1967

Sudden end to the first Mastership

  • South Court completed
  • Sudden death of the first Master, Sir John Cockcroft
  • The Chapel at Churchill College opened by Lady Cockcroft
  • Violent Vietnam War protest against US Ambassador David Bruce
  • Sixth Form Visitors Scheme inaugurated
  • First appointment of a College archivist for embryonic Archives Centre
  • A connection with the University of Ghana formed
  • Kapitza House, Huntingdon Road, leased to the College by Soviet Academy
  • Colin Myerscough the first student to be Senior Wrangler (mathematics)

The Chapel standing near the western periphery, 500 metres from the Porters’ Lodge, was opened on 15 October 1967, by Lady Elizabeth Cockcroft, five weeks after the sudden death of her husband, the first Master. It was designed on the Byzantine model, with a central rather than east-west plan, abandoning the traditional nave and chancel, in keeping with the liturgical innovations of the 1960s. Over the entrance hangs a 150 lb bell from the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes, launched by Lady Spencer-Churchill, which was acquired by Capt. Stephen Roskill. A plaque reads: ‘This bell was presented to the Churchill College Chapel by the Admiralty Board, 1967, in memory of Sir Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, 1911–15 and 1939–40.’

Dick Tizard (1917–2005) was a Founding Fellow of the College, described by the former Vice Chancellor of the University as Cambridge’s ‘most significant Senior Tutor’. He promoted ‘access’ long before that term was coined, transforming Churchill’s admissions policy by scouting for talent in the state sector. The Sixth Form Visitor Scheme was his initiative, in which Sixth Form pupils stayed at Churchill for a couple of days, hosted by an undergraduate, accompanying them to lectures, and getting a taste of University life. For many it led naturally to an application for a place at the College.

Share your memories of this year

Add your own stories and photo.