Major Events Archives - New College Past, Present & Future

Walkout splits the Church and divides Divinity Faculty

with 1840

On May 18th 1843 Reverend David Welsh led a walk out of c. 200 ministers from the opening session of the Church of Scotland' General Assembly.

Laying of the Foundation Stone

with 1840

Rev Thomas Chalmers laid the foundation stone for New College on 3rd June 1846.

Death of Chalmers

with 1840

The loss of Rev Thomas Chalmers who had been so important to the foundation of the Free Church and New College was tremendous.

Phoebe Anna Traquair “Address of the Young Women’ Class to Rev Whyte”

with 1890

Illuminated manuscript produced to mark Rev Whyte's election as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland in 1898.

New College Jubilee

with 1900

The General Assembly set the Jubilee celebrations for 1900, rather than 1896, so that they could coincide with the extension of New College.

Merger of New College and University Faculty of Divinity

with 1930

The Faculty of Divinity moved to New College and the space previously used by them in Old College was given to the Faculty of Law.

Centenary

with 1940

New College celebrated its 100th Anniversary (Centenary) on the 3rd June 1946.

New College achieves the Silver Athena SWAN Award

with

New College’s efforts to promote an inclusive learning and working environment were recognised in 2019, when the School became the first Theology and Religious Studies department in the UK...

175th Anniversary Celebrations

with 2020

In 2021, we celebrated the 175th anniversary of the day when Dr Thomas Chalmers laid the foundation stone of New College on the Mound: 3 June 1846.

New College Founders Week

with 2020

New College celebrated its 175th Founders Day on June 3rd 2021. The occasion was celebrated with a week of events and activities to mark the special anniversary.

Students vote for New College Motto

with 2020

In 2021 a vote was held to decide the New College Motto. The winning entry was decided to be "Quaerite et Invenietis" (Seek and You Shall Find)".

The New College Clock – 175 years overdue

with 2020

To mark the 175th anniversary of the founding of New College, we’ve remedied what our predecessors didn't get around to, and installed a magnificent clock.

The New College Coat of Arms

with 2020

To coincide with the 175th anniversary of its founding, New College was granted its own Coat of Arms by the Lord Lyon on 3rd June 2021.

The New College Tapestry

with 2020

As part of our 175th Anniversary celebrations in 2021 we were gifted a beautiful tapestry designed by heraldic artist Andrew Jamieson who also designed the coronation invites for King...

Winter Tales: A festival of literature, religion and the imagination

with 2020

In celebration of 175 years of ground-breaking research into religion, spirituality and the arts, In December 2021 the School of Divinity at New College, hosted its first ever literary festival.

New College Library returns to Mound Place

with 2020

In 2023 we were pleased to welcome New College Library back to Mound Place after its temporary relocation to 40 George Square.

Let there be light! New College Quad lighting shines bright

with 2020

Thanks to a generous donation from Alumnus Rev Dr Robert Funk, New College has been able to install beautiful new lighting for our quad area. This project was essential...

Meditation and Multifaith Space re-opens

with 2020

In 2025 we were pleased to be able to re-open our Meditation and Multifaith Space (previously known as the Sanctuary) located on the ground floor of the New College...

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Major Events

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