St Mary's College, Durham

St Mary's College
Durham University
St Mary's College Lawn
Arms of St Mary's College
Arms: Argent, a cross formy quadrate gules; a chief azure, thereon a Durham mitre Or between two lilies proper.
Coordinates54°45′59″N 1°34′40″W / 54.7665°N 1.5778°W / 54.7665; -1.5778
Latin nameCollegium Beatae Mariae
MottoLatin: Ancilla Domini
Motto in EnglishThe handmaid of the Lord
Established1899
Named forSaint Mary
PrincipalAdrian Simpson[1]
Vice principalKate Morrey[2]
Undergraduates830
Postgraduates270
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St Mary's College, Durham is located in Durham, England
St Mary's College, Durham
Location in Durham, England

St Mary’s College is a constituent college of Durham University. It is located mainly on Elvet Hill to the South of the city centre, becoming the first of Durham’s “hill colleges”. Following the grant of a supplemental charter in 1895 allowing women to receive degrees of the university, St Mary's was founded as a women’s only college called the Women’s Hostel in 1899, adopting its present name in May 1920. It enjoys a reputation as one of the most attractive colleges of Durham because of its neoclassical architecture and picturesque landscape.

The college is co-educational, which only began admitting men in 2005, the last of Durham’s original single-sex colleges to do so.[3] The college has 750 undergraduate students, around 150 full-time postgraduates students and 200 part-time postgraduate students reading for a Durham degree.

St Mary’s is considered one of the more traditional colleges. It is the only college in Durham that insist on gowns being worn at JCR meetings and also emphasises its use in formal halls.[4] St Mary’s also holds its own matriculation ceremony in addition to the university-wide ceremony held in the Cathedral, where new students sign their name onto the college’s matriculation book, thereby sealing an oath to adhere to its customs and traditions. It also host 3 balls in an academic year, which are the Winter Ball in Michaelmas term, the Masquerade Ball in Epiphany term, and the Midsummer Ball in Easter term.[5]

  1. ^ Durham University (7 September 2022). "St. Mary's College". [Durham University Website].
  2. ^ Durham University (29 April 2024). "St. Mary's College". [Durham University Website].
  3. ^ "Durham college opens doors to male undergraduates". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  4. ^ "JCR Meetings and Elections". St Mary's College JCR. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Balls". St Mary's College JCR. Retrieved 14 June 2024.