Van Mildert College (colloquially known as Van Mil or Mildert) is one of the 17 constituent colleges of Durham University. The college was founded in 1965 and takes its name from William Van Mildert, the last Prince-Bishop to rule the County Palatine of Durham and a leading figure in the university's foundation. Originally an all-male college, Van Mildert admitted female undergraduates for the first time in 1972, making it the first Durham college to become mixed.
The college occupies grounds of alongside South Road and Mill Hill Lane, about south of the university town, and is centred on a small lake. Designed by Middleton, Fletcher & Partners, the college was built in a modernist and egalitarian architectural style that aimed to house the sudden influx of students in the early 1960s. The college is notable for its lake, named Lake Mildert, and its Ann Dobson Dining Hall which is the largest student dining hall in Durham.
The college is the third largest collegiate body in the university by total numbers of affiliated students, just behind University College, and is reputed for its community feel and relative informality compared with other Durham colleges. Almost half of home students admitted are from grammar school and it is one of the 7 colleges of Durham that does not require its students to don their gown, though the traditional Durham custom of formal dining are still performed and taken pride of.
Among Van Mildert's notable alumni are former Minister of State for Women The Baroness Morgan of Huyton, World Record triple jump Olympic champion Jonathan Edwards, the cosmologist and Templeton Prize winner John D. Barrow, English judge of the UK Supreme Court Lord Hughes of Ombersley, and Turkish Prince Naz Osmanoglu.
History
Van Mildert College was established as a men's college in 1965 following recommendations of the Robbins Report looking into the future of higher education in the UK. In 1963, King's College in Newcastle declared itself independent from the University of Durham, meaning new colleges were required to meet the new university places that the Government wished to create. As a result, the university planned to establish three new colleges on Elvet Hill which went on to be named Collingwood College, Trevelyan College and Van Mildert College.
The college marks its foundation in 1965 when the first students were admitted, with the first college master, Dr Arthur Prowse, already been appointed in 1964. Initially, the college only accepted men, but during the college's early years, it also temporarily accommodated (albeit not accepting them as members) of over 50 women from other colleges. Together with the first Senior Tutor, Arnold Bradshaw, Prowse established the participatory, liberal, and forward-looking culture that Van Mildert maintains to this day. In October 1965, the founder students took up residence in Parson's Field House, though it was not long before the college moved to its permanent site on Elvet Hill by Michaelmas 1966. The College permanent site was designed by Middleton, Fletcher & Partners of Middlesbrough, which features a small lake to accommodate the site's tendency to become waterlogged. This lake, along with its flock of ducks, remains a distinctive feature of the college and the main College building, located next to the lake, included the Dining Hall and servery, a library, bar, common rooms, and offices.
On 13 June 1967, the college was officially opened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey, who had previously served as Van Mildert Professor of Divinity at Durham and was a friend of Arthur Prowse. By this time, the college had reached its full capacity, with around 300 undergraduates, along with some graduate students and resident members of the Senior Common Room. This period also set the stage for Van Mildert to become mixed in the future.
1970 to 1976: Pioneering for mixed-sex education In 1970, the Governing Body of the College took decision to go mixed and to construct a new accommodation block, named Middleton Stairs after architect Philip Middleton. In those time as well that the college cooperated closely with Collingwood College, and housed their initial students while their buildings were being finished. The two college shared facilities, with two Masters, Dr Paul Kent and Mr Peter Bayley, presiding over at opposite ends of the Hall. The College admitted its first female students in 1967 reading for Certificates in Education, though undergraduate women were only formally welcomed in Michaelmas term 1972, with a few already transferring in 1971, making Van Mildert the first Durham college to go mixed.
The college's population grew steadily, reaching 498 in 1976. Internal reorganisations expanded the library and bar, and additional accommodation was acquired. The 1986 opening of the Conference Centre provided new meeting rooms and boosted the college conference business. In 1990, the Tunstall Building added 30 single ensuite bedrooms, followed by the Deerness block in 2002 with 97 single ensuite rooms, allowing the college to house 515 students, including all first-years and some final-year and graduate students. By 2013, Van Mildert had grown to a community of over 1,000 students, staff, and tutors from around the world.
Overview
Governance and legal status Van Mildert is a maintained college, which are governed directly by, and are financially dependent on, the university. Van Mildert's principals and staffs are appointed by University Council and are overseen by the Deputy Warden, who is also a member of the University Executive Committee, and so does not enjoy independence unlike most of Oxbridge colleges and Durham's two other recognised colleges of St John's and St Chad's.
The college is headed by a Principal (previously titled Master until 1988), a vice-principal and a board of governors. Some members sits as governor by virtue of holding another office (ex officio): The Principal (chairman), The Vice-Chancellor and Warden The Vice-Principal and Senior Tutor, The Bursar The President of the Senior Common Room The Chaplain The President of the Middle Common Room The President of the Junior Common Room College tutors and the Junior Common Room and a representative of the University Council also elects members to sit on the governing body.
As a constituent college of Durham University, Van Mildert College is recognised as a "listed bodies"Recognised UK Degrees in the Education (Listed Bodies) (England) Order 2013 made under the Education Reform Act 1988. The legal status of Van Mildert College is thus similar to those colleges in Oxford and Cambridge and the dissolution of the college will only take effect if approved by the Privy Council.
Buildings and grounds The college and its main entrance are located at the eastern end of Mill Hill Lane, neighbouring South College and John Snow College to its west, Elvet Hill Road to its east and South Road to its south. The front of the college runs between St Aidan's College, Teikyo University and the Oriental Museum, whilst the back entrance along Lake Mildert partly neighbours Collingwood College. Van Mildert building blocks are architecturally modernist, many of which are named after local rivers, which are Tyne, Tees, Derwent, Wear, and Deerness (postgraduates only). Two accommodation blocks are not named in this convention with Tunstall block named after a town in Sunderland and Middleton stairs named after the architect that conceptualised the college. Unlike the Bailey colleges where accommodation blocks are spread around the city, all of Van Mildert's accommodation are situated within the college grounds, and the college is in the process of refurbishing each of the buildings in turn. In total the college can provide around 525 single rooms for its student members.
The post of college principal in Van Mildert College also comes with residential benefits, and that they are entitled to use and live in the Principal's House (formerly Master's House) which are located by South Road neighbouring Southend House. The college also owns a boat house by Kingsgate Footbridge and a tennis court. Tees Lawn, which are situated within the college grounds are often used by college members for recreational purposes.
In 2024, Van Mildert College was criticised for not being able to accommodate returning students into college accommodation for the academic year whilst still having at least 70 unoccupied beds (16% unoccupied) within the college grounds.
Ann Dobson Dining Hall The college's Dining Hall, the Ann Dobson Dining Hall (colloquially the "Annie D"), is the largest student dining hall in Durham. It measures 30.8m by 13.2m and can seat approximately 350 members at formal hall.The dining hall is used for a variety of functions over the academic year and plays a central role in the lives of livers-in (a Durham term for students who lives in college) as it is where college meals and formals are held.
In the 1960s, members of the college often enjoyed concerts featuring well known artistes, such as Shura Cherkassky and Peter Pears, though this has not persisted. Today, the hall still acts as a venue for drama productions and as a sports hall for college members.
A copy of a portrait of William Van Mildert, whom the college is named after, hangs at one end of the dining hall, along with portraits of the former Principals and Masters of the college.
Libraries The Bradshaw Room is the main library of Van Mildert College and is open 24 hours a day. It is equipped with over 12,000 books & journals and, along with St John's College Archives, is the only other College library in Durham to be listed in The National Archives. The Bradshaw Room also houses a Library2careers, study-skills section, and course-related DVDs, and it overlooks the Mildert Lake.
The Kent Room, which is located across the corridor from Bradshaw is also regularly used by college members and it contains most of the college fiction collections. It is also often used for study groups.
Mildert's Inn
The Van Mildert College Bar (also known as Mildert's Inn which few known) is a recently refurbished bar used by both members of the college and students from other colleges. It is also generally used for holding JCR meetings during term time and in recent years has won the 'University Bar' category of the Best Bar None and awards from Durham City for the 2008–09 and 2010–11 academic years. Most recently, Van Mildert's Bar has also won the 'Gold' category for the Best Bar None Awards for the year 2016–17.
The Bar produces its own brand of ale called 'Treasure in the Swamp' and serves other alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and/or alcohol alternatives. The bar is infamous for its college drink – ‘The Little Lad’ and ‘Shrek Juice’.
Lake Mildert and Tees Lawn The lake is perhaps the most distinctive physical features of the college and is an integral part of the college's identity and community, and a valuable environmental resources for a variety of plants and animals. In the not too distant past, it has been used as an ice rink by college members when the lake water froze in the winter, and rowing boats have traversed it at summer balls. There were also plans to convert the area nearest to Main College into an outdoor swimming pool, although this was not eventually realised. The lake has now toxic water warning and is out of bounds at all times, with transgression of the rule taken very seriously by the College Officers.