Дархэм Университетінің ең көне колледжі: «Қала» тарихы

Constituent college of the University of Durham

University College, informally known as Castle, is the oldest constituent college of the University of Durham in England. Centred on Durham Castle on Palace Green, it was founded in 1832 by William van Mildert, Bishop of Durham. As a constituent college of Durham University, it is listed as a higher education institution under section 216 of the Education Reform Act 1988. Almost all academic activities, such as research and tutoring, occur at a university level. University College moved into its current location in 1837. Around 150 students are accommodated within Durham Castle. Other college buildings, including converted 18th century houses and purpose built accommodation from the 1950s, 1970s and 1980s, are within five minutes' walk of the castle. The college has 700 undergraduates and is currently the most over subscribed college of the university. In 1987 it admitted women undergraduates for the first time, having previously been an all male college. University college are strictly traditional and encourages its members to attend formal dinner which happens at least twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday. Formals take place in the great hall which consists of a three course dinner where gowns are required to be worn. Students must also recite grace in Latin and must not stand until a senior member of the JCR has bow down to the high table. Castle also hosts the June Ball, a black tie event as part of the end of examination celebrations. From January 2012 until March 2019 the Master of the college was political theorist David Held. Wendy Powers joined as the college Principal on 1 June 2020.

University College was formed upon the creation of University of Durham in 1832. It was the first college of the university, and is therefore known as the "foundation college", but the university was founded explicitly on the Oxbridge model; the intention was already for the university to develop along collegiate lines in the manner of Oxford and Cambridge, as it has. Previously, for centuries, Durham Castle had been the bishop's palace for the Bishop of Durham until the residence was moved to Auckland Castle in 1832. Bishop William van Mildert, one of the founders of the university, had intended for the castle to be given to the college. Temporary accommodation for students was provided at the Archdeacon's Inn (now known as Cosin's Hall) on Palace Green until University College moved into its permanent home

The castle's keep, formerly a ruin, was redeveloped for student accommodation; in particular, the college's chapels and Great Hall have been restored. Since then high levels of maintenance have been, and still are, necessary to preserve the buildings of the castle. The university's second college, Hatfield Hall, was formed in 1846 as a response to the high costs of maintaining Castle. These costs arose from the students' expectations of being provided with servants and room furnishings. The university struggled for the rest of the 19th century, held back by a lack of prestige and a distance from the centres of power in the UK. By 1882, Castle contained some 79 undergraduates out of 205 at the university as a whole. Despite the university largely failing to gain recognition and prestige, a number of other colleges had opened by the end of the nineteenth century. Of these, Bishop Cosin's Hall failed to become financially viable and was absorbed into University College in 1864.
and was struggling to meet maintenance costs. The Castle, situated on the banks of "The Peninsula", was in danger of collapsing into the River Wear and many of its internal structures were weak. The combination of high costs and low undergraduate numbers meant that the college was often threatened with closure or merger with Hatfield. Castle was saved largely through charitable donations. A visit in the 1920s from Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII), helped increase the profile of the cause. In order to continue this expansion, the college purchased Lumley Castle in 1946 to house students, In the 1970s, the college's lease of Lumley Castle ended. Moatside Court was instead developed, and meant that all the college's students were now housed within five minutes of the main castle. During this period there was rapid change in the size and structure of the college, which expanded to over 300 undergraduates by 1979. Since this time the college has become fully mixed, with undergraduate numbers expanding to nearly seven hundred. Expansion caused a strain on college numbers, however, and in 2004 the college was unable to provide accommodation for all of its fresher students for the first time in its history. Following the foundation of Josephine Butler, Durham's first new college to be opened since 1972, pressure from the university to take on additional students has lessened, and undergraduate numbers have been intentionally reduced in recent years.

Although it had been in use before this period, the college arms were officially granted by the College of Arms on 29 May 1912, on the occasion of the eightieth anniversary since the founding of the college by the Bishop of Durham in 1832. The arms are blazoned: Azure, a Cross patonce or, between four Lions rampant Argent, on a Chief of the last, the Cross of St Cuthbert Sable, between two Durham Mitres Gules. Underneath is the motto, in Latin, "Non nobis solum", meaning "Not for ourselves alone". It is derived from a sentence quoting Plato in Cicero's most influential philosophical work, his treatise De Officiis (On Duties).