Pembroke College, Cambridge

Colleges of the University of Cambridge Pembroke College
Full name	The College or Hall of Valence Mary (commonly called Pembroke College) in the University of Cambridge
Founder	Marie de St Pol, Countess of Pembroke
Named after	Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Established	1347
Previously named	Marie Valence Hall (1347-?) Pembroke Hall (?–1856)
Master	Chris Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury
Undergraduates	442
Graduates	264
Sister college	Queen's College, Oxford
Location	Trumpington Street (map)
College website
JPC website
MCR website
Boat Club website

Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over seven hundred students and fellows. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its founding, as well as extensive gardens.

As of 2014 the college has a financial endowment of £67 million. Pembroke has a level of academic performance among the highest of all the Cambridge colleges; in 2013 and 2014 Pembroke was placed second in the Tompkins Table.

Pembroke is home to the first chapel designed by Sir Christopher Wren and is one of the six Cambridge colleges to have educated a British prime minister, in Pembroke's case William Pitt the Younger. The college library, with a Victorian neo-gothic clock tower, is endowed with an original copy of the first encyclopaedia to contain printed diagrams.

The college's current master is Chris Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury.

History

On Christmas Eve 1347, Edward III granted Marie de St Pol, widow of the Earl of Pembroke, the licence for the foundation of a new educational establishment in the young university at Cambridge. The Hall of Valence Mary ("Custos & Scolares Aule Valence Marie in Cantebrigg'"), as it was originally known, was thus founded to house a body of students and fellows. The statutes were notable in that they both gave preference to students born in France who had already studied elsewhere in England, and that they required students to report fellow students if they indulged in excessive drinking or visited disreputable houses.

The college was later renamed Pembroke Hall, and finally became Pembroke College in 1856.

In 2015, the college received a bequest of £34 million from the estate of American inventor and Pembroke alumnus Ray Dolby, the largest single donation to a college in the history of the Cambridge.

Buildings

Old Court

Bird's eye view of Pembroke College, Cambridge by David Loggan, published in 1690.

The Gatehouse is the oldest in Cambridge, dating from the 14th century

The first buildings comprised a single court (now called Old Court) containing all the component parts of a college – chapel, hall, kitchen and buttery, master's lodgings, students' rooms – and the statutes provided for a manciple, a cook, a barber and a laundress. Both the founding of the college and the building of the city's first college Chapel (1355) required the grant of a papal bull.

The original court was the university's smallest at only 95 feet (29 m) by 55 feet (17 m), but was enlarged to its current size in the nineteenth century by demolishing the south range.

The college's gatehouse is the oldest in Cambridge.

Chapel

Pembroke College chapel interior in September 2014

The Trumpington Street Façade with the College Chapel on the right, the first building to be built by Sir Christopher Wren

South Range of Ivy Court, 1870

The original Chapel now forms the Old Library and has a striking seventeenth-century plaster ceiling, designed by Henry Doogood, showing birds flying overhead. Around the Civil War, one of Pembroke's fellows and Chaplain to the future Charles I, Matthew Wren, was imprisoned by Oliver Cromwell. On his release after eighteen years, he fulfilled a promise by hiring his nephew Christopher Wren to build a great Chapel in his former college. The resulting Chapel was consecrated on St Matthew's Day, 1665, and the eastern end was extended by George Gilbert Scott in 1880, when it was consecrated on the Feast of the Annunciation.

Expansion

The College gardens in Library Court

An increase in membership over the last 150 years saw a corresponding increase in building activity. The Hall was rebuilt in 1875–6 by Alfred Waterhouse after he had declared the medieval Hall unsafe. As well as the Hall, Waterhouse built a new range of rooms, Red Buildings (1871–72), in French Renaissance style, designed a new Master's Lodge on the site of Paschal Yard (1873, later to become N staircase), pulled down the old Lodge and the south range of Old Court to open a vista to the Chapel, and finally built a new Library (1877–78) in the continental Gothic style.

Waterhouse was dismissed as architect in 1878 and succeeded by George Gilbert Scott, who, after extending the Chapel, provided additional accommodation with the construction of New Court in 1881, with letters on a series of shields along the string course above the first floor spelling out the Psalm text "Nisi Dominus aedificat domum…" ("Except the Lord build the house, their labour is but vain that build it").

Building work continued into the 20th century with W. D. Caröe as architect. He added Pitt Building (M staircase) between Ivy Court and Waterhouse's Lodge, and extended New Court with the construction of O staircase on the other side of the Lodge. He linked his two buildings with an arched stone screen, Caröe Bridge, along Pembroke Street in a late Baroque style, the principal function of which was to act as a bridge by which undergraduates might cross the Master's forecourt at first-floor level from Pitt Building to New Court without leaving the College or trespassing in what was then the Fellows' Garden.

In 1926, as the Fellows had become increasingly disenchanted with Waterhouse's Hall, Maurice Webb was brought in to remove the open roof, put in a flat ceiling and add two storeys of sets above. The wall between the Hall and the Fellows' Parlour was taken down, and the latter made into a High Table dais. A new Senior Parlour was then created on the ground floor of Hitcham Building. The remodelling work was completed in 1949 when Murrary Easton replaced the Gothic tracery of the windows with a simpler design in the style of the medieval Hall.

In 1933 Maurice Webb built a new Master's Lodge in the south-east corner of the College gardens, on land acquired from Peterhouse in 1861. Following the war, further accommodation was created with the construction in 1957 of Orchard Building, so called because it stands on part of the Foundress's orchard. Finally, in a move to accommodate the majority of junior members on the College site rather than in hostels in the town, in the 1990s Eric Parry designed a new range of buildings on the site of the Master's Lodge, with a new Lodge at the west end. "Foundress Court" was opened in 1997 in celebration of the College's 650th Anniversary. In 2001 the Library was extended to the east and modified internally.

Gardens

The Croquet Lawn in New Court, designed by George Gilbert Scott

Pembroke's enclosed grounds also house some gardens, sporting vegetation. Highlights include "The Orchard" (a patch of semi-wild ground in the centre of the college), an impressive row of Plane Trees and a bowling green, re-turfed in 1996, which is reputed to be among the oldest in continual use in Europe.

A panorama of Old Court showing the college's dining Hall, library and chapel.

Student life

Pembroke's boathouse

Pembroke College has both graduate and undergraduate students, termed Valencians, after the College's original name. The undergraduate student body is represented by the Junior Parlour Committee (JPC). The graduate community is represented by the Graduate Parlour Committee (GPC). Pembroke is unusual in having its recreational rooms named as "parlours" rather than the more standard "combination room".

There are many clubs and societies organised by the students of the college, such as the boat club Pembroke College Boat Club and the college's dramatic society the Pembroke Players, which has been made famous by alumni such as Peter Cook, Eric Idle, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Clive James and Bill Oddie and is now in its 60th year.

International programmes

Pembroke is the only Cambridge college to have an International Programmes Department, providing opportunities for international students to spend a semester (mid-January to mid-June), or part of the summer, in Cambridge. The Spring Semester Programme is a competitive programme for academically outstanding students who wish to follow a regular Cambridge degree course as fully matriculated members of the University. There are around thirty places each year.

In the summer the College offers the eight-week Pembroke-King's Programme (PKP). As well as the academic content, trips are made to locales such as London, and the programme has a series of formal halls, which are described as "three-course candlelit meals" serving "interesting" fare in Pembroke's historic dining hall. The Pembroke-King's Programme is also the programme for which the prestigious Thouron Prize is awarded, fully supporting nine American undergraduates from Harvard, Yale, and UPenn.

People associated with Pembroke

See also: Category:Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge and List of Masters of Pembroke College, Cambridge

William Pitt the Younger, the youngest ever British Prime Minister and alumnus of the College

Sir George Gabriel Stokes, Lucasian Professor, a mathematician and physicist at the College who made important contributions to fluid dynamics

Abba Eban, Israeli Foreign Minister and VP of the United Nations General Assembly, who studied Arabic and Hebrew as a Fellow at the College

Edmund Spenser, a famous English poet best known for his epic poem 'The Faerie Queene'

The statue of Roger Williams at Roger Williams University, Rhode Island

Name	Birth	Death	Occupation
Lancelot Andrewes	1555	1626	Master, Dean of Westminster, Bishop of Chichester, Ely, Winchester
C.F. Andrews	1871	1940	Author and supporter of Indian Independence
David Armitage Bannerman	1886	1979	Ornithologist
John Bradford	1510	1550	Fellow, prebendary of St. Paul's, Martyr
Clive Betts	1950		British politician
Tim Brooke-Taylor	1940		Comedian
Marcus Buckingham	1966		Award-winning author and motivational speaker
William Burkitt	1650	1703	New Testament commentator, Vicar & Lecturer of Dedham, Essex
Roger Bushell	1910	1944	Leader of "The Great Escape"
"RAB" Butler	1902	1982	British politician
Peter Cook	1937	1995	Comedian
Richard Crashaw	c.1613	1649	Anglican cleric and later Catholic convert, poet associated with Metaphysical poets and religious poetry, Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge
William Crashaw	1572	1626	Appointed preacher at the Inner Temple, Anglican divine and poet, author of anti-Catholic tracts and pamphlets
Seamus Deane	1940		Novelist, poet and literary critic
Maurice Dobb	1900	1976	Economist
Ray Dolby	1933	2013	Inventor and bequests $52.6 Million to Pembroke
C. H. Douglas	1879	1952	Engineer; pioneer of the Social Credit movement
Timothy Dudley-Smith	1926		Hymn writer and clergyman of the Church of England
Abba Eban	1915	2002	Statesman
Edward James Eliot	1758	1797	British politician
William Eliot, 2nd Earl of St Germans	1767	1845	British politician
Archibald Fargus	1878	1963	Cricketer, scholar, clergyman
Femi Fani-Kayode	1960		Former Nigerian Minister of Culture and Tourism
Ian Fleming	1935		Organic chemist, alumni, emeritus professor of the University of Cambridge and emeritus fellow
William Fowler	1911	1995	Nobel prize winner
Arthur Gilligan	1894	1976	England cricket captain
Alexander Grantham	1899	1978	Governor of Hong Kong
Thomas Gray	1716	1771	Poet
Stephen Greenblatt	1943		Literary critic, pioneer of New Historicism
Bendor Grosvenor	1977		Art historian
Malcolm Guite	1957		poet and author (Sounding the Seasons, The Singing Bowl), priest, singer-songwriter, currently Bye-Fellow and Chaplain of Girton College, Cambridge; BA, MA, 1980.
Rupert Gwynne	1871	1924	MP for Eastbourne 1910–1924.
Naomie Harris	1976		Actress
Tom Harrisson	1911	1976	Ornithologist, anthropologist, soldier, co-founder of Mass-Observation
Samuel Harsnett	1561	1631	Master, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, later Archbishop of York and theological writer
Oliver Heald	1954		British politician
Ted Hughes	1930	1998	Poet
Eric Idle	1943		Entertainer, comedian, member of Monty Python
Clive James	1939		Novelist
Atma Jayaram	1915	1990	Former Director of the Indian Intelligence Bureau
Peter Jeffrey	1929	1999	Actor
Humphrey Jennings	1907	1950	Film-maker
Bryan Keith-Lucas	1912	1996	Political scientist
Emma Johnson	1966		Clarinetist
Robert Macfarlane	1976		Writer
David MacMyn	1903	1978	Rugby union international (Scotland and Lions) player and administrator
Sir Henry James Sumner Maine	1822	1888	Jurist and Historian
Peter May	1929	1994	Cricketer
D. H. Mellor	1938		Philosopher
Messenger Monsey	1694	1788	Physician
Tom Morris	1964		Theatre director and producer
Sir Allan Mossop	1887	1965	Chief Judge of the British Supreme Court for China
David Munrow	1942	1976	Musician, composer, music historian
Richard Murdoch	1907	1990	Actor, comedian
Bill Oddie	1941		Comedian, Ornithologist
William Pitt	1759	1806	British politician; Prime Minister 1783-1801, 1804–06
Rodney Porter	1917	1985	Nobel prize winning Biochemist
George Maxwell Richards	1931		President of Trinidad and Tobago
Nicholas Ridley	c.1502	1555	Bishop of London, Martyr
Edmund Grindal	c.1519	1571	Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop of York, Bishop of London
Michael Rowan-Robinson			Astronomer
Martin Rowson	1959		Cartoonist
Hugh Ruttledge	1884	1961	Mountaineer
Tom Sharpe	1928	2013	Novelist
Indra Sinha	1950		Novelist
Christopher Smart	1722	1771	Poet, hymnist, journalist, actor
Chris Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury	1951		British politician
Edmund Spenser	1552	1599	Poet
George Gabriel Stokes	1819	1903	Mathematician, physicist
John Sulston	1942		Chemist, Nobel prize winner
Peter Taylor, Baron Taylor of Gosforth	1930	1997	Lord Chief Justice
Peter Taylor	1942		Author and journalist
Karan Thapar	1955		Writer, Journalist, Broadcaster, Editor
William Turner	1508	1568	Physician
P. K. van der Byl	1923	1999	Rhodesian politician
Lawrence Wager	1904	1965	Geologist, explorer and mountaineer
Wavell Wakefield, 1st Baron Wakefield of Kendal	1898	1983	Rugby player
Yorick Wilks	1939		Computer Scientist
Leonard Whibley	1864	1941	Greek scholar
Roger Williams	1603	1683	Statesman, Theologian, founder of Rhode Island
George Crichton Wells	1914	1999	Dermatologist, first described Well's syndrome
Tom Hiddleston	1981		Actor

Institutions named after the college

Pembroke College, the former women's college at Brown University in the United States, was named for the principal building on the women's campus, Pembroke Hall, which was itself named in honour of the Pembroke College (Cambridge) alumnus Roger Williams, a co-founder of Rhode Island.

In 1865 Pembroke College donated land for the formation of the Suffolk memorial to Prince Albert. The land at Framlingham in the county of Suffolk was used to build a school, The Albert Memorial College. The school today is known as Framlingham College and one of its seven houses is named Pembroke House in recognition of the contribution Pembroke College has made to the School.

In 1981, a decade after the merger of Pembroke College into Brown University, the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women was named in honour of Pembroke College and the history of women's efforts to gain access to higher education.

See also

• List of Masters of Pembroke College, Cambridge
• Category:Fellows of Pembroke College, Cambridge
• Pembroke College Boat Club
• List of organ scholars

External links

• Pembroke College website