New Hall (Murray Edwards College)
New Hall College was founded in 1954 with the aim of increasing the proportion of women at Cambridge. At the time the University of Cambridge had the lowest proportion of female undergraduates of any UK university.
Unlike Newnham (Cambridge's other single sex undergraduate college), New Hall admits male fellows. From May 2009 the college officially changed its name to Murray Edwards College, commemorating the first President of the college, Dame Rosemary Murray, and recognising a £30 million donation from alumnus Ros Smith and her husband Steve Edwards.
Location
New Hall was originally situated on Silver Street where Darwin college now stands and in its first year only admitted 16 students. It moved to its current site ten minutes walk from the town centre on Huntingdon Road in 1965. The land was donated by the Darwin family and was originally the grounds of their family home, the Orchard.
The most interesting building is the Dome (dining hall). The domed roof is covered by concrete 'petals' which can be opened to allow diners a glimpse of the heavens above. Service is also unusual as the Dome contains a central servery (essentially a glorified dumbwaiter) which rises from the kitchens below.
the art work is intimidating to men
The college houses the world's second largest collection of women's art. The art work is somewhat intimidating to men as it mostly seems to be either strangely gynecological or manically feminist in nature.
The surrounding colleges claim that "sluts go to New Hall, lesbians to Newnham", although the mixed colleges around Newnham claim the exact opposite. Some students have theorised that this is evidence that lesbians will travel further for a date.
Famous alumni
Famous alumni include the Academy Award winning actress Tilda Swinton, comedienne Sue Perkins and TV presenter Claudia Winkelman as well as the discover of pulsars Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell.
For more information about the college and their opening times please visit their website