Downing College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge, founded in 1800 through the bequest of Sir George Downing and often described as the newest of the “old” colleges and the oldest of the “new”. It has around 900–950 students in total and sits on about 20 acres of lawns and gardens right in the centre of Cambridge, giving it an unusually open, campus‑like feel compared with many other colleges.
Downing’s main site seen above is laid out in a spacious neoclassical plan, with large courts and long ranges that feel closer to a Georgian urban square or a small country estate than to the medieval courts of older colleges.
 
Interesting facts...
The College only exists because of a 'just in case' clause. Sir George Downing’s 1717 will only founded a college as an absolute last resort if four separate male lines of the family all died out without heirs, which contemporaries assumed was extremely unlikely!