Talk:St Chad's College, Durham

Candlemas(s)
The date for the first Candlemas Ball is wrong (but someone else can change it). An anonymous correspondent writing in the 1958 College Magazine said that ‘the College Ball, first held in Hall in 1956, has established itself firmly as an ancient tradition’ that had been repeated in 1957. I reckon that's definitive.Kranf (talk) 22:03, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

PS The reason for the confusion was that the 50th Anniversary Ball was in 2007, not 2006. 2007 was the 50th Candlemas Ball because what would have been the fortieth anniversary Ball in 1996 had to be cancelled; the JCR couldn't raise sufficient sponsorship to avoid the event making an unacceptable loss: see Palatinate (1995) 4 October 3, (1996) 21 February 6.

Theological College and Hood
Though St Chad's was never solely a theological college, the situation is a bit more complicated than Kranf suggests. All C of E theological colleges are independent of the Church. What makes a theological college a theological college are (1) that it is residential and (2) that it is approved for providing ministerial education and is funded as such. (I'm one of the ones who validates these programmes). Hence, for many years, St Chad's was both a college of the University of Durham and recognised as a theological college, even if it wasn't a theological college simpliciter.

Re the hood, the design was resurrected from a list describing the hoods of all the theological colleges. I believe the source was Groves and his book on theological colleges and their hoods.

It would be interesting to find out whether the Chad's hood was ever actually used, i.e., whether it was only a potential hood, and whether Chad's graduates used the LTh hood instead. Perhaps someone knows for sure.... Jpcassidy 10:18, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

Mistake in edit note
I apologise, it was Magdalene College, Cambridge, not Magdalen College, Oxford, which was the joint-last all-male university college in Britain along with Chad's and Hatfield; all of them first admitted women in 1988. (The last all-male Oxford college, Oriel, went mixed in 1984.) TSP 01:07, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

Notable Alumni
Hmm, can we go steady on the dubiously "notable" alumni which are rapidly being added to the list? Some of these are fine, say Archbishop Drexel Gomez or Adrian Dannatt, but J. Michael Clarke, "Director of the Electroacoustic Music Studio at the University of Huddersfield"? Gary Ferguson, "a specialist of French Renaissance literature and culture at the University of Delaware in the USA" (which another editor has rightly flagged as lacking substantiation)?? I appreciate Chad's may want to emphasise its place in the world, but this is getting ridiculous. Furthermore, several of the subject pages appear to have been generated shortly afterwards purely to imply some sort of spurious notability. DWaterson 00:28, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

J. Michael Clarke is one of the most important electronic composers in the world today. You might want to work out who these people are before you decide to dismiss them!

I've added Alan Mallinson - author of the Matthew Hervey novels.Kranf (talk) 07:55, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Comparision with Oxford and Cambridge
I noted that someone removed the bit that said something to the effect that, like the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, St Chad's and St John's are independent. I'm not sure that it's out of order. It's actually a statement of fact: if you read government documents, schedules to acts of parliament, etc., that refer to the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, St Chad's, St John's and Ushaw College are generally included. They all receive public funding (the old 'college fee') and they, uniquely, remain recognised by their respective universities without being governed by those universities. While it's true that the Oxbridge colleges often have more resources and more staff, etc., I'm hard-pressed to understand why this isn't relevant: it's a rather fundamental characteristic, and historically it stems from a time when independent university colleges were the only model going (apart from original constitutive colleges like University College, Durham, and Trinity College Dublin).

Perhaps there is a better way of stating the significance of the independence of these colleges.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.56.116.102 (talk • contribs) 21:25, 26 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Hm, am inclined to agree. I assume it is easily verifiable that Chad's, John's, and Oxbridge colleges etc are the only specified independent colleges - especially WRT the paying of the College Fee - this is undoubtedly notable. DWaterson 23:11, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Yes and no: the Education (Listed Bodies) (England) Order 2004 (SI/2004/2753) Schedule Part 2 lists all the Oxford, Cambridge and Durham Colleges individually. On the other hand, the (latest) Houses in Multiple Occupation (Specified Educational Establishments) (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2007 lists Durham University collectively and St John's separately - but through some weird oversight omits Chad's entirely. Kranf 00:24, 13 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Stunning. :-) DWaterson 10:51, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure that this is germane: there is a problem getting St Chad's on that list, but participation in the UUK scheme for HMO purposes is voluntary. Jpcassidy 10:18, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

Merge Lightfoot House
I do not think that one building is independently notable. Merge. DWaterson 23:31, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
 * I've changed my mind. The building is Grade II listed which, I think, makes it automatically notable. Removed merge proposal. DWaterson 20:12, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

Copyright note
This article incorporates text from the official website of St Chad's College, the text of which is licensed under the GFDL according to the copyright note on the front page. DWaterson 18:43, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Sister college?
Two IP addresses have been attempting to edit the pages of St Chad's College, Merton College, Oxford, and Peterhouse, Cambridge to say that they are all mutual 'sister colleges'. I do not know of any Durham colleges twinned with Oxford or Cambridge colleges in this way and there have been provided no sources to verify this idea anyway. Does anyone know if they are actually sister colleges and, if so, are there any sources that say this? --''Bajazeth. '' And think to rouse us from our dreadful siege / Of the famous Grecian Constantinople 17:25, 2 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Nothing. Neither the Chad's, Merton nor Peterhouse websites have any mention of any link. If it is new I would expect the college to announce something, which they haven't. And as far as I know there are no similar arrangements between any Oxbridge and Durham colleges, though there have been unofficial ones. Therefore I would (and I will) keep reverting it until the IP gets the message.-- 23230 talk 22:50, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

St Chad's College has a link with Trinity College, Oxford, but it is limited to offering hospitality to each other's fellows and hosting events for each other's alumni -- nothing more than that, though, and rather distinct from being 'sister colleges'. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.234.252.67 (talk) 11:52, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

The Arnolds
Considering the harm they did to the university and the college, and the scandal it caused at the time, surely the Arnolds and their faked CVs should be included in the article? 94.173.201.40 (talk) 10:51, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

Comment on reference to "second college"
I notice that there's a reference in the history section of the article to Chad's becoming "Durham's second college" in 1918. I'm referring to the following line: "In 1918, after the college had established a number of endowed fellowships, the university recognised St Chad's Hall as a college, thus making it Durham's second college (albeit an independent institution)."

Could this point be clarified? How does it fit in with the other student bodies associated with the university at the time, such as Hatfield, Cuth's, etc? I bring this up because readers who aren't expert in the history of Durham but nonetheless have some familiarity may be a little puzzled by the statement. Best wishes, Paulbuckingham (talk) 14:12, 8 July 2014 (UTC)

It's been close to eleven months since I posted the above query about the "second college" claim. Since no-one has been able to clarify or justify the claim, I've removed "thus making it Durham's second college" from the article. Paulbuckingham (talk) 14:07, 28 May 2015 (UTC)


 * I missed this at the time. It was the second to take the title "College", as I understand it.  Hatfield was still Hatfield Hall at the time; St Cuthbert's still does not use the name. TSP (talk) 15:57, 4 April 2019 (UTC)

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