College of St Hild and St Bede, Durham
The College of St Hild and St Bede, commonly known as Hild Bede, is a constituent college of Durham University in England. With over 1000 student members, The co-educational college was formed in 1975 following the merger of two much older single-sex institutions, the College of the Venerable Bede for men and St Hild's College for women.
Hild Bede is neither a Bailey nor a Hill college, and is situated on the banks of the River Wear between Durham's bailey and Gilesgate. Since 2024, the college has been based temporarily at Rushford Court whilst the riverside site is undergoing renovation.
History
The College of the Venerable Bede, for men, was founded in 1839 with a small number of trainee schoolmasters. The college was expanded greatly over the next few decades with the assistance of trade unionist and future local MP William Crawford, who would later become the college's treasurer. Its sister institution, St Hild's College, was opened for the education of women on an adjacent site in 1858. Both colleges initially specialised in teacher training but in 1892 for Bede and 1896 for Hild they became associated with the federal University of Durham, offering BA and BSc degrees alongside teaching in education. Graduates of St Hild's were the first female graduates from Durham in 1898. The Chapel of the Venerable Bede, completed in 1939 to celebrate Bede College's centenary, was designed by the architectural partnership of Seely & Paget.The two colleges retained links throughout the next century with shared teaching and facilities. In the 1960s they constructed the shared Caedmon Complex. It was then that it was decided that the colleges should be formally merged and in 1975 they became the unitary College of St. Hild and St. Bede, a recognised college of the university. In 1979 Hild Bede joined the College Council, becoming a full constituent college of the university and ceasing to award its own PGCE qualifications. At this point some of the College buildings were occupied by the University's Department of Education, whilst the college centred its academic administration on the old St Hild's site.
Buildings
College pre-renovation (1858-2024)
The original college consisted of several distinct buildings, including the main Hild building, which was the administrative hub of the college containing the main offices, computer room, common rooms and a large number of student rooms; other larger accommodation blocks, such as Thorp, Christopher, Bede; and several smaller houses such as Hild Gym, Bede Gym, Charles Stranks, Gables, Manor House, Manor Lodge, Belvedere, and, as of 2021, Ernest Place.At the centre of college was the Caedmon Complex, which contains a dining hall, the bar, music rooms and the only student-run cinema in Durham, Bede Film Society.
Hild Bede was also one of the two colleges in Durham to have two chapels, the other being University College. Following the merger of the colleges, the chapel of St. Hild was used function room named the Joachim Room. The Chapel of the Venerable Bede is still in use.
The college also maintains a boat house used by the boat club on the river near the Caedmon Complex. The old St Hild's boat house, situated 100 yards upstream is now used by Collingwood College.
Rushford Court
From 2024, the college moved temporarily to the Rushford Court site, in Durham's viaduct area, to allow redevelopment of its historic Leazes Road site. The Rushford Court site is based around the Victorian buildings of the former County Hospital, with new accommodation blocks surrounding it. As part of the move, the University built a new 'Heart' building on the site to house further student spaces, including a bar, library, and study space. The college is expected to be based at Rushford Court until 2029.Traditions
Symbols
To maintain the history of the two original colleges, males in the college wear the Bede colours of light and dark blue, the colours that the college are more widely known for, whilst female colours are the green and lilac of the original Hild College. The College Arms also represents the history of the precursor colleges, with the chief taken directly from the Arms of the College of the Venerable Bede and the chevron being adapted from the bend of Arms of St. Hild College.Gowns
The gowns worn by members of the college, retained from before the college became a constituent college of the university, differ from other Durham gowns in being made of brocaded fabric and being shorter. These are not worn at formal hall or matriculation. Formals are instead black tie events and happen around ten times a year, with both traditional formal dinners and themed formals such as for Halloween and St Patrick's Day. Whilst the college is based at Rushford Court, formals are held in other college dining halls on a rotational basis.Anthem
The College's official anthem is 'Never Forget' by Take That, and is frequently thus performed by College staff during karaoke events, and played during formals.College events
Like most Durham colleges, Hild Bede celebrates an annual college day, usually in early May, with Hild Bede being the first Durham college to stage such event. This day usually includes a champagne breakfast, a service in the cathedral, a formal lunch, picnics and barbecues on the grounds, and entertainment throughout the day including bands, fairground-style events, disco, ceilidh and college olympics.In late April, the college is host to the sounding retreat ceremony in conjunction with the Durham Light Infantry Association. Initially instituted to remember students and staff of the Bede College Company who lost their lives at the Second Battle of Ypres, it now commemorates all former members of the college who have died in conflicts around the world.
The college also hosts two annual balls, the Winter Ball at the end of Michaelmas Term and the Summer Ball after exams have finished. Since 2024 these events have been held externally at venues such as Lumley Castle, Beamish Hall, and Wynyard Hall.
Student Representative Council
Unlike most colleges of the university, the student body is not divided into Junior and Middle Common Rooms, instead both the undergraduate and postgraduate communities are represented by a single Student Representative Council. The SRC does however contain a special postgraduate committee and maintains the physical Junior and Middle Common Rooms, both in the Hild Building. The SRC is run by an elected exec that is headed by a sabbatical president. The college also has a Senior Common Room consisting of the college tutors, past and current members of college staff and invited members of the wider community.Executive Committee
The running of the SRC is undertaken primarily by the Hild Bede SRC executive committee, a group of elected student volunteers headed up by a sabbatical and salaried President. The other "exec" roles are as follows: Social Secretary, Vice President, Postgraduate President, Treasurer, Chairperson, Communities and Liberations Officer, two Welfare Officers, International Officer, Publicity Officer, Ball Officer, Sports and Societies Officer, Environment Officer, and Technical Officer.Student life
Sport
Hild Bede AFC are the college football club and is the college's largest sports club with seven teams playing every-weekend in term time.The college's affiliated rugby teams are Bede RFC and Hild RFC.
'Hild Bede Boat Club is the college rowing club, and qualified for Henley Royal Regatta in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2016.
HBBC is a registered Boat Club through British Rowing, with Boat Code "SHB" and is a member organisation of Durham College Rowing.
The college has several other sports clubs which compete against other colleges and has seen recent successes in squash, cricket, and hockey.