Girton College, Cambridge

Girton College
University of Cambridge
Girton College during the 1890s
Arms: see below
Scarf colours: green, with two equally-spaced narrow stripes of red edged with white
LocationHuntingdon Road (map)
Coordinates52°13′43″N 0°05′02″E / 52.2286°N 0.0839°E / 52.2286; 0.0839
AbbreviationG
Motto in EnglishBetter is wisdom than weapons of war
Founders
Established16 October 1869 (16 October 1869)
Named afterGirton village
Previous namesCollege for Women (until 1871)
Sister collegeSomerville College, Oxford
MistressElisabeth Kendall
Undergraduates534 (2022–23)
Postgraduates410 (2022–23)
Endowment£49.2m (2018)
VisitorBrenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond
Websitewww.girton.cam.ac.uk
JCRwww.girtonjcr.co.uk
MCRwww-mcr.girton.cam.ac.uk
Boat clubGirton College Boat Club
Map
Location in Cambridgeshire

Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the university, marking the official admittance of women to the university. In 1976, it was the first Cambridge women's college to become coeducational. Its sister college is Somerville College, one of the two Oxford colleges to first admit women.

The main college site is situated on the outskirts of Girton, about 2+12 miles (4 kilometres) northwest of the university town, and comprises 33 acres (13 hectares) of land. In a typical Victorian red-brick design, most was built by architect Alfred Waterhouse between 1872 and 1887.

Among Girton's notable alumni are Queen Margrethe II, former UK Supreme Court President Lady Hale, HuffPost co-founder Arianna Huffington, the comedian/author Sandi Toksvig, the comedian/broadcaster/GP Phil Hammond, the economist Joan Robinson, and the anthropologist Marilyn Strathern, who also held the position of Mistress from 1998 to 2009.