Peterhouse, Cambridge

Peterhouse is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate students, and 54 fellows.

Peterhouse alumni are notably eminent within the natural sciences, including scientists Lord Kelvin, Henry Cavendish, Charles Babbage, James Clerk Maxwell, James Dewar, Frank Whittle, and five Nobel prize winners in science: Sir John Kendrew, Sir Aaron Klug, Archer Martin, Max Perutz, and Michael Levitt. Peterhouse alumni also include Lord Chancellors, Lord Chief Justices, important poets such as Thomas Gray, the first Anglican Bishop of New York Samuel Provoost, the first British Fields Medallist Klaus Roth, Oscar-winning film director Sam Mendes and comedian David Mitchell, British Prime Minister Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, and Elijah Mudenda, second prime minister of Zambia, also studied at the college.

Peterhouse is one of the wealthiest colleges in Cambridge, with assets exceeding £350 million. It is currently third in terms of net assets per student. Members of Peterhouse are encouraged to attend communal dinners, known as "Hall". Hall takes place in two sittings, with the second known as "Formal Hall", which consists of a three-course candlelit meal and which must be attended wearing suits and gowns. At Formal Hall, the students rise as the fellows proceed in, a gong is rung, and two Latin graces are read. Peterhouse also hosts a biennial white-tie ball as part of May Week celebrations.

In recent years, Peterhouse has been ranked as one of the highest achieving colleges in Cambridge, although academic performance tends to vary year to year due to its small population. In the past five years, it has sat in the top ten of the 29 colleges within the Tompkins Table. Peterhouse sat at fourth in 2018 and 2019.

History

thumb|[[Little St Mary's, Cambridge|Church of St Mary the Less]]

thumb|Peterhouse, view from [[Coe Fen]]

Foundation

The foundation of Peterhouse dates to 1280, when letters patent from Edward I dated Burgh, Suffolk, 24 December 1280 allowed Hugh de Balsham, to keep a number of scholars in the Hospital of St John, where they were to live according to the rules of the scholars of Merton. After disagreement between the scholars and the Brethren of the Hospital, both requested a separation. As a result, in 1284 Balsham transferred the scholars to the present site with the purchase of two houses just outside the then Trumpington Gate to accommodate a Master and fourteen "worthy but impoverished Fellows". The Church of St Peter without Trumpington Gate was to be used by the scholars. Perne died in 1589, leaving a legacy to the college that funded a number of fellowships and scholarships, as well bequeathing an extensive collection of books. This collection and rare volumes since added to it is now known as the Perne Library.

thumb|St Peter's College, view from Trumpington Street, 1815

Between 1626 and 1634, the Master was Matthew Wren. Wren had previously accompanied Charles I on his journey to Spain to attempt to negotiate the Spanish Match. Wren was a firm supporter of Archbishop William Laud, and under Wren the college became known as a centre of Arminianism. This continued under the Mastership of John Cosin, who succeeded Wren in 1634. Under Cosin significant changes were made to the college's Chapel to bring it into line with Laud's idea of the "beauty of holiness". On 21 December of the same year, statues and decorations in the Chapel were pulled down by a committee led by the Puritan zealot William Dowsing.

The college was the first in the University to have electric lighting installed, when Lord Kelvin provided it for the Hall and Combination Room to celebrate the College's six-hundredth anniversary in 1883–1884. It was the second building in the country to get electric lighting, after the Palace of Westminster. and during World War II its fellowship simultaneously included four professors in the university's faculty for that subject – Herbert Butterfield, David Knowles, Michael Postan and Denis Brogan.

Modern day

In the 1980s Peterhouse acquired an association with Conservative politics. Maurice Cowling and Roger Scruton were both influential fellows of the College and are sometimes described as key figures in the so-called "Peterhouse right" – an intellectual movement linked to philosophical conservativism. While often associated with Thatcherite politics (notably, the Conservative politicians Michael Portillo and Michael Howard both studied at Peterhouse), the extent to which Margaret Thatcher's economic liberalism was admired within the movement was limited. During this period, which coincided with the mastership of Hugh Trevor-Roper, the college endured a period of significant conflict among the fellowship, particularly between Trevor-Roper and Cowling.

Trevor-Roper feuded constantly with Cowling and his allies, while launching a series of administrative reforms. Women were admitted in 1983 at his urging. The British journalist Neal Ascherson summarised the quarrel between Cowling and Trevor-Roper thus:<blockquote>Lord Dacre, far from being a romantic Tory ultra, turned out to be an anti-clerical Whig with a preference for free speech over superstition. He did not find it normal that fellows should wear mourning on the anniversary of General Franco's death, attend parties in SS uniform or insult black and Jewish guests at high table. For the next seven years, Trevor-Roper battled to suppress the insurgency of the Cowling clique ("a strong mind trapped in its own glutinous frustrations"), and to bring the college back to a condition in which students might actually want to go there. Neither side won this struggle, which soon became a campaign to drive Trevor-Roper out of the college by grotesque rudeness and insubordination.</blockquote> In a review of Adam Sisman's 2010 biography of Trevor-Roper, the Economist wrote that his picture of Peterhouse in the 1980s was "startling", stating the college had become under Cowling's influence a sort of right-wing "lunatic asylum", who were determined to sabotage Trevor-Roper's reforms. In 1987 Trevor-Roper retired complaining of "seven wasted years."

Peterhouse may have been one of the sources of inspiration for Tom Sharpe's Porterhouse Blue.

Buildings and grounds

thumb|The Chapel cloisters, through which Old Court can be seen

Peterhouse has its main site situated on Trumpington Street, to the south of Cambridge's town centre. The main portion of the college is just to the north of the Fitzwilliam Museum, and its grounds run behind the museum. The buildings date from a wide variety of times, and have been much altered over the years. The college is reputed to have been at least partially destroyed by fire in 1420. The entrance of the college has shifted through its lifetime as well, with the change being principally the result of the demolition of the row of houses that originally lined Trumpington Street on the east side of the college. In 1574, a map shows the entrance being on the south side of a single main court. The modern entrance is to the east, straight onto Trumpington Street. Electric lighting was added to the library in 1937. The area above the Perne Library was used as the Ward Library (the college's general purpose library) from 1952 to 1984, but that has now been moved to its own building in the north-west corner of the college site.

Burrough's Building

The Burrough's Building is situated at the front of the college, parallel to the Chapel. It is named after its architect, Sir James Burrough, the Master of Caius, and was built in 1736. It is one of several Cambridge neo-Palladian buildings designed by Burrough. Others include the remodelling of the Hall and Old Court at Trinity Hall and the chapel at Clare College. The building is occupied by fellows and college offices.

Old Court

thumb|Peterhouse's [[Formal (university)|Dining Hall]]

Old Court lies beyond the Chapel cloisters. To the south of the court is the dining hall, the only College building that survives from the 13th century and the oldest collegiate building in all of Cambridge. Between 1866 and 1870, the hall was restored by the architect George Gilbert Scott, Jr. Under Scott, the timber roof was repaired and two old parlours merged to form a new Combination Room. The stained glass windows were also replaced with Pre-Raphaelite pieces by William Morris, Ford Madox Brown and Edward Burne-Jones. The hall was extensively renovated in 2006-7.

The north and west sides of Old Court were added in the 15th century, and classicised in the 18th century. The original stained glass was destroyed by Parliamentarians in 1643, with only the east window's crucifixion scene (based on Rubens's Le Coup de Lance) surviving. The current side windows are by Max Ainmiller, and were added in 1855. The cloisters on each side of the Chapel date from the 17th century. Their design was classicised in 1709, while an ornamental porch was removed in 1755.

The Peterhouse Partbooks, music manuscripts from the early years of the Chapel, survive, and are one of the most important collections of Tudor and Jacobean church music. The Choir of Peterhouse has recently attracted wider interest for its regular performances of this material, some of which has not been heard since the 16th century, and have released a CD of music from the Caroline partbooks. The Organ in the Chapel was installed in 1765 John Snetzler. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Organ was expanded and renovated by Hill & Son (1893-94) and Noel Mander (1963). In 2023, the Organ underwent a substantial restoration and renovation project by Flentrop and Klais. This restoration uniquely provides two mechanical-action consoles: one 'historic' console intended to recreate the experience of playing Snetzler's original instrument; the other a contemporary console, to allow for the performance of a wider range of repertoire.

The first person buried in the Chapel was Samuel Horne, a fellow of the college. Rooms in Gisborne Court are mainly occupied by undergraduates. Many previously housed distinguished alumni, including Lord Kelvin in I staircase.

thumb|Whittle Building in Gisborne Court, Peterhouse

The Whittle Building, named after Petrean Frank Whittle, opened on the western side of Gisborne Court in early 2015. Designed in neo-gothic style by John Simpson Architects, it contains en-suite undergraduate accommodation, the student bar and common room, a function room and a gym. Its design recalls that of the original screen-wall that once stood in its place. In 2015 the building was shortlisted for the Carbuncle Cup, given annually by the magazine Building Design to "the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months".

Fen Court

Beyond Gisborne Court is Fen Court, a 20th-century building partially on stilts. Fen Court was built between 1939 and 1941 from designs by H. C. Hughes and his partner Peter Bicknell. It was amongst the earliest buildings in Cambridge designed in the style of the Modern Movement pioneered by Walter Gropius at the Bauhaus. The carved panel by Anthony Foster over the entrance doorway evokes the mood in Britain as the building was completed. It bears the inscription DE PROFUNDIS CLAMAVI MCMXL — "out of the depths have I cried out 1940". These are the first words of Psalm 130, one of the Penitential Psalms. Alongside the inscription is a depiction of St Peter being saved from the sea.

An adjacent bath-house, known as the Birdwood Building, used to make up the western side of Gisborne Court. This was also designed by Hughes and Bicknell, and was built between 1932 and 1934.

Gardens

thumb|Exterior of the Hall, leading to the Deer Park.

While officially being named the Grove, the grounds to the south of Gisborne Court have been known as the Deer Park since deer were brought there in the 19th century. During that period it achieved fame as the smallest deer park in England. After the First World War the deer sickened and passed their illness onto stock that had been imported from the Duke of Portland's estate at Welbeck Abbey in an attempt to improve the situation. There are no longer any deer.

The remainder of the college's gardens divide into areas known as the Fellows' Garden, just to the south of Old Court, and the Scholars' Garden, at the south end of the site, surrounding the William Stone Building.

William Stone Building

The William Stone Building stands in the Scholars' Garden and was funded by a £100,000 bequest from William Stone (1857–1958), a former scholar of the college. Erected in 1963-4, to a design by Sir Leslie Martin and Sir Colin St John Wilson, it is an eight-storey brick tower housing eight fellows and 24 undergraduates. It has been refurbished, converting the rooms to en-suite.

Trumpington Street

The college also occupies a number of buildings on Trumpington Street.

thumb|right|Master's Lodge

The Master's Lodge is situated across Trumpington Street from the College, and was bequeathed to the College in 1727 by a fellow, Charles Beaumont, son of the 30th Master of the college, Joseph Beaumont. It is built in red brick in the Queen Anne style.

Behind the Hostel lies Cosin Court, which provides accommodation for fellows and mature, postgraduate, and married students. The court is named for John Cosin (1594–1672) who was successively Master of Peterhouse, Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University and Prince-Bishop of Durham.

St Peter's Terrace is a row of Georgian townhouses houses first-year undergraduates, fellows, and some graduate students in basement flats. It is directly in front of the William Stone Building.

Arms

The College has, during its history, used five different coats of arms. The one currently in use has two legitimate blazons. The first form is the original grant by Robert Cooke, Clarenceux King of Arms, in 1575:

: Or four pallets Gules within a border of the last charged with eight ducal coronets of the first.

The College did, however, habitually use a version with three pallets, and this was allowed at the Herald's Visitation of Cambridgeshire in 1684. The latter version (with three pallets) was officially adopted by the Governing Body in 1935. The construction of the arms is that of the founder, Hugo de Balsham, surrounded by the crowns of the See of Ely.

Grace

{| class="wikitable"

! Latin !! English

|Bless us, O Lord, and Thy gifts, which of Thy bounty we are about to receive, and grant that, fed wholesomely upon them, we may be able to offer due service unto Thee, through Christ our Lord, Amen.

God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him: let God be in us, and let us remain in the same. Amen.

Peterhouse and Jesus College are the only two colleges to have two separate halves to their grace, the first being a standard grace, and the second a quotation of 1 John 4:16.

People associated with Peterhouse

Members of Peterhouse — as masters, fellows (including honorary fellows) or students — are known as Petreans.

File:John Whitgift from NPG.jpg|John Whitgift Archbishop of Canterbury

File:Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton.jpg|The Duke of Grafton Prime Minister of Great Britain

File:PortraitThomasGrayByJohnGilesEccart1747to1748.jpg|Thomas Gray Poet, known for the Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

File:Lord-ellenborough.jpg|Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough Lord Chief Justice

File:CharlesBabbage.jpg|Charles Babbage Inventor of the difference engine, "Father of the computer"

File:Cavendish Henry signature.jpg|Henry Cavendish Scientist, discoverer of hydrogen

File:James Dewar.jpg|Sir James Dewar Chemist, physicist, inventor of the Dewar flask

File:Baron Kelvin 1906.jpg|Lord Kelvin Inventor and pioneer in thermodynamics, electricity and telegraphy

File:James Clerk Maxwell big.jpg|James Clerk Maxwell Formulator of classical electromagnetic theory

File:Hadi as Davis Cup c.jpg|Syed Mohammad Hadi Sportsman

File:Frank Whittle CH 011867.jpg|Sir Frank Whittle Inventor of the jet engine

File:Herbert Butterfield (2).jpg|Herbert Butterfield Historian, philosopher, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge

File:James Mason - still.JPG|James Mason Actor

File:World Debate - Niall Ferguson crop.jpg|Niall Ferguson Historian

File:Michael Portillo by Regents College cropped.jpg|Michael Portillo broadcaster and former politician

File:CGreenwood2006-06Radiohead.jpg|Colin Greenwood Bassist, Radiohead

File:Pesce in Chile 2018.jpg|Joseph E. Pesce Astrophysicist

File:Roger Scruton by Pete Helme.jpg|Roger Scruton Philosopher

File:Sam Mendes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 2013.jpg|alt=Sam Mendes|Sam Mendes Film and stage director, producer and screenwriter

File:David mitchell.jpg|David Mitchell Actor/comedian (Mitchell and Webb) and writer

</gallery>

Nobel laureates

Peterhouse has five Nobel laureates associated with it, either as former students or fellows.

John Kendrew – Chemistry (1962) for determining the first atomic structures of proteins using X-ray crystallography.
Sir Aaron Klug – Chemistry (1982) for his development of crystallographic electron microscopy.
Michael Levitt – Chemistry (2013) for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems.
Archer Martin – Chemistry (1952) for his invention of partition chromatography.
Max Perutz – Chemistry (1962) for determining the first atomic structures of proteins using X-ray crystallography.

Gallery

File:Peterhouse College, Cambridge.jpg|Chapel and main entrance

File:St. Peter's College Cambridge 2.jpg|Part of St Peter's College, view from the private gardens, 1815

File:St. Peter's College Cambridge.jpg|St Peter's College, Chapel, 1815

File:Peterhouse May Boat 1896 - 1.png|Peterhouse May Boat Crew, 1896

File:Peterhouse_Deer_Park_in_Spring.png|Peterhouse Deer Park in Spring

File:St Peter's Terrace, Trumpington Street, Cambridge.jpg|St Peter's Terrace

File:William Stone Building, Cambridge (2).jpg|William Stone Building, Scholars' Garden