Girton College Cambridge has recently released an official LEGO set, becoming the Cambridge college to do so.
The set features the college’s iconic neo-Tudor Gatehouse Tower.
The LEGO version of the Tower is made of 165 individual bricks, stands at 31 cm high and comes complete with a miniature mast and college flag. The set also features the college’s “famous black squirrel”.
The LEGO set has proved an instant success with buyers, and is currently sold out on the college’s website.
Girton College was founded in 1869, the first women’s college at Cambridge University. When it was founded, Girton was also the first residential university institution for women in the UK.
The first buildings of Girton’s original college site were designed by architect Alfred Waterhouse and constructed from 1873. Waterhouse also designed the Manchester Town Hall and Natural History Museum in London. The Tower itself, as featured in the set, was built in 1887.
Throughout its history, Girton has been a pioneer in women’s education at Cambridge. In 1979 it became co-ed, the oldest of the Cambridge women’s colleges to open its doors to male undergraduate students, following in the footsteps of Hughes Hall, a mature college which had done so in 1973.
In this latest LEGO venture, Girton is again acting as a Cambridge pioneer, albeit it in a slightly different way.
Who knows, maybe Girton’s LEGO set will start a new trend…
Featured image credits: Girton College via Instagram and Anna Mardling
