Hughes Parry

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Hughes Parry Hall is one of eight intercollegiate halls of the University of London. With 300 residents, it is primarily intended for undergraduate students. The hall was opened in 1969 and its design and facilities bear witness to the exigencies of that time: bathroom facilities are shared; there is little by way of communal kitchen arrangements (although the hall provides both breakfast and evening meals); and the lifts are frequently broken (the hall is arranged as a tower block and has fourteen floors). There are squash courts, tv and games rooms, and an active student society. The hall also benefits from its location overlooking Cartwright Gardens in WC1 where tennis courts are available to residents. Every Christmas, the students are accustomed to wrap decorative paper around the life-size statue of John Cartwright (political reformer) in the Gardens that are named after him.

It is impossible that Mick Jagger, who left the University (LSE) in 1962, could ever have been a resident of Hughes Parry, although, in defiance of chronology, many residents still believe this to be the case.

The Hall is administered by a bursarial team that exercises responsibility for two halls in Cartwright Gardens: Hughes Parry and Canterbury Hall. Since 1995, the Warden of Hughes Parry Hall has been Professor Martyn Rady; the presiding Bursar is Dame Fiona Elder, daughter of the Baron of Camden.

Although Hughes Parry Hall is affectionately known by students as 'Huge Party Hall', it is in fact named after the distinguished lawyer and Vice-Chancellor of the University, Sir David Hughes Parry (1893-1973).