History

The original Goodricke College, named after the astronomer John Goodricke, was the fifth college to be built on the Heslington West site.

The College was opened in 1968 by Michael Swann with the event being commemorated by a plaque outside the old Goodricke Dining Hall, which is now part of James College since the move of Goodricke College to the new Heslington East site.

Developed in 1960, Goodricke College accommodation was first comprised of three blocks (A block, B block, and C block), before expanding over the lake in 2002 and taking a further block from Wentworth College. Each block was home to between 80 and 120 students who shared basic communal kitchens and bathrooms on a ratio of 1:16 in standard study bedrooms along a series of long corridors.

In September 2009, Goodricke College made the move into new accommodation on the Heslington East campus expansion. The new accommodation consists of three courtyards: Janet Baker Court, Kenneth Dixon Court and Oliver Sheldon Court. The new buildings feature a mixture of luxurious standard and en-suite accommodation, along with palatial kitchens and a central ‘nucleus’ with large communal rooms. The Junior Common Room is an area fitted with a large plasma screen, sky television and projector screen, and is home to the Goodricke College Bar Quiz and various block parties which take place weekly. The General Common Room also houses similar facilities as well as a piano and is where regular movie nights take place. The nucleus is also home to the college’s laundry facilities, progress of which can now be tracked online.

Heslington West campus is easily reached by cycle paths and footpaths, as well as a free shuttle bus which runs frequently between the two vicinities.