Durham University

Durham University stands in the ancient city of Durham, beside the River Wear. Its buildings rise from the peninsula where the cathedral and castle have watched over the town for centuries. The university owns Durham Castle and the surrounding World Heritage Site, along with listed buildings from the 11th century to the 1960s. Seventeen colleges share the city with the academic departments, each responsible for students’ living arrangements. Durham Castle has housed undergraduates since 1837, when the Crown granted it to the university. The university began in 1832 after an Act of Parliament, becoming the first new university in England for over 600 years. Its early statutes required members to belong to the Church of England, though medical students in Newcastle were exempt. Women gained the right to degrees in 1895 and St Mary’s College opened in 1899. The university also founded Bishop Hatfield’s Hall in 1846, introducing shared meals and affordable lodgings that other institutions later copied. Overseas links were established in 1875 with Codrington College in Barbados and Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone. A visitor walks through cobbled streets lined with medieval and modern buildings. Durham Castle’s Norman chapel and the 1960s brutalist students’ union sit side by side on Palace Green. The university’s estate includes Cosin’s Library, a 17th-century book collection still in use. Colleges such as Hatfield and St Cuthbert’s Society preserve their own traditions and dining halls. Views over the river reveal the cathedral’s towers rising above the rooftops, marking the heart of this collegiate city.