Jesus College Cambridge

Jesus College has assets of approximately £336m making it Cambridge’s fifth-wealthiest college. The college is known for its particularly expansive grounds which include its sporting fields and for its close proximity to its boathouse. Three members of Jesus College have received a Nobel Prize. Two fellows of the college have been appointed to the International Court of Justice. Notable alumni include Thomas Cranmer, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Thomas Robert Malthus, Lord Reid, Lord Toulson, Sir Rupert Jackson, Sir David Hare, Sir Roger Scruton, Nick Hornby, and the members of the band Clean Bandit. Sonita Alleyne was elected master of Jesus College in 2019. She will be the first woman to hold the role, 40 years after the college began admitting women as students. When founded in 1496, the College consisted of buildings taken over from the Nunnery of St Mary and St Radegund, which was founded at the beginning of the 12th century; the Chapel is the oldest university building in Cambridge still in use, and predates the foundation of the College by 350 years, the University by half a century. The Benedictine Convent, upon dissolution, included the chapel and the cloister attached to it; the nuns’ refectory, which became the college hall; and the former lodging of the prioress, which became the Master’s Lodge. This set of buildings remains the core of the college to this day and this accounts for its distinctly monastic architectural style, which sets it apart from other Cambridge colleges. A library was soon added, and the chapel was considerably modified and reduced in scale by Alcock. At its foundation, the college had a master, six fellows and six scholars.