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Oriel College (in full: The Provost and Scholars of the House of the Blessed Mary the Virgin in Oxford, commonly called Oriel College, of the Foundation of Edward the Second of famous memory, sometime King of England), located in Oriel Square, Oxford, is the one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. As of 2003, the college's estimated financial endowment is £63.5m.
Fifth oldest of the Oxford colleges, Oriel has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford, a title formerly claimed by University College. In recognition of this royal connection, the college was also known as King's College and King's Hall. The site of the College incorporates four medieval halls: Bedel Hall, St Mary Hall, St Martin Hall and Tackley's Inn, the last being the earliest property acquired by the college and the oldest standing medieval hall in Oxford.
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Middle Ages
On 24th April 1324, the Rector of the University Church, Adam de Brome, obtained a licence from Edward II to found a "certain college of scholars studying various disciplines in honour of the Virgin" and to endow it to the value of £30 a year.[Hibbert, Christopher, The Encylopedia of Oxford London: Macmillan 1988 pp. 291-295] Under this patronage de Brome diverted the revenue of St Mary's to his college, which thereafter was responsible for appointing the vicar. De Brome's foundation of 1324 was confirmed in a charter of January, 1326, in which the Crown, represented by the Lord Chancellor, was to exercise the rights of Visitor; a further charter drawn up in May of that year gave the Bishop of Lincoln the rights of Visitor. The college lost no time in seeking royal favour again after Edward II's deposition, and Edward III confirmed his father's favour in February 1327, but the amended statutes remained in force with the Bishop of Lincoln as Visitor.[Varley, F.J., The Oriel College Lawsuit, 1724-26 Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society, Oxford (DOC)]
In 1329, the college received through royal grant a large house known as La Oriole, standing on the site of what is now First quad;[Pantin, W.A., Tackley's Inn Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society, Oxford (DOC)] it is from this property that the college acquired its common name, "Oriel", the name being in use from about 1349. The word referred to an oratoriolum, or oriel window forming a feature of the earlier property.
In the early 1410s several fellows of Oriel took part in the disturbances accompanying Archbishop Arundel's attempt to stamp out Lollardy in the University. Disregarding the Provost's authority, they fought bloody battles with other scholars, killed one of the Chancellor's servants when they attacked his house, and were prominent among the group that obstructed the Archbishop and ridiculed his censures.
In 1442, Henry VI sanctioned an arrangement whereby the town was to pay the college £25 a year from the fee farm in exchange for decayed property, allegedly worth £30 a year, which the college could not afford to keep in repair. The arrangement was cancelled in 1450.[Crossley, Alan (editor), 'Medieval Oxford', A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 4: The City of Oxford (1979) — Oxford University Press British History Online ISBN 0-19-722714-7]
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Early Modern
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Modern
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In the 1830s, two intellectually eminent Fellows of Oriel, John Keble and John Henry Newman, supported by Canon Pusey of Christ Church and others, formed a group known as the Oxford Movement, alternatively as the Tractarians, or familiarly as the Puseyites. The group were disgusted by the indolence prevailing in the Church, and they sought to revive the spirit of early Christianity.
During World War I, a wall was built dividing Third quad from Second quad to accommodate students of Somerville College, while their college was being used as a military hospital. At this time Oxford separated male and female students as far as possible, Vera Brittain, one of the Somerville students, recalled an amusing occurrence during her time there in her autobiography, Testament of Youth
the few remaining undergraduates in the still masculine section of Oriel not unnaturally concluded that it would be a first-rate " rag " to break down the wall which divided them from the carefully guarded young females in St. Mary Hall. Great perturbation filled the souls of the Somerville dons when they came down to breakfast one morning to find that a large gap had suddenly appeared in the protecting masonry, through which had been thrust a hilarious placard:
"'OO MADE THIS 'ERE 'OLE?"
"MICE!!!"
Throughout that day and the following night the Senior Common Room, from the Principal downwards, took it in turns to sit on guard beside the hole, for fear any unruly spirit should escape through it to the forbidden adventurous males on the other side.
In 1985, the college became the last all-male college in Oxford to admit women for matriculation as undergraduates. In 1984, the Senior Common Room voted 23-4 to admit women undergraduates from 1986. The Junior Common Room president believed that "the distinctive character of the college will be undermined".
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First quadrangle
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Nothing survives of the original buildings, La Oriole and the smaller St Martin's Hall in the south-east; both were demolished when the quadrangle was built in the artisan mannerist style during the 17th Century. The south and west ranges and the clock tower were built around 1620 to 1622; the north and east ranges and the chapel buildings date from 1637 to 1642.
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Hall
High above the entrance to hall stands a statue of the Virgin and Child above two Kings: Edward II on the left, it is disputed who the other King is, but is probably either Charles I or James I, underneath, Charles I is commemorated on the portico of the hall entrance, which has pierced stonework stating "REGNANTE CAROLO", in the reign of Charles, and was completely rebuilt in 1897.
The hall has a hammerbeam roof; the louvre in the centre is now glazed, but was originally the only means of escape for smoke rising from a fireplace in the centre of the floor. The wooden panelling was designed by Ninian Comper and was erected in 1911 in place of some previous 19th century gothic type, though even earlier panelling, dating from 1710, is evident in the Buttery.
Behind the High Table is a portrait of Edward II; underneath is a longsword brought to the college in 1902 after being preserved for many years on one of the college's estates at Swainswick, near Bath. On either side are portraits of Sir Walter Raleigh and Joseph Butler. The other portraits around the hall include other prominent members of college such as Cecil Rhodes, Matthew Arnold, Thomas Arnold, James Anthony Froude, John Keble, John Henry Newman, Richard Whately and
John Robinson.
The heraldic glass in the windows display the coats of arms of a large number of benefactors and distinguished members of the College. The window next to the entrance on the East side contains the arms of Regius Professors of Modern History who have been ex-officio fellows of the College.
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Chapel
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The current chapel is Oriel's third, the first being built around 1373, on the north side of the front quadrangle. By 1566, the chapel was located on the south side of the quadrangle, as shown in a drawing made for Elizabeth I’s visit to Oxford in that year. The present building was consecrated in 1642 and despite subsequent restorations it largely retains its original appearance.
The bronze lectern was given to the College in 1654. The black and white marble paving dates from 1677-8. Except for the pews on the west, dating from 1884, the panelling, stalls and screens are all 17th century, as are the altar and carved communion rails. Behind the altar is Bernard van Orley’s "The Carrying of the Cross" — a companion-piece to this painting is in the National Gallery of Scotland. The organ case dates from 1716, though it was not installed until 1884.
In the north-west window of the gallery there is a small piece of late medieval glass, a figure of St Margaret of Antioch. In the south window of the gallery there is a painted window of "The Presentation of Christ in the Temple", executed by William Peckitt of York. It was originally set in the east window in 1767; a later version of his work can be seen in New College Chapel. The rest of stained glass is Victorian: the earliest is on the easternmost part of the south side; the rest date from after the 1884 restorations by Powell.
Above the entrance to the chapel is an oriel that, until the 1880s, was a room on the first floor that formed part of a set of rooms that were occupied by Richard Whately, and later by John Newman. Whately is said to have used the space as a larder and Newman is said to used it for his private prayers — when the organ was installed in 1884, the space was used for the blower. The wall that once separated the room from the ante-chapel was removed, making it accessible from the chapel. In 1991 it was rebuilt as an oratory and memorial to Newman and the Oxford Movement. A new stained glass window designed by Vivienne Haig and realised by Douglas Hogg was completed and installed in 2001.
During the late 1980s, the chapel was extensively restored with the assistance of donations from Lady Norma Dalrymple-Champneys. During this work, the chandelier, given to College in 1885 by Provost Shadwell while still a Fellow, was put back in place, the organ was restored, the painting mounted behind the altar, and the chapel repainted. A list of former chaplains and organ scholars was erected in the ante-chapel.
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Second quadrangle
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Originally a garden, the demand for more accommodation for undergraduates in the early 18th century resulted in two free standing blocks being built. The first block erected was the Robinson Building on the east side, built in 1720 by Bishop Robinson at the suggestion of his wife, as the inscription over the door records. Its twin block, the Carter Building was erected on the west side in 1729, as a result of a benefaction by Provost Carter. The two buildings stood for nearly a hundred years as detached blocks in the garden and the architectural elements of the First quad are repeated on them — only here the seven gables are all alike. In the early 19th century they were joined up to the Front quad with their present, rather incongruous connecting links. In the link to the Robinson building, two purpose built rooms have been incorporated - the Champneys Room, designed by Weldon Champneys, the nephew of Basil Champneys, and the Benefactors Room, a panelled room honouring benefactors of the college.
The north range houses the Neoclassical library and senior common rooms — designed by James Wyatt, it was built between 1788 and 1796 on a bequest from Edward, Baron Leigh, formerly High Steward of the University and an Orielensis. The two-story building has rusticated arches on the ground floor and a row of Ionic columns above, dividing the façade into seven bays — the ground floor contains the senior common rooms and above is the library.
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St Mary Hall/Third quadrangle
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The south, east and west ranges of third quadrangle contain elements of St Mary Hall, which was incorporated into Oriel in 1902; less than a decade later, the Hall's buildings on the southern side were demolished for the construction of the Rhodes Building.
In the south range, parts of the medieval buildings survive and are incorporated into staircase ten — the straight, steep flight of stairs and timber framed partitions date from a mid-15th century rebuilding of St Mary Hall. The former Chapel, Hall and Buttery of St Mary Hall, built in 1640, now form part of the Junior Library and Junior Common Room. Viewed from the Third quad, the Chapel, with its gothic windows, can be seen to have been built neatly on top of the Hall, a unique example in Oxford of such a plan.
On the east side of the quad is a simple rustic style timber-frame building, known as the "the Dolls House", it was erected by Principal King in 1743.
In 1826, an ornate range was erected in the Gothic revival style, incorporating the old gate of St Mary Hall, on the west side of the quad. The large projecting window on the first floor, at the north end, was once the drawing room of the Principal of Hall. Parts of the street wall incorporated into this range show traces of blocked windows dating from the same period of rebuilding in the 15th century as staircase ten.
The Rhodes Building, pictured right, was built in 1911; it was designed by Basil Champneys and stands squarely on the site of the Principal's house, on the High Street. Champney's first proposal for the building included an open arcade to the High Street, a domed central feature and balustraded parapet. The left hand block and much of the centre was to be given up to a new Provost's Lodging, and the five windows on the first floor above the arcade were to light a gallery belonging to the Lodging. The college eventually decided to retain the existing Provost's Lodging and demanded detailing "more in accordance with the style which has become traditional in Oxford". It became the last building of the Jacobean revival style in Oxford.[Colvin, Howard Unbuilt Oxford Yale University Press ISBN 0-300-03126-2] On the side facing the High Street, there is a statue of Cecil Rhodes over the main entrance, with Edward VII and George V beneath. The inscription reads: "e Larga MUnIfICentIa CaeCILII rhoDes", which, as well as acknowledging Rhodes' munificence in paying for the building, is a chronogram giving the date of construction, MDCCCLLVIIIIII. The building was not entirely well received; William Sherwood, Mayor of Oxford and Master of Magdalen College School, wrote:
Oriel has broken out into the High, ... destroying a most picturesque group of old houses in so doing, and, to put it gently, hardly compensating us for their removal.[95–101 High Street, Oxford, headington.org.uk. URL last accessed on <2006-04-23>]
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The Island site/OBrien quadrangle
A convex quadrilateral of buildings, bordered by the High Street, and the meeting of Oriel Street and King Edward Street in Oriel Square. The site took six hundred years to acquire and although it contains a number of teaching rooms and the Harris Lecture Theatre, it is largely given over to accommodation.
On the High Street, Nos. 106 and 107 stand on the site of Tackley's Inn; built in around 1320, it was the first piece of property that Adam de Brome acquired when he began to found the college in 1324.
The Oriel Street site was acquired between 1329 and 1392.[Pantin, W. A., 'Kylyngworth's', The Oriel Record, Jan 1944, pp. 246-253] In 1985, funded by a gift from Edgar O'Brien and £10,000 from the Pilgrim Trust, Kylyngworth's was refurbished along with Nos. 10, 9 and 7.
King Edward Street was created by the college between 1872 and 1873 when 109 and 110 High Street were demolished. The old shops on each side of the road were also demolished and rebuilt, and to preserve the continuity, the new shops were numbered 108 and 109–112. Named after the college's founder, the road was in opened in 1873.[King Edward Street, headington.org.uk. URL last accessed on <2006-05-31>] On the wall of the first floor of No. 6, there is a large metal plaque with a portrait of Cecil Rhodes, underneath is the inscription:
In this house, the Rt. Hon Cecil John Rhodes kept academical residence in the year 1881. This memorial is erected by Alfred Mosely in recognition of the great services rendered by Cecil Rhodes to his country.[An ABC of notables oxfordinscriptions.com.]
The Harris Building was formerly a real tennis court where Charles I played tennis with his nephew Prince Rupert in December 1642 and King Edward VII had his first tennis lesson in 1859. The building was in use as a lecture hall by 1923[Crossley, Alan (editor), 'Social and Cultural Activities', A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 4: The City of Oxford (1979) — Oxford University Press British History Online ISBN 0-19-722714-7] and after modernisation between 1991 and 1994, funded by Sir Philip and Lady Harris, contains accommodation, a seminar room and the college's main lecture theatre. The bronze plaque in the lobby commemorates Sir Philip's father, Captain Charles William Harris, after whom the building is named. The building was opened by John Major, then Prime Minister, on 10 August 1993.[Oriel College Record, 1993, pp.54-55]
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Rectory Road
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Bordered by the Cowley Road, this site was formerly Nazareth House, a residential care home convent — Goldie Wing (shown left), Larmenier House and neighbouring cottages on Rectory Road are its surviving buildings. Nazareth House itself was demolished to make room for two purpose-built halls of residence, James Mellon Hall (shown right) and David Paterson House. The two new halls were opened by Queen Elizabeth II on November 8 2000.
As it is about ten minutes walk from College and more peaceful than the middle of the city, it has become the principal choice of accommodation for Oriel's graduates and finalists. The site also has its own common rooms, squash court, gymnasium and support staff.
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Bartlemas
In 1328 St Bartholomew's, a leper hospital in Cowley Marsh, was granted to the college by Edward III, along with the payments it had been receiving from the fee farm, it was increasingly used as a rest house for sick members of the college needing a change of air. In 1649 the college rebuilt the main hospital range north of the chapel, destroyed in the Civil War, as a row of four almshouses, and is now Bartlemas House. Bartlemas Chapel and two farm cottages are the other extant buildings.
Bartlemas is now a conservation area that incorporates the remaining buildings of the leper hospital, includes the sports grounds for Oriel, Jesus and Lincoln Colleges, along with landscaping for wildlife and some small scale urban development.
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The College arms
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In heraldic terminology: Gules, three lions passant guardant or within a bordure engrailed argent
The arms of the College are based on those of the founder Edward II, the three gold lions of England on a red background. However, as no-one may bear another's arms unaltered, an engrailed silver border was added "for difference".
The three feathers, often adopted by members of the College, can be found in decorations around college and is the motif on the college crested tie. It probably represents Edward, the Black Prince, although it may represent King Charles I, who was Prince of Wales when the building of First quad began in the 17th century.
College colours, used on the college scarf, sports clothing, oar blades and the like, are two white stripes on navy.
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The College grace
Before formal Hall each evening, the following Latin grace is recited by one of the student bible clerks:
"Benedicte Deus, qui pascis nos a iuventute nostra et praebes cibum omni carni, reple gaudio et laetitia corda nostra, ut nos, affatim quod satis est habentes, abundemus in omne opus bonum. Per Jesum Christum Dominum Nostrum, cui Tecum et Spiritu Sancto sit omnis honos, laus et imperium in saecula saeculorum. Amen."
"Blessed God, who feeds us from our youth and provides food for all flesh, fill our hearts with joy and gladness, that we, having enough to satisfy us, may abound in every good work. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with You and the Holy Spirit, be all honour, praise, and power for all ages. Amen."
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Student life
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Accommodation is provided for all undergraduates, and for some graduates, though some accommodation is off-site. Members are generally expected to dine in hall, where there are two sittings every evening, one informal and one formal. The Bar, situated underneath the Hall, serves food from mid morning and drinks in the evening. Recent improvements to the bar have included the installation of a LCD TV, which was installed just prior to the 2006 football World Cup. There is both a Junior Common Room (JCR), between Second and Third quad, and a Middle Common Room (MCR), on the Island Site.
The college lending library supplements the university libraries (many of which are non-lending), with over 100,000 volumes, it is one of the largest college libraries in the university. The library will purchase any book needed for the course. Most undergraduate tutorials are carried out in the college, though for some specialist papers undergraduates may be sent to tutors in other colleges.
Since 2001, Oriel College students have chosen not to be affiliated to the University-wide Students' Union, OUSU. The college had a reputation for students to be more right-leaning than the other Oxford colleges.
Oriel has a reputation for its success in rowing, in particular the two intercollegiate rowing events Torpids and Eights Week. In 2005 they remained "Head of the River" in Torpids and rowed over second in Eights Week. In 2006 Oriel claimed the first ever double headship in Torpids, rowing over as Head of the River in both the men's and women's first divisions. However, in Summer Eights, the Men's 1st VIII were awarded spoons after being bumped every day. On the afternoons of the Thursday, Friday and Saturday of 7th week in Trinity Term, the boat club hosts the annual Oriel Regatta; events in this competition include side-by-side racing for eights, coxed fours, pairs and single sculls. The course runs upstream from the Longbridges Boathouse to past the end of boathouses on Christ Church Island and are conducted in knock-out format.
Croquet may be played in St Mary quad in the summer as can bowls on the south lawn of First quad.
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People associated with Oriel College
Oriel College has housed many notable and famous people, from statesmen to cricketers to industrialists. The most famous of these is probably Sir Walter Raleigh, a 16th century explorer.
Oriel has produced two Nobel Prize winners: Alexander Todd (Chemistry) and James Meade (Economics). It has also produced many churchmen, several bishops, cardinals, and governors.
As with all colleges, Oriel has a more or less permanent set of teaching staff, known as dons. Robert Evans and Sir John Elliott, both Regius Professors of Modern History are currently on its staff, three former dons, including Thomas Arnold, have also held the post.
See also and
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Silver plate
Oriel has three notable pieces of medieval plate. The first is a French beaker and cover in silver gilt, dating from around 1460-70. Bought in 1493 for £4.18s.1d., it has been known as the Founder's Cup at least since 1596, when it appears in a college inventory of plate, dated December 21. The second is a mazer of maplewood with silver gilt mounts, dating from 1470-85. On the edge of the rim is a row of grouped beads; below is an inscription in black letters:
Vir racione vivas non quod petit atra voluptas sic caro casta datur lis lingue suppeditatur
Man, in thy draughts let reason be thy guide, and not the craving of perverted lust;
So honest nourishment will be supplied, and strife of tongue be trampled in the dust
This type of shallow drinking vessel was quite common in the Middle Ages, but the only other mazers in Oxford are three dating from the 15th century and one standing mazer from 1529-30, all belonging to All Souls. Thirdly is a coconut cup, one of six in Oxford; the Oriel cup has silver gilt mounts and dates from the first quarter of the 16th century.
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