History

Collingwood College was founded in 1972 and named in honour of Sir Edward Collingwood, a distinguished mathematician, naval officer, public servant and former Chair of Durham University’s Council whose intellectual range and commitment to service reflect values the college continues to uphold. 

From its beginnings, Collingwood set out to do things differently. It was the first Durham college to be fully mixed, including mixed corridors, an approach that signalled a more modern, open and inclusive model of collegiate life. When the first students arrived, however, the college itself was still under construction; the inaugural cohort was hosted by Van Mildert College before moving into the newly completed site in 1973. 

Our founding spirit endures. Collingwood has always been defined by its informality: a college without gowns, without rigid hierarchies and with a culture in which students and staff engage directly and on equal terms. This remains central to how our college works today. 

Originally designed for around 260 students, Collingwood expanded significantly in the early 1990s as the university grew. New accommodation wings, arranged around shared outdoor spaces including a croquet lawn and amphitheatre, opened in 1993 and established the larger, more outward-looking College that exists today. 

More recent investment has continued to shape the College’s environment. Between 2016 and 2018, a major programme of development, generously supported by alumni, delivered a floodlit multi-use games area (MUGA), an expanded and refurbished gym, improvements to the bar and Junior Common Room, and the creation of a flexible Performing Arts Centre and Music Studios. 

Across more than fifty years, Collingwood has evolved in scale and ambition, but its defining character has remained constant: open, informal and shaped by the people who are part of it.