Hughes Hall is a

constituent college A collegiate university is a university where functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges. Historically, the first collegiate university was the University of Paris and its first college was the Col ...

of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in England. The majority of students are

postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

, although nearly one-fifth of the student population comprises individuals aged 21 and above who are studying

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

degree courses. Hughes Hall was founded in the 19th century as the Cambridge Training College for Women with the purpose of providing a college dedicated to training women graduates for the teaching profession. Since then it has enlarged and expanded to support a community of students and researchers, both male and female, working in all the academic areas of the university. The college is housed in a number of 19th- and 20th-century buildings at a main site adjacent to

Fenner's Fenner's is Cambridge University Cricket Club's ground. History Cambridge University Cricket Club had previously played at two grounds in Cambridge, the University Ground and Parker's Piece. In 1846, Francis Fenner leased a former cherry orc ...

, the

Cambridge University Cricket Club Cambridge University Cricket Club, established in 1820, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. The club was recognised as holding first-class cricket, first-class status until 2020. The university played ...

ground, and between the City Centre and the railway station.

History

In 1878 the University of Cambridge established a Teachers' Training Syndicate to develop a training curriculum in education for students of the university intending to become teachers. Hughes Hall was established in 1885 as a college for women graduate students taking the Teacher Training curriculum. Key amongst its early supporters and founders were Rev. G. F. Browne, fellow of St Catharine's College, Miss

Frances Buss Frances Mary Buss (16 August 1827 – 24 December 1894) was a British headmistress and a pioneer of girls' education. Life The daughter of Robert William Buss, a painter and etcher, and his wife, Frances Fleetwood, Buss was one of six of the ...

, headmistress of the

North London Collegiate School North London Collegiate School (NLCS) is a private day school for girls in England. Founded in Camden Town, it is now located in Edgware, in the London Borough of Harrow. Associate schools are located in South Korea, Jeju Island, Dubai, Vietnam ...

, Miss

Anne Clough Anne Jemima Clough (20 January 182027 February 1892) was an early English suffragist and a promoter of higher education for women. She was the first principal of Newnham College. Life Clough was born at Liverpool, Lancashire, the daughter of c ...

, first principal of

Newnham College Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

, and Professor James Ward, fellow of

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

. The college was founded as the Cambridge Training College for Women, and it began with 14 students in a small house in Newnham called Crofton Cottage. The first principal was a graduate of Newnham College,

Elizabeth Phillips Hughes Elizabeth Phillips Hughes MBE (12 July 1851 – 19 December 1925) was a Welsh scholar, teacher, and promoter of women's education, first principal of the Cambridge Training College for Women. Early life Hughes was born in Carmarthen, Ca ...

(1851-1925), who was in post from 1885 to 1899. In 1895, the college moved to a purpose-built building, designed by architect William Fawcett, overlooking

cricket ground - which continues to be the main college building to this day. One of the first matriculants, Molly Thomas, recounted the experience of the first class of students in ''A London Girl of the 1880s'', published under her married name, M.V. Hughes. Following recognition of full membership of the university for women in 1947, the college became a recognized institution of the university in 1949 and was renamed Hughes Hall in honour of its first principal. The college became an approved foundation of the university in 1985, and received a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

marking its full college status in 2006. The college's first male students arrived in 1973, making Hughes Hall the first of the all-female colleges to admit men, and from that time students began to study a wider range of affiliated post-graduate degrees. Student numbers gradually increased in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, Hughes Hall has about 700 graduate students and around 200 undergraduates, all students are "mature" (aged over 21), and the college accommodates study in the wide range of studies taught in the university. The college is one of the most international Cambridge colleges, with its students representing over 60 nationalities. In November 2019,

Prince Andrew Prince Andrew, Duke of York (Andrew Albert Christian Edward; born 19 February 1960) is a member of the British royal family. He is the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a younger broth ...

resigned as the honorary fellow of Hughes Hall amid the

Jeffrey Epstein Jeffrey Edward Epstein ( , ; January 20, 1953August 10, 2019) was an American financier and child sex offender. Born and raised in New York City, Epstein began his professional career as a teacher at the Dalton School, despite lacking a col ...

scandal.

College site

Buildings

The college's main building, known as the Wileman Building, was designed by architect William Fawcett and built in 1895. It was opened by

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

politician

George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon George Frederick Samuel Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon, (24 October 1827 – 9 July 1909), styled Viscount Goderich from 1833 to 1859 and known as the Earl of Ripon in 1859 and as the Earl de Grey and Ripon from 1859 to 1871, was a British p ...

. The building is

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

, red brick in Neo-Dutch style, and has a notable terracotta porch. One wing of the Wileman Building is named the Pfeiffer Wing, after husband and wife Jurgen Edward Pfeiffer and

Emily Jane Pfeiffer Emily Jane Pfeiffer (26 November 1827 – 23 January 1890, née Davis) was a Welsh poet and philanthropist. She supported women's suffrage and higher education for women, as well as producing feminist poems. Pfeiffer was born Montgomeryshire, bu ...

who funded much of the construction cost as part of their mission to support and develop women's education. The building, and its more modern wings, contains student rooms, the college library, social areas and study spaces, and various college administrative offices. Next door to the Wileman Building is Wollaston Lodge, a symmetrical early-20th-century building in buff brick, designed by

Edward Schroeder Prior Edward Schroeder Prior (1852–1932) was a British architect, instrumental in establishing the Arts and Crafts movement. He was one of the foremost theorists of the second generation of the movement, writing extensively on architecture, art, c ...

, that provides further student accommodation. More recent buildings on the college site, all of which provide accommodation and other facilities for students, include Chancellor’s Court, inaugurated in 1992 by the then Chancellor of the University, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Centenary Building, which opened in 1997. In 2005 Hughes opened a new residential, dining, and meeting building, the Fenner's Building, which is beside and overlooks the university cricket ground, also named Fenner's. It is possible to see the spire of the

Our Lady and the English Martyrs Church The Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and the English Martyrs, also known as the Church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs (OLEM), is an English Catholic Church, Roman Catholic parish church located at the junction of Hills Road, Cambridge, H ...

—the tallest church spire in Cambridge—from the building's west-facing windows and terraces. The college also owns a number of houses in the nearby area which provide additional student accommodation. In 2014 the college acquired the former Cambridge University gym building on Gresham Road, which is across the cricket ground from the main college site, to develop as a new facility—construction began on the site in 2015.

Location

The main college site is near the middle of Cambridge, halfway between

Cambridge railway station Cambridge railway station is the principal station serving the city of Cambridge, England. Situated at the end of Station Road, Cambridge, Station Road, it is south-east of the city centre. With over 10 million passengers passing through the ...

and the

Market Square A market square (also known as a market place) is an urban square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world. A market square is an open area where market stalls are tradit ...

. The college is located in the Petersfield area of the city, close to Mill Road and accessible from Mortimer Road. The main site is in a mainly residential area, and it is beside the Fenner's cricket ground, and across the road from Parkside Pools and Kelsey Kerridge Gym, which are the main public sports facilities in the city. A short walk from the college is the Mill Road Cemetery where a number of the university's renowned historic figures, including astronomer

James Challis James Challis FRS (12 December 1803 – 3 December 1882) was an English clergyman, physicist and astronomer. Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy and the director of the Cambridge Observatory, he investigated a wide rang ...

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...

's editor

Percival Frost Percival Frost (1817–1898), was an English mathematician. Life Percival Frost was born at Kingston upon Hull on 1 September 1817, the second son of Charles Frost. He was educated at Beverley and Oakham, and entered St. John's College, Cambri ...

, and historian John Seeley are buried.

Transport links

Hughes Hall is the nearest of the university's colleges to

and to the main city centre arrival-departure point for long-distances coaches at Parkside. The most direct access route from the college into the centre of Cambridge for cyclists and pedestrians is across

Parker's Piece Parker's Piece is a flat and roughly square green common located near the centre of Cambridge, England, regarded by some as the birthplace of the rules of association football. The two main walking and cycling paths across it run diagonally, a ...

, an open park where the rules of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

were first codified (1848).

Student life

Students and

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

s of the college take part in research and study across the full spectrum of the University of Cambridge's fields of activity. Hughes Hall is known for its international and egalitarian ethos, the college does not have a

high table The origin of "High Table" goes back to the physical layout of the dining halls of English colleges at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. The high table is a table for the use of fellows (members of the Senior Common Room) and their guests in ...

. Students can walk on college lawns. The college's historic establishment in the 19th century with the purpose of supporting graduate study in education has continued and developed over time with a significant number of students each year taking courses in professional and applied fields, alongside those studying and carrying out research in more traditional Arts and Humanities subjects. With a mainly postgraduate student body, undergraduates share facilities and an intellectual culture with PhD researchers and MPhil students.

Societies and sports

Hughes Hall has an active student sports calendar with college teams in Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Cricket, Football, Rowing, Rugby, Squash, Table Tennis, and others. Members of the college are also active in sports and teams at university and national level. There are a number of college societies, including a Chess Club, Film Society, Writing Group, and Law Society amongst others. The college's "Hat Club" organises events where students and fellows present papers on their research and study to an audience of college members, and the Enterprise Society supports and encourages students with an interest in starting their own business.

Music

The college's main performance space is the Pavilion Room which hosts a number of regular musical groups and organizations. The Stradivari Trust, the Cambridge Graduate Orchestra, and the college's Margaret Wileman Society use the space on a regular basis. There is also a programme of ad hoc student recitals and concerts, including by the college choir which incorporates students and fellows of the college.

Boat Club

Hughes Hall May Bumps 2019 Saturday Blades

Hughes Hall Boat Club is the

rowing club A rowing club is a club for people interested in the sport of rowing. Rowing clubs are usually near a body of water, either natural or artificial, that is large enough for maneuvering the rowing boats. Clubs usually have a boathouse with racks t ...

of the college, in 2003 there was an official merger with the boat club of

Lucy Cavendish College Lucy Cavendish College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1965 as a women's college and since 2021 has admitted both women and men. The college is named in honour of Lucy Cavendish (1841–1 ...

(then a graduate women-only college of the university) creating the "Hughes Hall/Lucy Cavendish Combined Boat Club". The Club has been successful in the

May Bumps The May Bumps (also May Races, Mays) are a set of rowing races, held annually on the River Cam in Cambridge, England. They began in 1887 after separating from the Lent Bumps, the equivalent bumping races held at the end of February or start o ...

with the men's first crew winning blades (a distinction accorded to a boat bumping each day of the bumps) in 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2014. Uniquely, the Club has been recipient of the Pegasus Cup, awarded to the most successful college boat club competing in the May Bumps each year, three times (2007, 2009, 2014). The women's first crew won blades for the first time after the demerger from Lucy Cavendish in the Lent Bumps 2019. Members of Hughes Hall have regularly been selected for the Cambridge team in the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race. In 2015, the men's team included three members of Hughes Hall (Jasper Holst, Ben Ruble, Henry Hoffstot), and the women's boat was coxed by a member of the college (Rosemary Ostfeld). Henry Hoffstot also appeared for Cambridge in the Race in 2014. In 2019, two members of the Cambridge Blue Crew were present in the men's first crew for May Bumps, including Cambridge University Boat Club President Dara Alizadeh. Also present in the boat was Cambridge University Boat Club rower Grant Bitler and Spare-Pair rower Harry Baxter. The Boat Club houses its six rowing shells in the Emmanuel College boathouse.

May Ball

Hughes Hall holds a

May Ball A May Ball is a ball (dance), ball at the end of the academic term, academic year that takes place at any of the colleges of the University of Cambridge. They are elaborate and lavish formal affairs, requiring black tie or sometimes white tie, w ...

each year, often with a global or international theme.

Notable members

Principals/Presidents

The college's head was titled as "Principal" until 1973, and subsequently as "President".

Principals

*1885–1899: Elizabeth Hughes *1899–1902: Margaret Punnett *1902–1908: Helena Powell *1908–1933: Mary Hay Wood *1933–1945: Henriette Dent *1945–1953: Marguerite Verini *1953–1973: Margaret Wileman

Presidents

*1973–1978: Sir Desmond Lee *1978–1984:

Richard D'Aeth Richard D'Aeth (3 June 1912 – 19 February 2008) was a British educationalist and President of Hughes Hall, Cambridge, from 1978 to 1984. Early life D'Aeth was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son of Walter D'Aeth and Marion Turnbull. ...

*1984–1989: Basil Herbertson *1989–1993: Desmond Hawkins *1993–1998: John Dingle *1998–2006: Peter Richards *2006–2014:

Sarah Squire Sarah Squire (''née'' Hutchison; born 18 July 1949), is a British former diplomat. She was President of Hughes Hall, a college of the University of Cambridge, from 2006 to 2014.Anthony Freeling Anthony Nigel Stanley Freeling (born 6 August 1956) is a British management consultant, marketing expert, university administrator, and academic. He served as Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from October 2022 to June 2023, ...

*2022:

Laurie Bristow Sir Laurence Stanley Charles Bristow (born 23 November 1963) is a British diplomat who served as British Ambassador to Afghanistan between June and November 2021, notably during the fall of Kabul. He served as British Ambassador to Azerbaija ...

Fellows

* Nevin Hughes-Jones, haematologist, Fellow of the Royal Society * Neil Mercer, Professor of Education in the University of Cambridge * Marc Weller, University of Cambridge Professor of International Law and International Constitutional Studies

Alumni

File:Andrew Murrison.jpg,

Andrew Murrison Surgeon Commander Andrew William Murrison (born 24 April 1961) is a British doctor, Royal Navy, naval officer and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament ...

Conservative Party politician,

Minister of State for Northern Ireland The role of Minister of State for Northern Ireland is a mid-level position in the Northern Ireland Office in the British government. It is currently vacant, after the 2024 general election. The role is also known as Deputy Secretary of State for ...

File:Annette Brooke.jpg,

Annette Brooke Dame Annette Lesley Brooke, DBE (''née'' Kelly; born 7 June 1947) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Dorset and North Poole from the 2001 general election to 2015. In 2001, she became the ...

Liberal Democrats MP File:Alan Leong 2015.jpg,

Alan Leong Alan Leong Kah-kit ( zh, c=梁家傑; born 22 February 1958), SC is a former member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, representing the Kowloon East geographical constituency and former chairman of the now-disbanded Civic Party. He was ...

Member of the

Hong Kong Legislative Council The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, colloquially known as LegCo, is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's " one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the pow ...

and Leader of the

Civic Party The Civic Party (CP) was a pro-democracy camp, pro-democracy liberalism in Hong Kong, liberal political party from March 2006 to May 2023 in Hong Kong. The party was formed in 2006 on the basis of the Article 45 Concern Group, Basic Law Ar ...

File:Tom Ransley - Our Great Team Parade.jpg,

Tom Ransley Thomas Matthew Ransley MBE (born 6 September 1985) is a retired British rower. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro he was part of the British crew that won the gold medal in the eight, was twice a World Champion and in 2015 was the ...

GB Rower, World Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist File:Roxana Saberi headshot.jpeg,

Roxana Saberi Roxana Saberi (born April 26, 1977) is an American journalist who works as a correspondent for CBS News. In 2009, she was held prisoner in Iran's Evin Prison for 101 days under accusations of espionage. She subsequently wrote a book about the e ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

journalist for

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

and former

Miss North Dakota The Miss North Dakota competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of North Dakota in the Miss America pageant. The first Miss North Dakota to compete at Miss America was Kitty Page in 1949. In 2017, Cara Mund beca ...

File:Liam Mooney.jpg, Liam Mooney

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based businessman and entrepreneur File:Patrick_Radden_Keefe.jpg,

Patrick Radden Keefe Patrick Radden Keefe (born 1976) is an American writer and investigative journalist. He is the author of five books—''Chatter,'' ''The Snakehead,'' '' Say Nothing,'' '' Empire of Pain,'' and ''Rogues''—and has written extensively for many pu ...

American writer and investigative journalist

Honorary Fellows

*Nigel Brown OBE, former chairman of N.W. Brown Group Ltd *John Dingle, Director of the

Strangeways Research Laboratory Strangeways Research Laboratory is a research institution in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It was founded by Thomas Strangeways in 1905 as the Cambridge Research Hospital and acquired its current name in 1928. Organised as an independent charity, ...

(1979–1993), President of Hughes Hall (1993–1998) *Sir

Terence English Sir Terence Alexander Hawthorne English (born October 1932)'English, Sir Terence (Alexander Hawthorne)', Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2013; online edn, Dec ...

, pioneer transplant surgeon *

Hermann Hauser Hermann Maria Hauser (born 1948) is an Austrian entrepreneur, venture capitalist and inventor who is primarily associated with the Cambridge technology community in England. Education and early life When Hauser was 16 he went to the United K ...

FRS, pioneer technology entrepreneur * John Hopkins, former Cambridge University Lecturer in Law, former Hughes Hall Director of Studies in Law *Dame

Cleo Laine Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth (born Clementine Dinah Hitching; 28 October 1927) is an English singer and actress known for her scat singing. She is the widow of jazz composer and musician Sir John Dankworth and the mother of bassist Alec D ...

, jazz and pop singer, actress *

Peter Mansfield Sir Peter Mansfield (9 October 1933 – 8 February 2017) was an English physicist who was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared with Paul Lauterbur, for discoveries concerning Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Mansfie ...

FRS, physicist and Nobel laureate *

Nicholas Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers Nicholas Addison Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers (born 21 January 1938) is a British former senior judge. Phillips was the inaugural President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, holding office between October 2009 and Octo ...

, President of the

UK Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (initialism: UKSC) is the final court of appeal for all civil cases in the United Kingdom and all criminal cases originating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as some limited criminal cases ...

(2009–2012) *Dame Janet Smith, former Judge of the High Court and Court of Appeal *

Evan Wallach Evan Jonathan Wallach (born November 11, 1949) is an American lawyer and senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. A former judge of the United States Court of International Trade, he is o ...

, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

References

External links

*
College MCR website
{{Authority control Colleges of the University of Cambridge Universities and colleges established in 1885 1885 establishments in England Former women's universities and colleges in the United Kingdom Teacher training colleges in the United Kingdom