Robinson College
A handmade-brick college of the 1970s, Grade II* listed, wrapped around a walled mosaic of Victorian gardens.
Robinson is one of the youngest colleges in Cambridge, founded in 1977 on the strength of a large gift from a businessman, whose name it carries. It was planned from the start for undergraduates and graduates, men and women together, and it was formally opened in May 1981. The architects, the Glasgow practice Gillespie, Kidd & Coia, built the new college around the edges of an old wooded plot so that its Victorian and Edwardian gardens could stay as the centrepiece.
What to look for
- The red brick. The main buildings are made of handmade red bricks. Historic England gave the college Grade II* listed status, announced in November 2022. Back in 2008 the Daily Telegraph had already placed it among its fifty most inspiring buildings in Britain.
- The chapel and its window. The chapel is built into the central court. Behind the altar, a stained-glass wall of 66 panels, titled Light of the World, was ordered in 1978 and put in place in 1980.
- The gardens. The twelve-and-a-half-acre site holds ten earlier gardens, merged into one landscape and crossed by the Bin Brook. Thorneycreek House and Cottage, dating from 1895, are in the grounds, and the library's woodwork won a Carpenters' award in 1981.
Inside the chapel
The chapel is a long shape reaching into the central court and widening towards the east end. The stained-glass wall behind the altar is semi-abstract: 66 panels arranged as an inverted pyramid show a sun at the upper left spreading out into green and blue fields, with leaf and flower details. A stepped wall frames it so that, from inside, it is partly hidden when seen at an angle. The altar table, lectern and font were designed for the chapel, a ceramic plaque shows the Deposition of Christ, and a Frobenius organ sits in a gallery above the ante-chapel, separated from the chapel proper by a bronze screen with a leaf design.
Traditions
Robinson keeps some Cambridge customs, including Formal Hall, a chapel and a porters' lodge, with a Latin grace before the meal. It drops others: students may walk on the grass in the gardens, and it is often described as a little less formal than many of its neighbours.
Practical notes
The college is a short walk west of the centre, behind the University Library. Outside the Easter Term exam period, when it closes to the public, the gardens are open through the National Garden Scheme, with entry via the Porters' Lodge, where a printed guide costs £5 in aid of charity; building works can disrupt some routes. The main entrance is a ramp that wheelchair users can use. Students may walk on the lawns, and the college is a neighbour of Selwyn College.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
