Collingwood College, Durham

Collingwood College is a college of Durham University in England. It is the second largest of Durham's undergraduate colleges with around 1100 students. Founded in 1972 as the first purpose-built, mixed-sex college in Durham, it is named after the mathematician Sir Edward Collingwood (1900–70), who was a former Chair of the Council of Durham University.HistoryPlans for Collingwood began in 1960, as part of program of expansion that included both Van Mildert College and Trevelyan College. By 1962 it was determined that the new college was to be built on the site of Oswald House, with Richard Shepherd (architect of Churchill College, Cambridge) being appointed the following year. The remnants of the Oswald House estate can be seen in the landscaped grounds and mature trees that surround the college. Over the following years a series of funding issues and debates over the student composition of the new college meant that building on the site did not begin until August 1971. It was determined that the new college should be called Collingwood College, a name chosen from a shortlist of three (the others being Cromwell College and Lumley College). With building not being complete until 1973, Collingwood's first cohort of 66 freshers were housed in Van Mildert from October 1972.Buildings and facilitiesThe college is located to the south of Durham city centre, on South Road. The steep incline of this road leads to Collingwood and the surrounding colleges being commonly referred to as 'Hill' colleges. Extended in 1994, Collingwood now has over a thousand students allocated to it, and approximately 550 bed spaces within the college. Accommodation is provided within three main wings: the original Durham and Northumbria wings and the newer, en-suite Cumbria wing. A separate block, York, is located away from the others and consists of flats used by fellows of the College and of the Institute of Advanced Study. Not all students live in college during their time at the university, but all students in their first year and the majority of those in their final year are allocated a place.