Senate House, Cambridge

The Senate House is owned by Cambridge University, and is used to host graduation ceremonies for the University’s various colleges. Built in 1720, it was originally constructed to house meetings of the Senate. All Cambridge Masters graduates are considered to be members of the Senate, which elects the university’s Chancellor and High Steward. Until 1950, the Senate even directly elected two Members of Parliament, before the Cambridge University constituency was abolished.

Senate House sits between King’s College and Gonville & Caius College in the centre of the university campus. As the venue for graduation ceremonies, it has become a focal point of university life, and was the venue for the university’s 800th anniversary celebrations, when a history of the institution was displayed on its frontage. On graduation days, results are famously posted around the outside of the building.

Senate House was designed by Sir James Burrell, and is an example of the neo-classical style of architecture. Originally intended as part of a four-sided complex of buildings, it stands alone as the other buildings were never completed. The house and grounds remain at the centre of student life, and were chosen as the site for protests at rising tuition fees as recently as 2010.