Homerton College

Homerton's roots lie in London, where a group of Protestant dissenters took premises in 1768 in what was then the village of Homerton. Nonconformists were barred from Oxford and Cambridge, so they ran their own courses. The institution moved from Hackney to Cambridge in 1894, bought the estate of Cavendish College, a venture that had run out of money, and for much of the twentieth century was best known as a trainer of teachers. It joined the university as an Approved Society in 1976 and received its royal charter as a full college in 2010. The college describes itself as one of the university's largest colleges.

What to look for

• The Victorian buildings. The original Cavendish College buildings date from 1876, in Gothic Revival style, with red Suffolk brick, Bath stone dressings and a notable oak doorway with an ogee arch. A castellated tower is the tallest part.
• The Great Hall. Built in 1889, it has a hammer-beam roof, American walnut panelling, rose windows and a gallery. The bell from the old London college sounds before grace at formal dinners. It also holds a Pre-Raphaelite painting, The Florentine Procession, from the 1860s.
• The Ibberson Building. Dating from 1914, this Arts and Crafts building is the only listed building on the site, Grade II, and its Combination Room was once a gymnasium.
• The new dining hall. Opened in 2022 to a design by Feilden Fowles.
• The gardens. About 25 acres run from the Hills Road entrance to the railway line on the west, taking in courtyards, herbaceous beds, rose banks, an orchard, more than 550 trees and four species of wild orchid.

From dissenting academy to teacher training

The story starts in 1695 with a fund in London to educate Calvinist ministers who, as nonconformists, were legally excluded from the older universities. They followed a modern curriculum heavy on philosophy, science and modern history. In 1730 a formal body, the King's Head Society, named after the pub at the Royal Exchange where it met, began sponsoring young men to attend dissenting academies. By 1817 the institution was the Homerton Academy Society, and many of its people joined the campaigns against the Corn Laws and against slave trading. In 1850 its theology teaching moved to New College London; the Congregational Board of Education then refounded it to concentrate on education itself, and it reopened in April 1852. Former students of the college formed a football section in 1881 that later became Leyton Orient Football Club; the college team and the club's supporters now meet in an annual match.

Becoming a full college

Admitted to the university as an Approved Society in December 1976, after the Regent House voted in favour by three to one, Homerton had admitted only women since 1896, and it remained all-women for eighty years. In 2000 the Regent House approved "convergence" with the wider university: most teaching and research moved to the new Faculty of Education, and in September 2001 the college took its first students in subjects other than education. The University Council approved full college status in December 2008, and the royal charter followed on 11 March 2010.

Practical notes

Homerton lies along Hills Road, outside the city centre, which the college says is why its grounds are more extensive than most. The college's pages describe the gardens as a retreat for its own community and give no public opening times, so call the college on 01223 747111 before visiting. A children's book collection with editions from 1780 onwards is a distinctive feature of the library.