Trinity Dining Hall and SCR Reopen after Refurbishment

Trinity College’s historic dining hall has been reopened after an extensive restoration and refurbishment project.

Lasting more than two years, the work entailed the modernisation of the College’s Kitchen and servery facilities, along with structural work improving light and air circulation, and the installation of a lift tower enabling for the first time permanent wheelchair access to the Beer Cellar, Old Bursary and SCR.

The College’s Dining Hall was last re-decorated in the 1980s, and has been painted in a colour scheme that dates from the early 19th century. The acoustics of the Hall, which has troubled generations of diners, have also been improved through the addition of acoustic panels, along with strategically placed carpeting and curtains.

The hall and kitchen were closed from March 2022 and reopened to college members on 6 September.

Chris Ferguson, Trinity’s Estates Bursar, says of the project: ‘After two and a half years of renovation work it is very pleasing to welcome our Kitchen, Hall and SCR back into service this Michaelmas Term. The project centred around a rebuilding of the Kitchen to improve working conditions and comply with modern standards. This created an opportunity to redecorate and refurbish the Hall, which had become very tired and dated, and to upgrade the Servery with a magnificent new glass roof.

‘A key feature of the design was the incorporation of a lift, providing disabled access to five levels of the building including the Beer Cellar. Finally, the various SCR rooms and the Fellows’ teaching rooms on Staircase XI have all been renovated. It was certainly a challenging project due to hidden complexities in the various ancient Grade 1 listed buildings involved. Many thanks are due to our architects OFA and to everyone else involved for their hard work and commitment. I hope that you will agree that the outcome is a huge improvement.’

History of Trinity’s Dining Hall and SCR

From the Foundation of Trinity in 1555, college members had the use of a medieval refectory, which had been built for the monks of Durham College in the early 1400s.  The Hall was the only source of heating for most members of the College, and it was used for lectures as well as for meals. The traditions of a Latin grace before formal dinners, and of the senior members of college dining separately at High Table, date from the 16th Century.

Trinity’s present Hall was built in 1618. It was the result of an ambitious project of the President, Ralph Kettell, who planned to excavate a cellar beneath the Hall where Trinity could brew and store its own beer. ‘Small’, ie weak, beer was the everyday drink of everyone, being much healthier than the water at that date. Unfortunately, however, the excavation work caused the medieval structure above to collapse.  Making a virtue of necessity, Kettell set about raising money for a new Hall, which had not only a large and fine cellar (today’s Beer Cellar bar) beneath, but also spacious accommodation in the roof above.

The present panelling and a plaster ceiling were constructed in 1774, and above the fireplace was inserted the Coat of Arms of Queen Mary Tudor and King Philip of Spain, the monarchs at the time of the foundation.

Meals were eaten in silence while a scholar delivered the ‘narrare’ – a recitation classical work, spoken from memory (the lectern has no ledge for a book). This was a custom from the foundation, intended to provide food for the mind as well as for the body. Linen tablecloths were also customary at dinner until the middle of the 20th century. 
The stained glass was inserted at various dates in the late 19th and early 20th centuires;  the last decade of the 19th century also saw a great influx of portraits, many of which were placed in Hall.

Major refurbishment work was undertaken in 1960, when the ceiling was found to be in grave danger of collapse, and the Hall was then given a smart new makeover in blue and yellow. Further modernisation took place in 1975, when a servery door was built into the west wall, allowing breakfast and lunch to be served ‘cafeteria style’. 

Trinity's Dining Hall through the centuries

John Bereblock’s 1566 engraving of the Durham Quadrangle showing the medieval Hall on the left.

The earliest image of the Hall’s interior is a pen and wash drawing made by Dawson Warren in 1801.

Trinity’s Dining Hall in 1900.

Trinity’s Dining Hall interior in 1960.