A porters' lodge or porter's lodge[1] (colloquially, plodge[2]) is a place near the entrance of a building where one or more porters can be found to respond to student enquiries as well as enquires from the public and direct them around the building. It is particularly associated with university accommodation in the United Kingdom and Canada (such as the majority of colleges of the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Durham, York and Toronto).[3][4]
Oxbridge porters' lodges typically also house the pigeon-holes for students' and Fellows' mail.[2]
Historically, some hospitals included a porter’s lodge, as with Newholme Hospital in Derbyshire, built for the Hospital porter for purposes of reception, messaging, mail, and myriad other duties.[5]
- ^ "porter's lodge, n.", Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- ^ a b O’Neill, Anne (25 August 2014). "A Cambridge Dictionary". Varsity. Cambridge: Varsity Publications Ltd. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
- ^ King's College porters' lodge Archived 4 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine, King's College, Cambridge.
- ^ Tour of the grounds: Porters' Lodge Archived 14 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, King's College, Cambridge.
- ^ Newhome Hospital at Historic England, Accessed 2 December 2022 at https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1148014