Founded in 1966, the college takes its name from social historian George Macaulay Trevelyan (pronounced "Trevillian"[3]), Chancellor of the university from 1950 to 1957.

During the early 1960s, the British Government commissioned the Robbins Report to look into the future of higher education in the UK.

As a result, the university planned for three new colleges on Elvet Hill; these went on to become Collingwood, Trevelyan and Van Mildert.

The college was built on farmland south of St Mary's off Elvet Hill Road, which was owned by a local family, the Carpenters.

During the opening, a serenade in three movements composed by Sir Malcolm Arnold (whose daughter was in the first intake of students), called "The Trevelyan Suite", was played.

The area above this new roof is nicknamed "The Goldfish Bowl" by students, due to the proximity of the windows looking into other rooms.

[4] In 2021 Adekunle Adeyeye (College Principal) was reported to have created a culture of bullying, sexism and intimidation of staff [9] The internal construction of Trevelyan is unusual, comprising a string of hexagon-shaped blocks, resulting in most rooms containing unusual angles.

The Sir James Knott Hall, catering for sports, theatrical and conference events is situated just across the college main entrance.

The JCR annually elects an executive committee consisting of eleven members as well as an impartial chair.

The MCR has its own standing orders and executive committee consisting of eleven elected members.

This collection includes six specially commissioned John Walker paintings which hang in the dining hall.

(2016), Sunshine on Leith (2016), Guys and Dolls (2017), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (2018), The Addams Family (2019), Footloose (cancelled in 2020), Legally Blonde (2022), Gypsy (2023).

The college cheer team has also found success; winning both All Girl Groups Stunt and Co-Ed Level 2, at the 2019 Intercollegiate Comp.

[16] The college rugby club made headlines in 2017 after planning to hold a 'Miners versus Thatcher' social.

The annual Trevs Day takes place after exams in Easter term, and is a focus of much celebration and revelry for students.

The college regulations once stated that "any student found picking the daffodils shall be hanged, drawn and quartered at dawn on Palace Green."

The college arms are modelled closely on the arms of the Trevelyan family, whose crest features a swimming horse, commemorating the legend of the first Trevelyan, who swum his horse from St Michael's Mount to the mainland of Cornwall for a wager, the other knights of Arthur's court having drowned.

The arms of Trevelyan College are blazoned as follows:[4][19] Shield: Gules issuant from water in base barry wavy of four Argent and Azure a demi horse forcene Or, in chief three Saint Cuthbert's crosses Argent Crest: Out of a coronet composed of sixteen fleurs-de-lis set upon a rim alternately large and small a lyre Or, mantled Gules doubled Argent The college motto, Vera Fictis Libentius, was taken from the inscription of the 1875 statue of Lord Macaulay in the antechamber of the chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge.

[4] The college also hosts the Sir William Luce Fellowship, in a joint project with the Institute of Islamic and Middle-Eastern Studies.