St Salvator's Hall and Gannochy House | Accommodation Overview

Nestled away, just of North Street, behind the Younger Hall, lies St Salvator's Hall. One of the most
magnificent looking halls in St Andrews. It's one of the universities catered halls and as a result has a vibrant community, because like in the other catered halls, everyone eats together. This includes the residents of the Sallies annexe, Gannochy House which can be found a very short distance away and faces out onto North Street. Gannochy might not have the most appealing exterior but in the words of Sallies and Gannochy Senior Student, Stella Maris "Gannochy is lovely on the inside".

St Salvator's Hall and Gannochy House offer both shared and single standard catered rooms as well as a very small number of ensuite rooms. For this year, there are going to be a small number of rooms set aside in Gannochy House as Standard Self Catered rooms but it'll be extremely hard to get one of those rooms since the other standard self catered hall, Whitehorn Hall, apparently had about 800 applications from returners to get at about 50 rooms. The uni did set aside about half the rooms for you guys, freshers, so at least some of you will get some more affordable accommodation.

Sallies and Gannochy are in an amazing location in town being on North Street. Arts students rejoice! You're right next to Sallies Quad where a lot of subhonours (first and second year) modules are held and super close to the Buchanan Building where the largest first year module, International Relations, is held. For science students it's not quite as convenient since the science buildings are about a mile away at the other end of town but considering you're in a great place for shopping, the Union and the beaches, it's not all bad.

Now everything I've said so far has been pretty generic and that's because I didn't live in Sallies or Gannochy this year so to find out a but more I reached out to Stella Maris, the Senior Student of the 2019-20 Hall Committee.

What sort of events can people in Sallies and Gannochy expect this year? (My clarifications are in square brackets]

"During Freshers week we'll be hosting a hog roast/garden party with The Other Guys [an all male acappella group in St Andrews] performing; a bonfire with snacks for roasting on the beach; plenty of food socials to console the Freshers after they taste hall food and realise its their reality for the next year [it's not awful but it's nothing amazing], with plenty of pizza and ice cream (not at the same time I feel I should add); a Ceilidh and plenty of pre parties and activities to help [freshers] meet each other and make friends.
Over the course of the year they can look forward to a Harry Potter themed Halloween with all the fixings as well as pumpkin carving; whiskey, gin etc. tastings; pub quizzes and smaller more chilled events like games or movie nights hosted by the committee/wardens."

What's the community like in Sallies and Gannochy?

"Sallies has an awesome sense of community. Maybe it's the forced social interaction, idk. I think the efforts of previous years committees have, in my experience, really helped foster a really close well integrated community. The wardens are always brilliant people who put their all into helping to support not only the students experience of enjoying their time in halls but also their wellbeing and mental health."

St Andrews is famous for its traditions. What traditions does your hall have?

"Sallies Day which is basically a bbq garden party. High Table almost every week and the fact that we towel down students instead of hose them after the foam fight [more on that in my upcoming raisin weekend post] (direct quote from the wardens 'we're better than that')."

Some halls have rivalries, who are your rivals?

"One word. McIntrash (it's okay they hate us too, I assume its because we defeat them every year in the Sallies vs McIntosh football match - except one we'll never talk of again). Also Regs apparently has a rivalry with us because we stole their flag a while back but I reject this because I love Regs."

It's not uncommon for people to be extremely proud of their halls. Why are you proud to live in Sallies?

"What makes me proud to be a Salvatorian? - It's impossible to not be proud of that building and its history. I remember how quickly it started to feel like home and how I always felt like I had a place there. I'm proud of many things, not least of all our location (it really comes in handy after raisin and
when you're craving Cromars [a nearby fish and chip shop]). It's probably one of the most visible and well known halls and that's a great feeling. We have a beautiful building (Gannochy is lovely on the inside) and a fantastic community with really supportive wardens that make all the difference. I really want to promote that sense of inclusion in our community and I want every one to understand that even when they leave, they'll always be 'Sallies til they di(n)e' (full disclosure, I'm laughing at my own joke)."

I'd like to say thanks to Stella for taking the time to help me out with this post but it's not just the hall committee that love the hall. Below are some comments from students who lived there this year as freshers (they have asked to remain anonymous).

"Its position relative to the main part of town is amazing"

"I love how close it is to town, the community vibe, the events, the big (ish) rooms, how close it is to the quad and Buchanan Building and Sallies Lawn [a large grassed area outside the hall where a lot of people sit in the summer months]"

Thanks for reading this post and if you've been offered a room in Sallies or Gannochy, I hope this has helped calm any nerves and gotten you excited for what's to come this year. If you know anyone else who might benefit from reading this blog please share it to them and if you have any questions then please comment below and I'll try and get back to you.