Jesus College

About Jesus College

Jesus College has grown from humble beginnings to become one of the larger Colleges in Cambridge. 

Origins of the College
Today Jesus College is one of the larger colleges in Cambridge, but until the late 19th century it was one of the smallest and poorest.

Its origins lie 400 years earlier, when John Alcock https://www.jesus.cam.ac.uk/college/about-us/history/people-note/bishops-john-alcock-and-nicholas-west, Bishop of Ely, decided to convert a derelict nunnery on the eastern edge of Cambridge into a community for graduate priests studying in the University.

It was 20 years until his plans were realised, and until the 1560s there were never more than six or seven priests (the first Fellows). But there was also a free grammar school for the choristers or choirmen serving the College’s Chapel, as well as for others from the town and surrounding villages.