits of principals like Anne Clough line the corridors. The college arms, granted in 1923, feature griffins and stars from the families of its founders. A mulberry tree planted by Eleanor Sidgwick grows near the entrance. The site remains a place where history and quiet study meet.