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Vanbrugh opened in 1967 and was the third college at the University of York. The college was named after the architect John Vanbrugh, who had been responsible for Castle Howard amongst other buildings. Located on Heslington West, the college originally consisted of 4 blocks built around a courtyard in the middle of Heslington West campus, three for accommodation and one for the History & History of Art departments, as well as having lecture theatres and housing the college bar, dining room and porters' lodge. During 2006 some of the accommodation blocks (C block, and part of B block) were converted to offices and teaching space for the Language and Linguistics departments. The remaining original accommodation (A and B blocks) we renamed Le Page Court after the first Provost of Vanbrugh College, Professor Bob Le Page.
To make up for the loss of accommodation space the new blocks built on the former Bleachfields family accommodation site (situated just beyond the music department) were allocated to Vanbrugh. These blocks comprise Barbara Scott Court and Donald Barron Court (collectively these are now known as 'New Vanbrugh'). The college also has a property on Heslington Road (Fairfax House) which accommodates a further 90 Vanbrugh students. Since the departure of Goodricke College (just the other side of the lake from Vanbrugh) to Heslington East campus, a number of blocks in the old college were given to Vanbrugh. Officially these are called Eric Milner-White Court, but are more commonly referred to as Vanbrugh-over-the-water.
Between Vanbrugh College nucleus and the lake there is a large concreted area. Officially called Vanbrugh Plaza, it is more commonly referred to as Vanbrugh Paradise. This area has been home to many campus events, including some of the Woodstock (outdoor music concerts) during the summer term. Over the summer of 2015, Vanbrugh Paradise was subject to a substantial investment and redevelopment, supported by the outgoing chancellor, Greg Dyke and a rebranding of the area to be known as 'Greg's Place'.

Created: Sun, 11 Jul 2010, Updated: Sun, 18 Oct 2015