The Open Guide to Cambridge

Darwin is a college of the University of Cambridge, founded in 1964, by the much older Trinity, St John's and Caius colleges, as a graduate foundation. The college currently comprises around 400 postgraduates and 65 fellows.

Darwin sits on the banks of the river Cam, and includes modern, purpose-built buildings, which surround the much older Newnham Grange (built in 1793), and its adjoining granary. Darwin's grounds include an island in the river, reachable by a bridge.

On a thin strip of land between [Silver Street]? and the Cam, Darwin College library is built from unusual materials: oak with a lime mortar. At one end of the building, a wooden construction resembling a police box, or 'tardis', can be seen to sit on the library roof. This device, which is actually a chimney, once formed a part of an automatic natural ventilation system, before the system failed due to the warping of its wood.

Early each year, Darwin arranges a series of well-attended public lectures by international experts on a certain theme, usually hosted in Lady Mitchell Hall, on the University's Sidgwick Site.

See also:

• Freebase entry
• Wikipedia entry