Churchill
Built out of town on the hill (a slight misnomer, unless you’re from Holland or somewhere you’ll barely notice it) in the 1960’s Churchill is not a college steeped in Trinity-esque tradition. Arguably it also lacks something aesthetically compared to the ‘pretty’ colleges but most colleges have one accommodation bloc hideously out of sync with the rest of the buildings and there is a certain comfort with the homogeneity of Churchill. Regardless of your actual opinion, if you come to Churchill you will learn to love the college – architecture and all.
Churchill is large-ish college (in terms of student numbers, in terms of on-site land area it is the largest) with some 70% of the students being classed under the broad definition of ‘Scientists’. The size of the college however means the arts subjects are all well-represented (only Theology is not offered) and often their excess off free time means that they have a very noticeable presence on campus. The male: female ratio parallels this somewhat, but this is never a problem – the girls tend to become quite close, through the sports teams and Girly formals. All the students can be housed on-site for all 3 years of their degree, which means that their truly is a strong sense of community in the college with friendships spanning the year groups.
The massive land area of Churchill enables all the sports facilities to be housed on-site and Churchill fields strong teams in all the major sports – football, rugby, frisbee, cricket. The boat club is the only free one in Cambridge, so is perfectly open to people who are serious about rowing and those who may just want to try it for a term or so.
Churchill has the largest dining hall in Cambridge and formals are a great way to have a decent meal. Amongst the colleges, Churchill’s formals are some of the least formal with gowns not being required and raucous toasting to ‘the Queen’ and ‘Sir Winston’ being raised. The other major social event in college is the weekly Pav – a sweaty, cheese-filled, fancy dressed disco for which most of college comes together. This sense of community is maintained during the hangover soak-up known as brunch.
The college itself is well-equipped with games rooms, two(!) libraries, a nice central bar (not tucked away like in many other colleges), two TV rooms, a collection of bemusing art and a lovely, if slightly caustic, set of porters. Societies-wise Churchill has most things covered with the college paper and the drama society both being popular, as well as the obvious sports clubs.
Churchill is a great college, inclusive to all and a welcome break from the Cambridge stereotypes (both geographically and socially). The ability to walk/run on the grass, the spacious modern rooms, the distinct lack of tourists, strong placings in both academic and sporting rankings, and the amazing architecture (hmm…) all combine to make Churchill a somewhat unique, and truly fantastic place to live.
Official Website
Student Union website
