Postcards of the Past
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Cambridge University
Girton College
A great aerial view of Girton.
Girton College was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon for the higher education
of women, and opened at Benslow House, Hitchin, in Hertfordshire, under the name of the College for
Women. In 1872, the present site was purchased and the College renamed Girton College. The move to
the new buildings was completed in 1873. The College was deliberately situated a couple of miles to the
north of Cambridge to "discourage marauding male undergraduates" - no doubt a reflection of Victorian
morals !! However, it was not until 1948 that Girton received the status of a College of Cambridge
University. Male undergraduates were admitted in 1979, and the College now boasts an equal balance of
male and female students, this being matched by no other college at Cambridge.
The College Library is one of Girton's greatest
assets, with some 95,000 books. This constitutes
one of the largest of the student collections in
Cambridge.
The grounds of Girton College are home to one of
the very few black squirrel populations in Britain.
Girton alumni include Sandi Toksvig, comedian
and Queen Margarethe II of Denmark - and of
course many others. Any suggestions for
inclusion ?
Girtonians have a college chant - "We are Girton -
super Girton ! No-one likes us. We don't care!", which
is an imitation of the famous chant of Millwall FC fans -
or perhaps vice versa ! It is sung to the tune of "We
Are Sailing".
There are many jokes about the distance of Girton
from the other colleges, eg more Cambridge
students have visited Delhi than Girton.    
Only two postcards so far, but we are
always looking ! Do you have any you
would like to contribute ? Please get in
touch - email us ! We would like to add
anecdotes, reminiscences or any odd or
useless bits of information as well as
postcards !
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Pembroke   Peterhouse   Queens'  St Catharine's   St Edmund's    St John's   Selwyn   Sidney Sussex   Trinity   Trinity Hall
Home   Europe   North America   Cambridge (City)   Oxford
Christ's   Clare   Corpus Christi   Downing   Emmanuel   Fitzwilliam    Gonville and Caius   Homerton   Hughes Hall   Jesus   King's   Magdalene   New Hall   Newnham   
Pembroke   Peterhouse   Queens'  St Catharine's   St Edmund's    St John's   Selwyn   Sidney Sussex   Trinity   Trinity Hall
Home   Europe   North America   Cambridge (City)   Oxford
A postcard of Girton from about 1910.