Buildings of Jesus College, Oxford
Encyclopedia
The main buildings of Jesus College, one of the colleges
of the University of Oxford
, are located in the centre of the city of Oxford
, England, between Turl Street
, Ship Street
, Cornmarket Street
, and Market Street
. Jesus College
was founded in 1571 by Elizabeth I
upon the petition of a Welsh
clergyman, Hugh Price
, who was treasurer of St David's Cathedral
. Her foundation charter gave to the college the land and buildings of White Hall, a university hall that had experienced a decline in student numbers. Price added new buildings to those of White Hall, and construction work continued after his death in 1574. The first of the college's quadrangles
, which includes the hall, chapel, and principal's lodgings was completed between 1621 and 1630. Construction of the second quadrangle began in the 1630s, but was interrupted by the English Civil War
and was not completed until about 1712. Further buildings were erected in a third quadrangle during the 20th century, including science laboratories (now closed), a library for undergraduates, and additional accommodation for students and fellows. In addition to the main site, the college owns flats in east and north Oxford, and a sports ground.
The chapel, which was dedicated in 1621 and extended in 1636, was extensively altered in 1864 under the supervision of the architect George Edmund Street
. The alterations have had their supporters and their critics; one historian of the college (Ernest Hardy
, principal from 1921 to 1925) described the work as "ill-considered". The hall's original hammerbeam roof
was hidden by a plaster ceiling in 1741 when rooms were installed in the roofspace. The principal's lodgings, the last part of the first quadrangle to be constructed, contain wooden panelling from the early 17th century. The Fellows' Library in the second quadrangle dates from 1679 and contains 11,000 antiquarian books; it was restored at a cost of £700,000 in 2007. A new Junior Common Room, about twice the size of its predecessor, was completed in the third quadrangle in 2002. Further student and teaching rooms were added in Ship Street, opposite the college, in 2010.
Eleven parts of the college are listed buildings, including all four sides of the first and second quadrangles. Nine parts, including the chapel, hall, and principal's lodgings, have the highest Grade I designation, given to buildings of exceptional interest. Two other parts (an external wall and an early 20th-century addition in the third quadrangle) have a Grade II designation, given to buildings of national importance and special interest. The architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner
described the first quadrangle as "small and pretty", and said that the reredos
behind the chapel altar was "heavily gorgeous"; he was, however, critical of the Old Members' Building in the third quadrangle, opened in 1971, describing it as a "mannered and modish design". The historian John Julius Norwich
said that the first quadrangle had "a curious charm", while the second quadrangle had "a strong feeling of unity owing to the somewhat relentless succession of ogival gables". The poet Sir John Betjeman
said that the clear planning of the first and second quadrangles, coupled with the relationship of their size to the heights of the buildings around them, "make what would be undistinguished buildings judged on their detail, into something distinguished". However, he regarded the early 20th-century additions in the third quadrangle as "dull".
s, the first quadrangle containing the oldest college buildings and the third quadrangle the newest. The quadrangles are often referred to as "First Quad", "Second Quad" and "Third Quad" for short. As is often the case in Oxford colleges, the rooms in the older buildings are connected to the quadrangles by a series of staircases, rather than horizontally to each other by internal corridors. The staircases are numbered (sometimes using Roman numerals
): staircases 1 to 5 are in the first quadrangle; staircases 6 to 13 in the second quadrangle; and staircases 14 to 21 in the third quadrangle. The stairs on staircase 3 were replaced with stone steps in 1878, setting what one historian of the college (J. N. L. Baker
, a fellow of the college from 1939 to 1971) termed "an unfortunate precedent", since the "ugly pattern" of staircase 3 was adopted when repairs were carried out to staircase 13 after a fire in 1882.
The foundation charter of the college, issued by Elizabeth I
on 27 June 1571 upon the petition of Hugh Price
(treasurer of St David's Cathedral
), gave to the college a site located between the present-day Market Street
(to the south) and Ship Street
(to the north); this remains part of the college's site. The charter also gave the buildings of White Hall, one of a number of university halls in this location. Halls provided lodgings and meals for students at the university, and sometimes lectures and tuition as well. As the system of colleges grew, however, halls declined in popularity and their sites and buildings tended to be taken over by colleges. White Hall itself had previously belonged to St Frideswide's Priory and dated back to the 13th century; it was described as "a large tenement with a great stone gate" and was sometimes known as Great White Hall. Over time, it seems to have absorbed neighbouring halls, including Little White Hall on Ship Street from about 1450, which was at one time owned by Osney Abbey
. By 1571, however, White Hall was either completely or virtually deserted by students, making it possible for Price to secure the site for the new college. The college paid a quit-rent
for the land upon which White Hall stood to Christ Church, Oxford
, which had acquired the assets of St Frideswide's Priory. This was initially 26 shilling
s and 8 pence, but it had been reduced to 8 pence before 1631; it was paid until 1866, when the charge was redeemed. The land was described in Christ Church's records as extending "from the Street to the Walnut tree; & in breadth from the Bowling-Alley to the mud-wall", although no measurements were given.
The college also acquired the sites of other former halls in the vicinity, including Laurence Hall, previously owned by Lincoln College
. The last principal of White Hall, James Charnock, had taken a lease on Laurence Hall, but was unable to attract sufficient students to satisfy Lincoln College and so he transferred the lease to Griffith Lloyd
, who was principal of Jesus College from 1572 until his death in 1586; Lloyd bequeathed the lease to the college in his will. Part of the college chapel was later erected on the site, which measured 32 by.
is smaller than the later second quadrangle, measuring 93 feet 6 inches by 77 feet (28.50 by 23 m). The buildings that now surround the first quadrangle were erected in stages between 1571 and the 1620s; the principal's lodgings were the last to be built. Progress was slow because the new college lacked the "generous endowments" that earlier colleges enjoyed. Before new buildings were completed, the students lived in the old buildings of White Hall. Between 1571 and his death in 1574, Price spent about £1,500 on the construction of buildings that were two storeys high. These ran from Turl Street
(on the east of the site) south towards the corner of Cheyney Lane (as Market Street was then known) and then west along Cheyney Lane to the buildings of the old Great White Hall. Land at the corner of Turl Street and Cheyney Lane was leased and built upon, and then purchased in 1580. There is a college tradition, recorded in the college's first book of benefactors in the 17th century, that Elizabeth I gave "all kind of timber" from Shotover
and Stow Wood for buildings erected by Price. Until the later building works of Griffith Powell
and Sir Eubule Thelwall
(principals from 1613 to 1620 and 1621 to 1630 respectively), the college site consisted of "a number of smallish, mainly detached buildings with nothing resembling a formal garden layout in between".
Ralph Agas
's 1578 map of Oxford shows the extent of the buildings at that time. Laurence Hall is the "isolated group of buildings" on the corner of Turl Street and Ship Street. There is then a gap along Turl Street before a building positioned south of the current entrance with glazed windows facing Turl Street and a large window or loft door at its north end; another building then runs to the old White Hall buildings. The Turl Street entrance appears from Agas's map to date from after Price's death, and the north side of the building on Turl Street may have been integrated into an extension early in the 17th century, although the date of such work is unclear; Price is nevertheless sometimes given the credit for the archway on the inside of the entrance on the first quadrangle. Overall, whilst the structure of the buildings erected by Price remains, only a little of his work can be seen from the outside, after various alterations in the intervening centuries; nevertheless, his buildings have been said to retain "much of their original character".
Some land in Ship Street to the west of the college was leased from Exeter College
in 1590, and further construction work took place after Powell was appointed principal in 1613. Powell raised money from donors in Oxford, London, and Wales, collecting £838 12s
2d
in what has been described as "an elaborate fundraising scheme", with efforts to attract donations from old members of the college. Ann Lloyd, the widow of Griffith Lloyd
(principal from 1572 to 1586) gave £100. Richard Parry
, the Bishop of St Asaph
, gave £66 13s 4d out of the total from Welsh clergy of £78 7s 4d. The old Great White Hall buildings were demolished around 1620 and replaced, and a kitchen and buttery
were constructed. Work also started on building the hall and the chapel under Powell; both were completed after his death in 1620. Sir Eubule Thelwall
, who became principal in 1621, raised £465 15s 6d from donors, including Sir Julius Caesar
, the Master of the Rolls
, and Edward Littleton
, the Recorder of London. This was used for "the perfecting of the Quadrangle of the building and furnishing of the library". The college then had a complete quadrangle of buildings, save for a gap between the chapel and the hall that would later be filled by the principal's lodgings, built by Thelwall at his own expense; the library (later demolished) was outside the quadrangle, to the west of the north end of the lodgings.
The walls of the college were built using rubble from Oxfordshire dressed with local stone. The remaining parts of the 17th-century walls are dressed with Headington stone
, which was a common building material in Oxford at that time: the geologist W. J. Arkell
wrote that it was used for every building in Oxford constructed during this century for which records exist. Areas of Headington stone can be seen in the first quadrangle on the wall of the hall. It was only discovered towards the end of the 18th century that it did not weather well: the surface of the stone develops a hard crust, which blisters, bursts and comes off. Much of it has subsequently been replaced with other materials as a result.
(principal from 1727 to 1763). A new doorway replaced the previous Elizabethan one, and the front of the college was remodelled in the Palladian style – oblong sash window
s were inserted at all levels and the original gable
s on the Turl Street side of the building were removed. Pardo himself gave £157 10s towards this work, although this only met the mason's bill of £156 18s 11d and not the other large bills for the work. In the opinion of Ernest Hardy
, a college fellow who wrote a history of the college in 1899 and who served as principal from 1921 to 1925, this "complete transformation" gave the college a "somewhat incongruous appearance". The result was also said to resemble a "prison". One writer at the time, however, thought that the changes had not gone far enough. Thomas Warton
, the Oxford Professor of Poetry
, wrote a letter about architecture in Oxford to Jackson's Oxford Journal in 1766. He included Pardo's alterations to Jesus College in his list of improvements, but advocated replacing the chapel window with one in another design:
Joseph Hoare
(principal from 1768 to 1802) gave £200 in total in 1791 and 1792 for repairs in the first quadrangle, part of a general pattern of expenditure upon repair of the older college buildings in the 18th century. In 1815, the original gables in the first quadrangle were removed and replaced with a third storey and battlement
s, matching the lodgings where battlements had been erected between 1733 and 1740. The height of the chapel wall was increased, and many of the windows were altered. The college received advice from the architect John Nash
about this work; he requested that, instead of paying him, the college should commission a portrait of him from Sir Thomas Lawrence
to hang in the hall. Lawrence depicted Nash in his house in Regent Street
, London; the portrait has been described by Lawrence's biographer, the art historian Sir Michael Levey
, as "pungently vivid".
In 1853, under the direction of John Chessell Buckler
(architect to the college from 1852 to 1882), the south front of the buildings was restored; the exterior of the buildings on Turl Street was re-faced in Bath stone
in 1856, with the tower over the gateway being built at the same time. The total cost of this work was £3,349. Pardo's changes from the 18th century were removed. The Gentleman's Magazine
in 1856 complimented Buckler on "resisting the stream" and following the style of the 15th century. Peter Howell, a writer on Victorian architecture, referred to Buckler's work as "[providing] Jesus with an attractive new front which represents the of an Oxford college". The poet John Betjeman
said that the front of the college opposite Exeter College
was "a good specimen" of Gothic Revival work. In contrast, the architectural historian Geoffrey Tyack noted that the refacing came not long after the two other colleges in Turl Street (Exeter and Lincoln
) had been refaced, and commented that Buckler's work, in "Collegiate Gothic" style, "completed a process whereby the façades of the colleges in Turl Street acquired a somewhat lifeless homogeneity which they had never possessed in the past". W. J. Arkell wrote that "some of the worst horrors of the Gothic revival" cluster on either side of Turl Street. When writing a history of the college in 1891, the vice-principal Llewellyn Thomas
said that the work was "admitted to be very well done", but that there were those who thought that "the old Jacobean gateway was more in harmony with the domestic architecture of the College, and more suitable to its position in a narrow street". The stonework on the front of the college was last cleaned in 2000, when the porters' lodge
by the Turl Street entrance was also rebuilt, to provide better office accommodation for the porter
s, individual post boxes for students, and greater security. Four grass plots were added to the centre of the quadrangle in 1896, crossed by Yorkstone
paths; before that, it had been gravelled since 1662.
The architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner
described the first quadrangle as "small and pretty, especially because of the variety of its ranges". He noted the part-Elizabethan
and part-Jacobean architecture
on the south side, where Price's building stops – the join between the two, he pointed out, is "easily visible" in Market Street. The windows in the first quadrangle, he noted, were Elizabethan in style, with mullion
ed windows and arched lights, arranged symmetrically, whereas the hall windows were Gothic
in style. The historian John Julius Norwich
wrote that the first quadrangle had "a curious charm, due partly to its size and partly due to its several small eccentricities", including the curved path crossing the quadrangle from the entrance to the hall. The architect and designer Sir Hugh Casson
, though, thought that the "crooked off-axis line" of the path was the college's oddest feature. All four sides of the first quadrangle are Grade I listed buildings (the highest grade, for buildings of exceptional importance and international interest): the lodgings and chapel on the north side, the hall on the west side, and the buildings on the east and south sides.
leading the dedication ceremony on 28 May 1621. Thelwall's portrait, displayed in the hall, shows him holding a roll enscribed "A plan of the Chappell in Jesus Coll., Oxford built by Sir Eubule Thelwall", reflecting the fact that he was the main donor towards the chapel's construction. There are four windows facing the quadrangle in the Perpendicular style. Seats were added in 1633, and it was extended in two directions in 1636. The east end was moved to reach Turl Street, a new east window was added and the previous window was converted into an arch; at the other end, the entrance was moved further to the west. Sir Charles Williams of Monmouthshire
, south Wales, paid £200 towards the final bill of £211.
The architectural historian Giles Worsley
has described the chapel's east window as an instance of Gothic Revival architecture, rather than Gothic Survival, since a choice was made to use an outdated style – classical architecture
had become accepted as "the only style in which it was respectable to build". The window has seven main sections ("lights") topped with five-headed flower shapes, or cinquefoils, and tracery
running vertically. The chapel is one of various buildings at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge
from the first half of the 17th century where Gothic designs were deliberately chosen in preference to Classical; other examples are the chapel of Lincoln College, Oxford
, the chapel windows and hall roof at Wadham College, Oxford
, and the library of St John's College, Cambridge
, where the library of 1624 was built with Gothic windows since "some men of judgement" preferred the old fashion as it was "most meet for such a building". Similarly, the artist and art historian Aymer Vallance, writing in 1908, said that Gothic architecture, though "ailing and doomed", "lingered longest" at Oxford University, adding that the chapel windows of Jesus and Wadham were "almost as astonishing for their period" as the "magnificent" 1640 fan-vaulted
entrance to the hall of Christ Church, Oxford
, built nearly three hundred years after fan vaulting had been used in the cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral
. The only examples of classical style in Oxford before the Civil War were Archbishop Laud's Canterbury Quad at St John's
and a few gateways such as those at the Botanic Garden
by Nicholas Stone
; Cambridge had even less. The chapel has not been universally appreciated, however: the antiquarian
and archivist Rowley Lascelles
wrote in 1821 that "excepting that it was built by private contributions from the gentry of Wales, it would be cruel to say any thing about it".
The chancel
measures 16 feet 6 inches by 22 feet 9 inches (5.03 by 6.93 m), and the main body of the chapel measures 52 feet 6 inches by 22 feet (16 by 6.7 m). A London merchant, Lewis Roberts, gave "some hundreds of white and black marble stones ... towards ye paving of the upper part of the chapel", according to Francis Mansell
in his inventory of 1648. It is unclear when these were added to the floor; some are still in position, although others were removed in the 1864 renovation. The oak pulpit
dates from the early 17th century, and has moulded rectangular panels. There is a bell turret on the west end of the roof, which has trefoil
-shaped openings on the west and east sides, and panels decorated with trefoils on the other two sides. It was built in about 1915, replacing an earlier turret of similar shape.
The porch at the chapel entrance was moved to its present position when the chapel was extended in 1636. The door jamb
s are moulded, as are the tops of the columns. The arch is divided into segments, with a rose in the left spandrel
and a thistle in the right spandrel. The use of the rose and thistle (national emblems of England and Scotland respectively) in this way dates the porch to the reign of King James I
, who used these flowers, halved
, as his badge after his accession to the English throne in 1603. Moulded brackets support the entablature
, within which the pediment
contains palms and cherub-heads in the tympanum
. The Latin inscription above the archway is ("Let prayers ascend, and grace descend"). The original entrance was covered up when the chapel was extended; it was only re-discovered when the chapel was refaced in Bath stone in 1869.
Jonathan Edwards
(principal from 1686 to 1712) is reported to have spent £1,000 during his lifetime on the interior of the chapel, particularly in the chancel (at the east end), but also including the addition of a screen separating the main part of the chapel from the ante-chapel
(at the west end) in 1693. The screen bears the coat of arms
of Sir Leoline Jenkins
(principal 1661–1673) and, until 1899, also bore Thelwall's coat of arms. His arms were moved to a position above the door (where, says one writer, "they can scarcely be seen") when an organ by J. J. Binns was installed in the ante-chapel in 1899. The current organ, by William Drake, was installed in 1994 to replace the Binns organ. The screen has open ovals rather than blank ovals – an example, said Pevsner, of "the importance given to openwork carving" in the later 17th century. After the installation of the screen, little changed in the chapel until the middle of the 19th century, save for some donations of items such as a brass desk and two silver candlesticks.
(principal 1817–1857), the fellows of the college and the incumbents of most of the livings
within its gift donated £350 10s for stained glass
by George Hedgeland
to be added to the east window; the final cost was £399. It shows various biblical episodes, including three instances of Christ raising people from the dead: the daughter of Jairus
, the son of the widow of Nain
, and Lazarus
. There are also pairs of scenes from the New Testament and the Old Testament to demonstrate the typological relationship
between them: for example, the Passover
is paired with the Last Supper
, Jonah
escaping from the whale with the Resurrection of Jesus
, and the ascension of Elijah with the ascension of Jesus. Pevsner described it as "a busy, somewhat gloomy piece with many small scenes". A copy of Guido Reni
's painting St Michael subduing the dragon, which had been presented to the college by Thomas Bulkeley, 7th Viscount Bulkeley
(a student who matriculated
at the university in 1769), had previously been hung in front of the east window. When the stained glass was installed, the painting was moved to the ante-chapel; it was moved to the south wall of the chancel when the Binns organ was installed. The panels of Hedgeland's window were removed and cleaned in the summer of 2000, while maintenance was being carried out to the Turl Street stonework.
On 15 June 1863, the principal Charles Williams
(principal 1857–1877) and fellows agreed to renovate the chapel. One of the prime movers behind the decision was the vice-principal, Lewis Gilbertson
, as part of his unsuccessful attempt to move the college towards Anglo-Catholicism
. The architect George Edmund Street
was appointed, and had almost free rein in his work. In 1863, he said to the bursar
that the chapel was "so good in style considering its late date" that it would be "very inadvisable to alter it in any respect, save one, the old features of the walls and roofing". However, he later said that the fittings were "incongruous", with the seats being "so thoroughly uncomfortable that kneeling is rendered all but impossible, and sitting even is concerted into a sort of penance". His work was completed in 1864, at a cost of £1,679 18s 10d. The arch of the chancel was widened and the memorials to Sir Eubule Thelwell and Francis Mansell, which had been on each side of the arch, were moved to the north wall of the chancel. The original Jacobean woodwork was removed, with the exception of the screen donated by Edwards and the pulpit, new seats were installed and new paving was placed in the main part of the chapel. A stone reredos
was added behind the altar, although the design originally submitted by Street was not approved and he was asked to make changes. The reredos as finally installed has three marble panels: a crucifixion scene
(centre), Christ carrying his cross (right) and Christ on the knees of St Mary (left). The altar has a slab and six pillars, all made from granite
.
Views of Street's alterations have differed. On 21 October 1864, Building News reported that the restoration was nearing completion and was of "a very spirited character". It said that the new "handsome" arch showed the east window "to great advantage", with "other improvements" including a "handsome reredos" and an "exceedingly beautiful" pavement of marble, alabaster and Minton's encaustic tile
s. Llewellyn Thomas said that there might be two opinions as to the success of the restoration, but there was "no doubt" that widening the arch was a mistake, since "it has permanently dwarfed the proportions of the building". He said that the new woodwork, "though good of its kind", presented "too violent a contrast" with the ante-chapel screen. Hardy was also critical, calling the work "ill-considered". He complained that the Jacobean woodwork had been sold for too little, saying that it had been "ruthlessly torn up and sold for a mere song to a passing stranger", and described the reredos as "somewhat tawdry". William Stride, writing at about the same time as Hardy, said that the "beautiful" Jacobean interior of the chapel had been "destroyed", and Oxford had "narrowly escaped other irreparable losses". Norwich said that the restoration was "good in individual details" but was "sadly damaging to its character and atmosphere".
In contrast, Pevsner called the reredos "heavily gorgeous". One chaplain in the 20th century covered up the reredos with curtains, describing the brown and white marbling as looking like "corned beef". Betjeman, however, was heard when showing a group around the college to describe the altar as "delicious"; he also wrote that the chapel's "fine classic screen" had "somehow survived a fearful 'restoration. The curtains around the altar and a carpet covering the tiling in the aisle were removed when the new organ was installed in 1994, following the organ builder's advice that these items detracted from the chapel acoustics. The work proved to be Street's only commission at the university, although he built or restored a number of churches in the city. In his biography of his father, Arthur Street said that it was possible that George Street's "very decided adherence to the earlier phase of Gothic, and the eagerness with which he argued that Oxford had already enough of debased types, and should revert to the purity of the early forms, may have frightened the authorities". Casson, although referring to the chapel and other parts of the college from the Victorian era as "mostly pretty dull", thought that the "sturdy pews with their flatly modelled leafy finials hold their own".
The woodwork removed by Street was sold for a nominal sum, with a condition that it could only be used for a hall, chapel or library. Some pieces ended up in the library and chapel of Forest School in Walthamstow
, east London (an institution that previously had no link to the college). Panels under the communion rail
were also removed from the chapel, even though Street had reported to the college that these carvings were the only portion of the chapel woodwork with any real value, and had suggested at one point reusing them in connection with the ante-chapel screen and the adjoining seats. Some of the woodwork was transferred to St Edern's Church, Bodedern
, in Anglesey, which had links with the college from 1648 until the Church in Wales
was disestablished in 1920. Some of the panels may also have been re-used in the Fellows' Library (in the second quadrangle); other panelling at Bodedern came from the college, but not apparently from the chapel, and so may have been from a disused library gallery.
, Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Pardo, Joseph Hoare
, Henry Foulkes
, Charles Williams and Hugo Harper
. Thelwall's monument is one of the few in Oxford to include kneeling figures. There are painted glass windows in memory of Llewellyn Thomas (by Charles Kempe), of Charles Williams (by Clayton and Bell
), of Samuel Morris, a victim of the sinking of HMS Eurydice in 1878 (by Westlake and Lavers
), and of Lewis Gilbertson. The Garter banner
of Harold Wilson
(who studied at the college in the 1930s, and was twice Prime Minister
) hangs on the south wall; it was donated by his widow after his death in 1995. There is also a bust of T. E. Lawrence
(better known as "Lawrence of Arabia") by the sculptor Eric Kennington
, which is a copy of the one in St Paul's Cathedral
. Lawrence was a student at the college, graduating in 1910.
) "a very fair dining-room adorned with wainscot curiously engraven". Tyack said that "the carved wooden panelling of the main rooms [set] a new standard of luxury for the heads of colleges". Pevsner commented that the panelling, set in three tiers with ovals placed vertically rather than horizontally, "looks both dignified and splendid". In 1637, the lodgings were considerably changed with the installation of five "studyes". The shell-hood
over the doorway (which Pevsner and Casson both called "beautiful") was added at some point between 1670 and 1740; Pevsner dates it to about 1700. It is elaborately carved on the inside with a decorated cartouche
and a cherub-head. Casson called it the college's "most engaging" feature. The original gables over the front of the lodgings were removed and replaced with battlements between 1733 and 1740.
John Nash
drew up plans to alter the lodgings in 1802. His plans were not used immediately (although other work was carried out at that time) but they were partly implemented in 1884 when a north wing was added, using Milton
stone. This extension was later converted into general college accommodation. An oriel window
on the west side of the lodgings, overlooking the second quadrangle, was also added in 1884. Much of the lodgings were refaced between 1927 and 1935, using Clipsham
stone on the side facing the front quadrangle in place of the original Headington stone.
In 1654, when Michael Roberts
was principal, the college accounts record payment for construction of a ball court. This was to the west of the principal's garden (which is to the north of the lodgings, alongside Ship Street), between a privy
, stables, and the wall of the garden. Ball courts, bowling greens and grove
s were often added within the precincts of colleges during the 17th century so that undergraduates could amuse themselves under the watchful eyes of their tutors, rather than indulge in forbidden pursuits such as drinking in alehouses. In 1757, principal Thomas Pardo added the area of the ball court to the garden of the lodgings and had a coach-house built there, which was reached from an entrance on the corner of Turl Street and Ship Street along a driveway across the north of the garden.
The garden and the ball court are depicted in David Loggan
's 1675 engraving of the college, which shows an "attractive pleasure garden with box-edged paths and dense patterns of formal beds". In 1826, the garden was renovated and a Bath stone gateway installed on the corner of Turl Street and Ship Street. The size of the garden has been reduced at the west end by the 1884 extension to the lodgings (which was built on the area of the old ball court) and at the east end by the construction of a bicycle shed and garage. The boundary wall that runs from the north of the chapel along Turl Street and along Ship Street to the north of the garden is a Grade II listed building (a designation given to buildings of national importance and special interest).
was added on the west side. Pevsner commented that "the hall windows themselves are different from all other 17th-century Gothic windows in Oxford except for the exactly contemporary hall bay-window of Exeter".
In 1741 and 1742, a total of £423 17s 4d was spent on the hall, which included the cost of covering the oak-beamed roof with plaster and making rooms in the original roof space. Writing in 1891, Llewellyn Thomas noted that the plaster roof was added to create attic rooms to increase the accommodation of the lodgings. He expressed the hope that the hall might soon regain its original proportions, following the enlargement of the lodgings a few years previously. This has not happened, and the plaster ceiling remains. However, in 2003, partitions between the rooms were knocked through to convert them into teaching rooms and the renovations enabled the upper part of the hall's hammerbeam roof
to be seen from inside the rooms. Pevsner described the 1741 cartouche
on the north wall, which contains the college crest, as "large [and] rich". Tyack noted the "lively Rococo
plasterwork" of the flat ceiling. In the early 19th century the east and west sides of the hall were crenellated, and the roof was re-slated. A clock was installed on the external wall of the hall in 1831 by the principal Henry Foulkes
. There is a college tradition that students aim a champagne cork at the clock after finishing their final university examinations; hitting it is supposed to mean that the student will obtain a first class honours degree. An extensive fire on 4 December 1913 threatened to destroy the hall before it was brought under control. In the rebuilding work that followed, a gallery was added to the hall, with the balustrade joining the 1634 screen. The hall contains a portrait of Elizabeth I, as well as portraits of former principals and benefactors. There are also portraits by court artists of two other monarchs who were college benefactors: Charles I
(by Anthony van Dyck
) and Charles II
(by Sir Peter Lely
). It has been said to be "among the most impressive of all the Oxford college halls", with its "fine panelling, austere ceiling, and its notable paintings".
in 1641 put paid to his plans. Welsh tenants who supported Charles I
refused to pay rent to the college after Michael Roberts
was installed as principal in 1648 by the puritan regime, leaving the college "on the verge of financial collapse". Overall, the college was "reduced ... to administrative chaos" and in 1660 it was said to be in a "shatter'd condition", having suffered "a decade of corruption and internal strife quite unique in Oxford during the revolutionary period". The college obtained further land on Market Street in 1675, and building work began again in 1676. Sir Leoline Jenkins built the library on the west side, which was completed by 1679. After further land was obtained to link the Market Street and Ship Street sides of the college, further rooms, including what is now known as the Senior Common Room (SCR), were built at the instigation of Jonathan Edwards (principal from 1688 to 1712) to complete the inner quadrangle; the project was completed just after his death in 1712. Work to add a ceiling and wainscotting in the SCR took place in 1736, at a cost of £52 4s
5d
, with the walls to the west of the college placed further back to enlarge the common room's garden and increase the light. Some minor work to repair and restore the walls has been carried out using Doulting stone
.
The second quadrangle is larger than the first quadrangle, measuring 103 feet 6 inches by 94 feet 6 inches (31.55 by 28.80 m). The central plot of the quadrangle was filled with gravel from at least 1695; grass was laid in 1859. All four sides of the quadrangle are Grade I listed buildings. Pevsner described the second quadrangle as "a uniform composition", noting the "regular fenestration by windows with round-arched lights, their hood-moulds forming a continuous frieze". The Dutch gables have ogee
sides and semi-circular pediments. Norwich described the second quadrangle as having "a strong feeling of unity owing to the somewhat relentless succession of ogival gables", adding that "One is grateful for the projecting bay, oriel, chimneybreast and clock on the east side for breaking the monotony". He pointed out that it was "almost a carbon copy" of the front quadrangle of University College, Oxford
, which was begun in 1634: in describing University College, he wrote that "There are the same two-light windows, the same continuous rising and falling head-moulds on the three storeys, even the same oddly shaped gables" as in Jesus College. Tyack, too, said that the gables were "clearly influenced" by University College. The writer Simon Jenkins
said that the quadrangle has "the familiar Oxford Tudor windows and decorative Dutch gables, crowding the skyline like Welsh dragons' teeth and lightened by exuberant flower boxes". Betjeman, describing the first and second quadrangles, said that they had "what look like Cotswold manors on all sides", adding that "The clearness of the planning of Jesus College and the relation of the heights of the buildings to the size of the quadrangles make what would be undistinguished buildings judged on their detail, into something distinguished". The 19th-century antiquarian Rowley Lascelles, however, described the ogee gables as "dismal" and called for them to be cut down into "battlements" (crenellations) to match those on the hall bay window; he went further, saying that "this whole College requires to be gothicised, as it is called; that is, mannered into the pointed style. It is a good subject for it". Casson said that the second quadrangle was "much the same mixture" as the first, but looked "a bit cramped and stiff".
The library, which is 65 feet (19.8 m) long and 21 in 9 in (6.63 m) wide, was built on the first floor of a free-standing building, above common rooms for students and fellows, and largely followed the layout of Thelwall's earlier library. The books were moved to their new location in 1679. The library contains bookcases dating from about 1628, which are decorated with strapwork
and were used in the earlier library. The bookcases are 7 feet (2.1 m) long, with hinged desks. Some of the books were secured with chains
; these were removed at an unknown date, although some payments for chains were made until 1765. A gallery storey was added, probably in 1691, and a wood-panelled gallery runs the length of the east side. It is reached by "an ingenious and graceful spiral staircase". On the west side of the library, there are nine windows on two levels; on the east side, there are now six on the lower level and four (blocked by gallery bookcases) on the upper level. The layout of the library, as well as the position of an exposed timber, suggests that there was previously a gallery on the west side. If so, it was not used after 1800, when the library was re-arranged. It may have been removed and transferred to St Edern's, Bodedern
, along with some woodwork from the chapel after Street's renovations, with other sections of the chapel woodwork re-used in the east gallery – some of the carved patterns in the gallery are identical to those in Bodedern, and some of the gallery panels have been cut to fit their position, or are loose-fitting or upside down, suggestive of repositioning from a previous location.
Hardy's opinion was that, "if only it had an open timber roof instead of the plain ceiling, it would be one of the most picturesque College Libraries". Another author said (in 1914, after the provision of a library for undergraduates elsewhere in the quadrangle) that it was "one of the most charming of Oxford libraries, and one of the least frequented". The window at the south end has four lights; Pevsner noted that it was Gothic in style, despite the date of construction. Simon Jenkins said that the library is "a delight". Betjeman wrote in 1938 that "The woodwork, the brown leather of the books, the clear windows and the slim height of the room make it one of the best little-known sights of Oxford".
The library holds 11,000 antiquarian printed books and houses many of the college's rare texts, including a Greek bible dating from 1545 and signed by Philipp Melanchthon
and others, much of the library of the scholar and philosopher Lord Herbert of Cherbury
and 17th-century volumes by Robert Boyle
and Sir Isaac Newton. The library also holds the undergraduate thesis of T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"), entitled "The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture to the end of XIIth Century". The college launched a restoration appeal in 2007 for work that was anticipated to cost £700,000. The roof was leaking, the floorboards had been affected by dry rot
and death watch beetle
, and new heating and ultra-violet light controls were needed to help preserve the books. The work to remedy these problems, and others, was completed in 2008.
.
Replacement buildings adjoining Ship Street, effectively creating a third quadrangle for the college, were constructed between 1906 and 1908. These were designed by the college architect and surveyor (Reuben England) and built in Doulting stone with Clipsham
stone dressings, experience having shown that Doulting stone lasts longer when used in combination with a harder stone. The buildings, which have been given a Grade II listing, have been said to be keeping with the medieval look of the college as refaced by Buckler in the 19th century. However, Howell's description of England's work on Ship Street is that the design was "in an almost comically 'traditional' style", and Betjeman thought that the buildings were "dull". Casson described the third quadrangle as "a long, narrow court with a jumble of nineteenth- and twentieth-century buildings trying a bit too hard to be interesting". The extension cost £13,656. It contained the college's science laboratories and a new gate-tower, as well as further living accommodation and a library for students, known as the Meyricke
Library, after a major donor – there had been an undergraduate library in the second quadrangle since 1865, known as the Meyricke Library from 1882 onwards. A small block of toilets and bathrooms was also built in the third quadrangle in 1908; it was nicknamed the "fourth quad". Until then, students had had to use tin baths in their rooms to wash. It was not until 1946 that the college began to install baths and wash-basins on each staircase in the quadrangles. The "fourth quad" was demolished as part of the work to erect the Old Members' Building in 1971. The third quadrangle also contains the bar (in the basement beneath the library), the computer room, and student laundry facilities.
David Chapman
, a college fellow from 1907 to 1944. At the time of their closure, they were the last college-based science laboratories at the university. They were named the Sir Leoline Jenkins laboratories, after the former principal of the college. The laboratories led to scientific research and tuition (particularly in chemistry) becoming an important part of the college's academic life. The brochure produced for the opening ceremony noted that the number of science students at the college had increased rapidly in recent years, and that provision of college laboratories would assist the tuition of undergraduates, as well as attracting to Jesus College graduates of the University of Wales
who wished to continue their research at Oxford. The laboratories became unnecessary when the university began to provide centralised facilities for students; they were closed in 1947. The college then converted the laboratories (along with other rooms in the buildings adjoining Ship Street) into further accommodation for students and fellows, as well as relocating the Meyricke Library and providing a separate library for Celtic studies. The total cost was £25,000.
, in 1971. When the plans for the building were being drawn up, the college stated that it was "prepared to sacrifice some accommodation to obtain a scheme of architectural merit". The result is a concrete building, faced with grit-blasted
concrete and, as elsewhere in the third quadrangle, Clipsham limestone. Part of the ground floor is an extension at the rear of W. H. Smith on Cornmarket Street
, and so access is at first-floor level. The windows, which project from the bedrooms in a V-shape, were said to have been intended to "reflect the intricacy of the older building", and to help improve the views from within.
Pevsner was critical of the use of canting
in the design. He wrote that the entrance was reached by staircases set diagonally, which is "typical of the building", and that Fryman had "succumbed to the canting fashion of today: canted back, canted exposed supports on the entrance floor, canted base to the two upper floors". He called it a "mannered and modish design". Tyack referred to the building's "brutalism
". Norwich said that it displays "an antipathy to the right-angle that makes the Front Quad look positively Pythagorean". Another reviewer, though, said that whilst the building tried too hard to be "Oxford" with "quirky and derivative details", the design made "ingenious use of minimal space" and filled a "drab" corner with "something lively and intimate"; overall, the review concluded, the virtues of the building overcame its faults.
A conference room, known as the Habakkuk
Room after a former principal, was added in 1989. The Old Members' Building is connected by a bridge (Pevsner adding, "Of course it runs diagonally") to further college rooms above shops on Ship Street. These were added in 1908–1909 and were also designed by England. Pevsner noted the "four symmetrically grouped gables". There are also some student rooms above the shops in Cornmarket Street, some of which were refurbished in 2000.
In 2002, a two-year project to rebuild the property above the shops on Ship Street was completed. As part of the work, carried out by the architects Maguire & Co., the bottom floor was converted from rooms occupied by students and fellows into a new Junior Common Room (JCR), to replace the common room in the second quadrangle, which was by then too small to cope with the increased numbers of students. The new JCR, about twice the size of the previous one, can be partitioned into smaller rooms or kept open for large meetings; there is also a kitchen, a student committee room and a glazed conservatory extending onto the adjoining terrace. Above the JCR are three floors of new student rooms. The two rooms of the old JCR, each of which contain war memorials, have been converted into seminar and meeting rooms, and are now known as the Harold Wilson Room and the Memorial Room.
) in 1903 for use as a sports ground. The 1905 pavilion was replaced in 1998 by a new pavilion on the opposite side of the sports ground; the old pavilion is now used as a table-tennis room (ground floor) with a three-bedroomed flat for graduates above. Residential accommodation was first built at the sports ground in 1967 (Thelwall House, rebuilt in 1998), with additions between 1988 and 1990 (Hugh Price House and Leoline Jenkins House). Writing in 1974, Pevsner said that Thelwall House was one of the recent college buildings that deserved note.
A further development, known as Hazel Court (after Alfred Hazel
, principal 1925–1944), was built in 2000, bringing the total number of students who can be housed at the sports ground to 135. Writing in the Royal Institute of British Architects
Journal in 2002, Jeremy Melvin praised the architects of Hazel Court, Maguire & Co., for their "crispness of detail" and "richness of composition"; he said that "the sense of ordered space ... recalls the way in which the traditional collegiate quads gave architectural expression to the then-new idea of a university". He noted that, whilst the first impression of the houses was Elizabethan with the air of a courtyard garden, "closer inspection reveals a contemporary design sensibility"; there was, he wrote, "the impression of an order that comes from making the construction explicit whils combining sensitivity to function and use". However, he commented that whilst there was plenty of space inside, the furniture "would not look out of place in a motorway hotel".
Donations from Edwin Stevens
, an Old Member of the college, enabled the construction in 1974 of student flats at a site in north Oxford on the Woodstock Road, named "Stevens Close" in his honour. The flats were opened by Elizabeth II
in 1976. The college also owns a number of houses on Ship Street, which are used for student accommodation. It has purchased a further site in Ship Street at a cost of £1.8M, which will be converted at a projected cost of £5.5M to provide 31 student rooms with en-suite facilities, a 100-seat lecture theatre and other teaching rooms. The site includes a bastion
from the Oxford city wall, which is a scheduled ancient monument
. The plans provide for the inner curve of the bastion to be used as a featured alcove in the ground floor reception area and for study bedrooms on the upper floors. The Ship Street Centre was officially opened by the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Lord Patten of Barnes, on 25 September 2010.
Colleges of the University of Oxford
The University of Oxford comprises 38 Colleges and 6 Permanent Private Halls of religious foundation. Colleges and PPHs are autonomous self-governing corporations within the university, and all teaching staff and students studying for a degree of the university must belong to one of the colleges...
of the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, are located in the centre of the city of Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, England, between Turl Street
Turl Street
Turl Street is an historic street in central Oxford, England.- Location :The street is located in the city centre, linking Broad Street at the north and High Street at the south. It is colloquially known as The Turl and runs past three of Oxford's historic colleges: Exeter, Jesus and Lincoln...
, Ship Street
Ship Street, Oxford
Ship Street is a historic street that runs east–west in central Oxford, England.- Location :The street lies north of Jesus College and west of Exeter College, two of Oxford University's historic colleges. To the south, at the western end is the Junior Common Room and to the eastern end is the...
, Cornmarket Street
Cornmarket Street
Cornmarket Street is a major shopping street and pedestrian precinct in Oxford, England that runs north-south between Carfax Tower and Magdalen Street.Retailers in Cornmarket include:* Austin Reed...
, and Market Street
Market Street, Oxford
Market Street runs east-west in central Oxford, England.The street lies north of the Covered Market, a historic roofed market with permanent stalls that is still very much active today, and north of Lincoln College's Lincoln House accommodation complex. To the west is the major pedestrianised...
. Jesus College
Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...
was founded in 1571 by Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
upon the petition of a Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
clergyman, Hugh Price
Hugh Price (lawyer)
Hugh Price was a Welsh lawyer and clergyman who was instrumental in the founding of Jesus College, Oxford.Price was born in Brecon, in mid-Wales, the son of a butcher named Rhys ap Rhys. He began his education either in Brecon or at Osney Abbey near Oxford...
, who was treasurer of St David's Cathedral
St David's Cathedral
St David's Cathedral is situated in St David's in the county of Pembrokeshire, on the most westerly point of Wales.-Early history:The monastic community was founded by Saint David, Abbot of Menevia, who died in AD589...
. Her foundation charter gave to the college the land and buildings of White Hall, a university hall that had experienced a decline in student numbers. Price added new buildings to those of White Hall, and construction work continued after his death in 1574. The first of the college's quadrangles
Quadrangle (architecture)
In architecture, a quadrangle is a space or courtyard, usually rectangular in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building. The word is probably most closely associated with college or university campus architecture, but quadrangles may be found in other...
, which includes the hall, chapel, and principal's lodgings was completed between 1621 and 1630. Construction of the second quadrangle began in the 1630s, but was interrupted by the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
and was not completed until about 1712. Further buildings were erected in a third quadrangle during the 20th century, including science laboratories (now closed), a library for undergraduates, and additional accommodation for students and fellows. In addition to the main site, the college owns flats in east and north Oxford, and a sports ground.
The chapel, which was dedicated in 1621 and extended in 1636, was extensively altered in 1864 under the supervision of the architect George Edmund Street
George Edmund Street
George Edmund Street was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex.- Life :Street was the third son of Thomas Street, solicitor, by his second wife, Mary Anne Millington. George went to school at Mitcham in about 1830, and later to the Camberwell collegiate school, which he left in 1839...
. The alterations have had their supporters and their critics; one historian of the college (Ernest Hardy
Ernest George Hardy
Ernest George Hardy was a classicist and Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1921 to 1925.Hardy was born in Hampstead, England and was educated at Highgate School. He then went to Exeter College, Oxford from 1871 to 1875, where he was a scholar and achieved a double-first in Literae Humaniores...
, principal from 1921 to 1925) described the work as "ill-considered". The hall's original hammerbeam roof
Hammerbeam roof
Hammerbeam roof, in architecture, is the name given to an open timber roof, typical of English Gothic architecture, using short beams projecting from the wall.- Design :...
was hidden by a plaster ceiling in 1741 when rooms were installed in the roofspace. The principal's lodgings, the last part of the first quadrangle to be constructed, contain wooden panelling from the early 17th century. The Fellows' Library in the second quadrangle dates from 1679 and contains 11,000 antiquarian books; it was restored at a cost of £700,000 in 2007. A new Junior Common Room, about twice the size of its predecessor, was completed in the third quadrangle in 2002. Further student and teaching rooms were added in Ship Street, opposite the college, in 2010.
Eleven parts of the college are listed buildings, including all four sides of the first and second quadrangles. Nine parts, including the chapel, hall, and principal's lodgings, have the highest Grade I designation, given to buildings of exceptional interest. Two other parts (an external wall and an early 20th-century addition in the third quadrangle) have a Grade II designation, given to buildings of national importance and special interest. The architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
described the first quadrangle as "small and pretty", and said that the reredos
Reredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
behind the chapel altar was "heavily gorgeous"; he was, however, critical of the Old Members' Building in the third quadrangle, opened in 1971, describing it as a "mannered and modish design". The historian John Julius Norwich
John Julius Norwich
John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO — known as John Julius Norwich — is an English historian, travel writer and television personality.-Early life:...
said that the first quadrangle had "a curious charm", while the second quadrangle had "a strong feeling of unity owing to the somewhat relentless succession of ogival gables". The poet Sir John Betjeman
John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman, CBE was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture...
said that the clear planning of the first and second quadrangles, coupled with the relationship of their size to the heights of the buildings around them, "make what would be undistinguished buildings judged on their detail, into something distinguished". However, he regarded the early 20th-century additions in the third quadrangle as "dull".
Layout
The college buildings on the main site are arranged in three quadrangleQuadrangle (architecture)
In architecture, a quadrangle is a space or courtyard, usually rectangular in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building. The word is probably most closely associated with college or university campus architecture, but quadrangles may be found in other...
s, the first quadrangle containing the oldest college buildings and the third quadrangle the newest. The quadrangles are often referred to as "First Quad", "Second Quad" and "Third Quad" for short. As is often the case in Oxford colleges, the rooms in the older buildings are connected to the quadrangles by a series of staircases, rather than horizontally to each other by internal corridors. The staircases are numbered (sometimes using Roman numerals
Roman numerals
The numeral system of ancient Rome, or Roman numerals, uses combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet to signify values. The numbers 1 to 10 can be expressed in Roman numerals as:...
): staircases 1 to 5 are in the first quadrangle; staircases 6 to 13 in the second quadrangle; and staircases 14 to 21 in the third quadrangle. The stairs on staircase 3 were replaced with stone steps in 1878, setting what one historian of the college (J. N. L. Baker
J. N. L. Baker
John Norman Leonard Baker was a geographer associated with Jesus College, Oxford for nearly sixty years....
, a fellow of the college from 1939 to 1971) termed "an unfortunate precedent", since the "ugly pattern" of staircase 3 was adopted when repairs were carried out to staircase 13 after a fire in 1882.
Foundation and buildings in 1571
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
on 27 June 1571 upon the petition of Hugh Price
Hugh Price (lawyer)
Hugh Price was a Welsh lawyer and clergyman who was instrumental in the founding of Jesus College, Oxford.Price was born in Brecon, in mid-Wales, the son of a butcher named Rhys ap Rhys. He began his education either in Brecon or at Osney Abbey near Oxford...
(treasurer of St David's Cathedral
St David's Cathedral
St David's Cathedral is situated in St David's in the county of Pembrokeshire, on the most westerly point of Wales.-Early history:The monastic community was founded by Saint David, Abbot of Menevia, who died in AD589...
), gave to the college a site located between the present-day Market Street
Market Street, Oxford
Market Street runs east-west in central Oxford, England.The street lies north of the Covered Market, a historic roofed market with permanent stalls that is still very much active today, and north of Lincoln College's Lincoln House accommodation complex. To the west is the major pedestrianised...
(to the south) and Ship Street
Ship Street, Oxford
Ship Street is a historic street that runs east–west in central Oxford, England.- Location :The street lies north of Jesus College and west of Exeter College, two of Oxford University's historic colleges. To the south, at the western end is the Junior Common Room and to the eastern end is the...
(to the north); this remains part of the college's site. The charter also gave the buildings of White Hall, one of a number of university halls in this location. Halls provided lodgings and meals for students at the university, and sometimes lectures and tuition as well. As the system of colleges grew, however, halls declined in popularity and their sites and buildings tended to be taken over by colleges. White Hall itself had previously belonged to St Frideswide's Priory and dated back to the 13th century; it was described as "a large tenement with a great stone gate" and was sometimes known as Great White Hall. Over time, it seems to have absorbed neighbouring halls, including Little White Hall on Ship Street from about 1450, which was at one time owned by Osney Abbey
Osney Abbey
Osney Abbey or Oseney Abbey, later Osney Cathedral, was a house of Augustinian canons at Osney in Oxfordshire. The site is south of the modern Botley Road, down Mill Street by Osney Cemetery, next to the railway line just south of Oxford station. It was founded as a priory in 1129, becoming an...
. By 1571, however, White Hall was either completely or virtually deserted by students, making it possible for Price to secure the site for the new college. The college paid a quit-rent
Quit-rent
Quit rent , Quit-rent, or quitrent, in practically all cases, is now effectively but not formally a tax or land tax imposed on freehold or leased land by a higher landowning authority, usually a government or its assigns....
for the land upon which White Hall stood to Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
, which had acquired the assets of St Frideswide's Priory. This was initially 26 shilling
Shilling (United Kingdom)
The British shilling is an historic British coin from the eras of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the later United Kingdom; also adopted as a Scot denomination upon the 1707 Treaty of Union....
s and 8 pence, but it had been reduced to 8 pence before 1631; it was paid until 1866, when the charge was redeemed. The land was described in Christ Church's records as extending "from the Street to the Walnut tree; & in breadth from the Bowling-Alley to the mud-wall", although no measurements were given.
The college also acquired the sites of other former halls in the vicinity, including Laurence Hall, previously owned by Lincoln College
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...
. The last principal of White Hall, James Charnock, had taken a lease on Laurence Hall, but was unable to attract sufficient students to satisfy Lincoln College and so he transferred the lease to Griffith Lloyd
Griffith Lloyd
Griffith Lloyd was Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1572 to 1586. He was also Regius Professor of Civil Law from 1577 to his death.He was originally from Lampeter, Wales where the Lloyds of Maesyfelin were a well-respected family...
, who was principal of Jesus College from 1572 until his death in 1586; Lloyd bequeathed the lease to the college in his will. Part of the college chapel was later erected on the site, which measured 32 by.
Construction
The first quadrangleQuadrangle (architecture)
In architecture, a quadrangle is a space or courtyard, usually rectangular in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building. The word is probably most closely associated with college or university campus architecture, but quadrangles may be found in other...
is smaller than the later second quadrangle, measuring 93 feet 6 inches by 77 feet (28.50 by 23 m). The buildings that now surround the first quadrangle were erected in stages between 1571 and the 1620s; the principal's lodgings were the last to be built. Progress was slow because the new college lacked the "generous endowments" that earlier colleges enjoyed. Before new buildings were completed, the students lived in the old buildings of White Hall. Between 1571 and his death in 1574, Price spent about £1,500 on the construction of buildings that were two storeys high. These ran from Turl Street
Turl Street
Turl Street is an historic street in central Oxford, England.- Location :The street is located in the city centre, linking Broad Street at the north and High Street at the south. It is colloquially known as The Turl and runs past three of Oxford's historic colleges: Exeter, Jesus and Lincoln...
(on the east of the site) south towards the corner of Cheyney Lane (as Market Street was then known) and then west along Cheyney Lane to the buildings of the old Great White Hall. Land at the corner of Turl Street and Cheyney Lane was leased and built upon, and then purchased in 1580. There is a college tradition, recorded in the college's first book of benefactors in the 17th century, that Elizabeth I gave "all kind of timber" from Shotover
Shotover
Shotover is a hill and forest in Oxfordshire, England.Shotover Hill is east of Oxford. Its highest point is above sea level.-Early history:The toponym may be derived from the Old English scoet ofer, meaning "steep slope"...
and Stow Wood for buildings erected by Price. Until the later building works of Griffith Powell
Griffith Powell
Griffith Powell was a philosopher and Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1613 to 1620.-Life:Powell was the third of four sons of John ap Hywel of Llansawel, Carmarthenshire, Wales. Powell matriculated at Jesus College in 1581, obtaining his BA in 1584, MA in 1589, and BCL in 1593. He was...
and Sir Eubule Thelwall
Eubule Thelwall
Sir Eubule Thelwall a Welsh lawyer, academic and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1624 and 1629. He was principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1621 to 1630.-Life:...
(principals from 1613 to 1620 and 1621 to 1630 respectively), the college site consisted of "a number of smallish, mainly detached buildings with nothing resembling a formal garden layout in between".
Ralph Agas
Ralph Agas
Ralph Agas , English land surveyor, was born at Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk, about 1540, and entered upon the practice of his profession in 1566....
's 1578 map of Oxford shows the extent of the buildings at that time. Laurence Hall is the "isolated group of buildings" on the corner of Turl Street and Ship Street. There is then a gap along Turl Street before a building positioned south of the current entrance with glazed windows facing Turl Street and a large window or loft door at its north end; another building then runs to the old White Hall buildings. The Turl Street entrance appears from Agas's map to date from after Price's death, and the north side of the building on Turl Street may have been integrated into an extension early in the 17th century, although the date of such work is unclear; Price is nevertheless sometimes given the credit for the archway on the inside of the entrance on the first quadrangle. Overall, whilst the structure of the buildings erected by Price remains, only a little of his work can be seen from the outside, after various alterations in the intervening centuries; nevertheless, his buildings have been said to retain "much of their original character".
Some land in Ship Street to the west of the college was leased from Exeter College
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...
in 1590, and further construction work took place after Powell was appointed principal in 1613. Powell raised money from donors in Oxford, London, and Wales, collecting £838 12s
Shilling (United Kingdom)
The British shilling is an historic British coin from the eras of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the later United Kingdom; also adopted as a Scot denomination upon the 1707 Treaty of Union....
2d
Penny (British pre-decimal coin)
The penny of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, was in circulation from the early 18th century until February 1971, Decimal Day....
in what has been described as "an elaborate fundraising scheme", with efforts to attract donations from old members of the college. Ann Lloyd, the widow of Griffith Lloyd
Griffith Lloyd
Griffith Lloyd was Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1572 to 1586. He was also Regius Professor of Civil Law from 1577 to his death.He was originally from Lampeter, Wales where the Lloyds of Maesyfelin were a well-respected family...
(principal from 1572 to 1586) gave £100. Richard Parry
Richard Parry (bishop)
Richard Parry was a bishop of St. Asaph and translator of the Bible to the Welsh language. He was born in 1560, the son of John ap Harri, from Pwllhalog, Cwm, Flintshire, and Ruthin, and his wife, Elen ferch Dafydd ap John, a lady from Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd, near Ruthin, North Wales.He was...
, the Bishop of St Asaph
Bishop of St Asaph
The Bishop of St Asaph heads the Church in Wales diocese of St Asaph.The diocese covers the counties of Conwy and Flintshire, Wrexham county borough, the eastern part of Merioneth in Gwynedd and part of northern Powys. The Episcopal seat is located in the Cathedral Church of St Asaph in the town of...
, gave £66 13s 4d out of the total from Welsh clergy of £78 7s 4d. The old Great White Hall buildings were demolished around 1620 and replaced, and a kitchen and buttery
Buttery (shop)
In the Middle Ages, a buttery was a storeroom for liquor, the name being derived from the Latin and French words for bottle or, to put the word into its simpler form, a butt, that is, a cask. A butler, before he became able to take charge of the ewery, pantry, cellar, and the staff, would be in...
were constructed. Work also started on building the hall and the chapel under Powell; both were completed after his death in 1620. Sir Eubule Thelwall
Eubule Thelwall
Sir Eubule Thelwall a Welsh lawyer, academic and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1624 and 1629. He was principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1621 to 1630.-Life:...
, who became principal in 1621, raised £465 15s 6d from donors, including Sir Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (judge)
Sir Julius Caesar was an English judge and politician. He was born near Tottenham in Middlesex. His father was Giulio Cesare Adelmare, an Italian physician to Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, descended by the female line from the dukes of Cesarini.Caesar was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford,...
, the Master of the Rolls
Master of the Rolls
The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the second most senior judge in England and Wales, after the Lord Chief Justice. The Master of the Rolls is the presiding officer of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal...
, and Edward Littleton
Edward Littleton, 1st Baron Lyttleton of Mounslow
Edward, Baron Littleton , from Munslow in Shropshire, was a Chief Justice of North Wales. He was descended from the judge and legal scholar, Thomas de Littleton. His father, also Edward, had been Chief Justice of North Wales before him.-Education and career:He was educated at Oxford before...
, the Recorder of London. This was used for "the perfecting of the Quadrangle of the building and furnishing of the library". The college then had a complete quadrangle of buildings, save for a gap between the chapel and the hall that would later be filled by the principal's lodgings, built by Thelwall at his own expense; the library (later demolished) was outside the quadrangle, to the west of the north end of the lodgings.
The walls of the college were built using rubble from Oxfordshire dressed with local stone. The remaining parts of the 17th-century walls are dressed with Headington stone
Headington stone
Headington stone is a limestone from the Headington Quarry area of Oxford, England.- Geology :Around 160 million years ago, during the Late Jurassic period, Britain was located further south and was submerged beneath a subtropical sea. The warm conditions meant that coral reefs could flourish. When...
, which was a common building material in Oxford at that time: the geologist W. J. Arkell
William Joscelyn Arkell
William Joscelyn Arkell M.A.; D.Phil.; D.Sc.; FGS.; FRS. was a British geologist and paleontologist, regarded as the leading authority on the Jurassic Period during the middle part of the 20th century.-Childhood:...
wrote that it was used for every building in Oxford constructed during this century for which records exist. Areas of Headington stone can be seen in the first quadrangle on the wall of the hall. It was only discovered towards the end of the 18th century that it did not weather well: the surface of the stone develops a hard crust, which blisters, bursts and comes off. Much of it has subsequently been replaced with other materials as a result.
Later work
Further work was carried out to the east side of the college, fronting onto Turl Street, in 1756 under Thomas PardoThomas Pardo
Thomas Pardo was Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1727 to 1763.Pardo, from Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales was a scholar at Jesus College from December 1707 and was elected a Fellow of the college in 1711. He was the most senior fellow when elected Principal in 1727. He held the position...
(principal from 1727 to 1763). A new doorway replaced the previous Elizabethan one, and the front of the college was remodelled in the Palladian style – oblong sash window
Sash window
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels or "sashes" that form a frame to hold panes of glass, which are often separated from other panes by narrow muntins...
s were inserted at all levels and the original gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
s on the Turl Street side of the building were removed. Pardo himself gave £157 10s towards this work, although this only met the mason's bill of £156 18s 11d and not the other large bills for the work. In the opinion of Ernest Hardy
Ernest George Hardy
Ernest George Hardy was a classicist and Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1921 to 1925.Hardy was born in Hampstead, England and was educated at Highgate School. He then went to Exeter College, Oxford from 1871 to 1875, where he was a scholar and achieved a double-first in Literae Humaniores...
, a college fellow who wrote a history of the college in 1899 and who served as principal from 1921 to 1925, this "complete transformation" gave the college a "somewhat incongruous appearance". The result was also said to resemble a "prison". One writer at the time, however, thought that the changes had not gone far enough. Thomas Warton
Thomas Warton
Thomas Warton was an English literary historian, critic, and poet. From 1785 to 1790 he was the Poet Laureate of England...
, the Oxford Professor of Poetry
Oxford Professor of Poetry
The chair of Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford is an unusual academic appointment, now held for a term of five years, and chosen through an election open to all members of Convocation, namely, all graduates and current academics of the university; in 2010, on-line voting was allowed....
, wrote a letter about architecture in Oxford to Jackson's Oxford Journal in 1766. He included Pardo's alterations to Jesus College in his list of improvements, but advocated replacing the chapel window with one in another design:
The Front of Jesus College, within these few years, has been cleared from the Bronze of Antiquity, and beautified with a modern Portico. But, with due Submission, I am of Opinion, that the contiguous Eastern Window of the Chapel, which is still absurdly suffered to remain with its antique Mullions and Ramifications, is by no means of a piece with the rest. I would therefore humbly suggest in it's stead, a spacious Venetian-Window.
Joseph Hoare
Joseph Hoare
Joseph Hoare was a Welsh clergyman and Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1768 to 1802.The son of Joseph Hoare, from Cardiff, Wales, Hoare studied at Jesus College from 1727 , obtaining his BA in 1730 and his MA in 1733. He was a Prebendary of Westminster Abbey. He was appointed Principal in...
(principal from 1768 to 1802) gave £200 in total in 1791 and 1792 for repairs in the first quadrangle, part of a general pattern of expenditure upon repair of the older college buildings in the 18th century. In 1815, the original gables in the first quadrangle were removed and replaced with a third storey and battlement
Battlement
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels...
s, matching the lodgings where battlements had been erected between 1733 and 1740. The height of the chapel wall was increased, and many of the windows were altered. The college received advice from the architect John Nash
John Nash (architect)
John Nash was a British architect responsible for much of the layout of Regency London.-Biography:Born in Lambeth, London, the son of a Welsh millwright, Nash trained with the architect Sir Robert Taylor. He established his own practice in 1777, but his career was initially unsuccessful and...
about this work; he requested that, instead of paying him, the college should commission a portrait of him from Sir Thomas Lawrence
Thomas Lawrence (painter)
Sir Thomas Lawrence RA FRS was a leading English portrait painter and president of the Royal Academy.Lawrence was a child prodigy. He was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper. At the age of ten, having moved to Bath, he was supporting his family with his...
to hang in the hall. Lawrence depicted Nash in his house in Regent Street
Regent Street
Regent Street is one of the major shopping streets in London's West End, well known to tourists and Londoners alike, and famous for its Christmas illuminations...
, London; the portrait has been described by Lawrence's biographer, the art historian Sir Michael Levey
Michael Levey
Sir Michael Vincent Levey, LVO was a British art historian and was director of the National Gallery for thirteen years, from 1973 to 1986.-Biography:...
, as "pungently vivid".
In 1853, under the direction of John Chessell Buckler
John Chessell Buckler
John Chessell Buckler was a British architect, the eldest son of the architect John Buckler. J.C. Buckler initially worked with his father before working for himself. His work included restorations of country houses and at the University of Oxford.-Career:Buckler received art lessons from the...
(architect to the college from 1852 to 1882), the south front of the buildings was restored; the exterior of the buildings on Turl Street was re-faced in Bath stone
Bath Stone
Bath Stone is an Oolitic Limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England, its warm, honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of Bath, England its distinctive appearance...
in 1856, with the tower over the gateway being built at the same time. The total cost of this work was £3,349. Pardo's changes from the 18th century were removed. The Gentleman's Magazine
The Gentleman's Magazine
The Gentleman's Magazine was founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term "magazine" for a periodical...
in 1856 complimented Buckler on "resisting the stream" and following the style of the 15th century. Peter Howell, a writer on Victorian architecture, referred to Buckler's work as "[providing] Jesus with an attractive new front which represents the of an Oxford college". The poet John Betjeman
John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman, CBE was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture...
said that the front of the college opposite Exeter College
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...
was "a good specimen" of Gothic Revival work. In contrast, the architectural historian Geoffrey Tyack noted that the refacing came not long after the two other colleges in Turl Street (Exeter and Lincoln
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...
) had been refaced, and commented that Buckler's work, in "Collegiate Gothic" style, "completed a process whereby the façades of the colleges in Turl Street acquired a somewhat lifeless homogeneity which they had never possessed in the past". W. J. Arkell wrote that "some of the worst horrors of the Gothic revival" cluster on either side of Turl Street. When writing a history of the college in 1891, the vice-principal Llewellyn Thomas
Thomas Llewellyn Thomas
Thomas Llewellyn Thomas was a Welsh Anglican clergyman and scholar of the Welsh language. He wrote poems in English, Latin and Welsh and worked on a Basque translation of the Old Testament...
said that the work was "admitted to be very well done", but that there were those who thought that "the old Jacobean gateway was more in harmony with the domestic architecture of the College, and more suitable to its position in a narrow street". The stonework on the front of the college was last cleaned in 2000, when the porters' lodge
Porters' lodge
A porters' lodge is a place near the entrance of a building where one or more porters can be found to respond to enquiries from the public and direct them around the building. It is particularly associated with university accommodation in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada...
by the Turl Street entrance was also rebuilt, to provide better office accommodation for the porter
Porter (college)
The majority of colleges at the universities of Cambridge, Durham and Oxford, as well as newer collegiate universities such as York and older universities like University of Bristol and St David's College, have members of staff called porters. There is normally a head porter and a team of other...
s, individual post boxes for students, and greater security. Four grass plots were added to the centre of the quadrangle in 1896, crossed by Yorkstone
Yorkstone
Yorkstone is a term for a variety of sandstone, specifically from quarries in Yorkshire that have been worked since medieval times, but now applied generally. Yorkstone is a tight grained, Carboniferous sedimentary rock...
paths; before that, it had been gravelled since 1662.
The architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
described the first quadrangle as "small and pretty, especially because of the variety of its ranges". He noted the part-Elizabethan
Elizabethan architecture
Elizabethan architecture is the term given to early Renaissance architecture in England, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Historically, the period corresponds to the Cinquecento in Italy, the Early Renaissance in France, and the Plateresque style in Spain...
and part-Jacobean architecture
Jacobean architecture
The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated.-Characteristics:...
on the south side, where Price's building stops – the join between the two, he pointed out, is "easily visible" in Market Street. The windows in the first quadrangle, he noted, were Elizabethan in style, with mullion
Mullion
A mullion is a vertical structural element which divides adjacent window units. The primary purpose of the mullion is as a structural support to an arch or lintel above the window opening. Its secondary purpose may be as a rigid support to the glazing of the window...
ed windows and arched lights, arranged symmetrically, whereas the hall windows were Gothic
English Gothic architecture
English Gothic is the name of the architectural style that flourished in England from about 1180 until about 1520.-Introduction:As with the Gothic architecture of other parts of Europe, English Gothic is defined by its pointed arches, vaulted roofs, buttresses, large windows, and spires...
in style. The historian John Julius Norwich
John Julius Norwich
John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO — known as John Julius Norwich — is an English historian, travel writer and television personality.-Early life:...
wrote that the first quadrangle had "a curious charm, due partly to its size and partly due to its several small eccentricities", including the curved path crossing the quadrangle from the entrance to the hall. The architect and designer Sir Hugh Casson
Hugh Casson
Sir Hugh Maxwell Casson, KCVO, RA, RDI, was a British architect, interior designer, artist, and influential writer and broadcaster on 20th century design. He is particularly noted for his role as director of architecture at the 1951 Festival of Britain on London's South Bank.Casson's family...
, though, thought that the "crooked off-axis line" of the path was the college's oddest feature. All four sides of the first quadrangle are Grade I listed buildings (the highest grade, for buildings of exceptional importance and international interest): the lodgings and chapel on the north side, the hall on the west side, and the buildings on the east and south sides.
Construction and fittings
Construction of the chapel began when Griffith Powell was Principal (1613–1620). It was finished under Sir Eubule Thelwall (who took office in 1621), with the Bishop of OxfordBishop of Oxford
The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford...
leading the dedication ceremony on 28 May 1621. Thelwall's portrait, displayed in the hall, shows him holding a roll enscribed "A plan of the Chappell in Jesus Coll., Oxford built by Sir Eubule Thelwall", reflecting the fact that he was the main donor towards the chapel's construction. There are four windows facing the quadrangle in the Perpendicular style. Seats were added in 1633, and it was extended in two directions in 1636. The east end was moved to reach Turl Street, a new east window was added and the previous window was converted into an arch; at the other end, the entrance was moved further to the west. Sir Charles Williams of Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:...
, south Wales, paid £200 towards the final bill of £211.
The architectural historian Giles Worsley
Giles Worsley
Dr Giles Arthington Worsley MA, PhD, FSA was an English architectural historian, author, editor, journalist and critic, specialising in British country houses...
has described the chapel's east window as an instance of Gothic Revival architecture, rather than Gothic Survival, since a choice was made to use an outdated style – classical architecture
Classical architecture
Classical architecture is a mode of architecture employing vocabulary derived in part from the Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, enriched by classicizing architectural practice in Europe since the Renaissance...
had become accepted as "the only style in which it was respectable to build". The window has seven main sections ("lights") topped with five-headed flower shapes, or cinquefoils, and tracery
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
running vertically. The chapel is one of various buildings at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
from the first half of the 17th century where Gothic designs were deliberately chosen in preference to Classical; other examples are the chapel of Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...
, the chapel windows and hall roof at Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, located at the southern end of Parks Road in central Oxford. It was founded by Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, wealthy Somerset landowners, during the reign of King James I...
, and the library of St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
, where the library of 1624 was built with Gothic windows since "some men of judgement" preferred the old fashion as it was "most meet for such a building". Similarly, the artist and art historian Aymer Vallance, writing in 1908, said that Gothic architecture, though "ailing and doomed", "lingered longest" at Oxford University, adding that the chapel windows of Jesus and Wadham were "almost as astonishing for their period" as the "magnificent" 1640 fan-vaulted
Fan vault
thumb|right|250px|Fan vaulting over the nave at Bath Abbey, Bath, England. Made from local Bath stone, this is a [[Victorian restoration]] of the original roof of 1608....
entrance to the hall of Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
, built nearly three hundred years after fan vaulting had been used in the cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the river. It originated in 678 or 679 with the foundation of an abbey dedicated to Saint Peter .-Foundations:The foundations of the present...
. The only examples of classical style in Oxford before the Civil War were Archbishop Laud's Canterbury Quad at St John's
St John's College, Oxford
__FORCETOC__St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, one of the larger Oxford colleges with approximately 390 undergraduates, 200 postgraduates and over 100 academic staff. It was founded by Sir Thomas White, a merchant, in 1555, whose heart is buried in the chapel of...
and a few gateways such as those at the Botanic Garden
University of Oxford Botanic Garden
The University of Oxford Botanic Garden is an historic botanic garden in Oxford, England. It is the oldest botanic garden in Great Britain and one of the oldest scientific gardens in the world. The garden was founded in 1621 as a physic garden growing plants for medicinal research. Today it...
by Nicholas Stone
Nicholas Stone
Nicholas Stone was an English sculptor and architect. In 1619 he was appointed master-mason to James I, and in 1626 to Charles I....
; Cambridge had even less. The chapel has not been universally appreciated, however: the antiquarian
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
and archivist Rowley Lascelles
Rowley Lascelles
-Life:Lascelles was born in Westminster, London in 1771, and studied at Harrow School before qualifying as a barrister; he was a member of Middle Temple in London and the King's Inns in Dublin, and practised in Ireland for about twenty years...
wrote in 1821 that "excepting that it was built by private contributions from the gentry of Wales, it would be cruel to say any thing about it".
The chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
measures 16 feet 6 inches by 22 feet 9 inches (5.03 by 6.93 m), and the main body of the chapel measures 52 feet 6 inches by 22 feet (16 by 6.7 m). A London merchant, Lewis Roberts, gave "some hundreds of white and black marble stones ... towards ye paving of the upper part of the chapel", according to Francis Mansell
Francis Mansell
Francis Mansell was Principal of Jesus College, Oxford on three occasions: from 1620 to 1621; from 1630 to 1648, when he was ejected during the English Civil War; and from 1660 to 1661. He had previously studied at the college.-References:...
in his inventory of 1648. It is unclear when these were added to the floor; some are still in position, although others were removed in the 1864 renovation. The oak pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
dates from the early 17th century, and has moulded rectangular panels. There is a bell turret on the west end of the roof, which has trefoil
Trefoil
Trefoil is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings used in architecture and Christian symbolism...
-shaped openings on the west and east sides, and panels decorated with trefoils on the other two sides. It was built in about 1915, replacing an earlier turret of similar shape.
The porch at the chapel entrance was moved to its present position when the chapel was extended in 1636. The door jamb
Door jamb
A doorjamb is the vertical portion of the frame onto which a door is secured. The jamb bears the weight of the door through its hinges, and most types of door latches and deadbolts extend into a recess in the doorjamb when engaged, making the "true" and strength of the doorjambs vitally important...
s are moulded, as are the tops of the columns. The arch is divided into segments, with a rose in the left spandrel
Spandrel
A spandrel, less often spandril or splaundrel, is the space between two arches or between an arch and a rectangular enclosure....
and a thistle in the right spandrel. The use of the rose and thistle (national emblems of England and Scotland respectively) in this way dates the porch to the reign of King James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, who used these flowers, halved
Dimidiation
In heraldry, dimidiation is a method of joining two coats of arms.For a time, dimidiation preceded the method known as impalement. Whereas impalement involves placing the whole of both coats of arms side by side in the same shield, dimidiation involves placing the dexter half of one coat of arms...
, as his badge after his accession to the English throne in 1603. Moulded brackets support the entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
, within which the pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
contains palms and cherub-heads in the tympanum
Tympanum (architecture)
In architecture, a tympanum is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, bounded by a lintel and arch. It often contains sculpture or other imagery or ornaments. Most architectural styles include this element....
. The Latin inscription above the archway is ("Let prayers ascend, and grace descend"). The original entrance was covered up when the chapel was extended; it was only re-discovered when the chapel was refaced in Bath stone in 1869.
Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards (academic)
Jonathan Edwards was a theologian and Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1686 to 1712.Born in Wrexham, Wales, Edwards studied at Christ Church, Oxford from 1655 to 1659. He became a Fellow of Jesus College in 1662, Vice-Principal in 1668 and Principal on 2 November 1686...
(principal from 1686 to 1712) is reported to have spent £1,000 during his lifetime on the interior of the chapel, particularly in the chancel (at the east end), but also including the addition of a screen separating the main part of the chapel from the ante-chapel
Ante-chapel
Ante-chapel is the term given to that portion of a chapel which lies on the western side of the choir screen.In some of the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge the ante-chapel is carried north and south across the west end of the chapel, constituting a western transept or narthex...
(at the west end) in 1693. The screen bears the coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
of Sir Leoline Jenkins
Leoline Jenkins
Sir Leoline Jenkins was a Welsh academic, jurist and politician. He was a clerical lawyer serving in the Admiralty courts, and diplomat involved in the negotiation of international treaties .-Biography:...
(principal 1661–1673) and, until 1899, also bore Thelwall's coat of arms. His arms were moved to a position above the door (where, says one writer, "they can scarcely be seen") when an organ by J. J. Binns was installed in the ante-chapel in 1899. The current organ, by William Drake, was installed in 1994 to replace the Binns organ. The screen has open ovals rather than blank ovals – an example, said Pevsner, of "the importance given to openwork carving" in the later 17th century. After the installation of the screen, little changed in the chapel until the middle of the 19th century, save for some donations of items such as a brass desk and two silver candlesticks.
Victorian changes
In 1853, Henry FoulkesHenry Foulkes
Henry Foulkes of North Wales was Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1817 to his death. He holds the record for the long-serving Principal of the college....
(principal 1817–1857), the fellows of the college and the incumbents of most of the livings
Benefice
A benefice is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The term is now almost obsolete.-Church of England:...
within its gift donated £350 10s for stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
by George Hedgeland
George Hedgeland
George Caleb Hedgeland was a British designer of stained glass windows in the 19th century. He was the son of the architect John Pike Hedgeland and worked from a studio in London in the 1850s. His work, which was displayed at the Great Exhibition in 1851, was characterised by the use of bold designs...
to be added to the east window; the final cost was £399. It shows various biblical episodes, including three instances of Christ raising people from the dead: the daughter of Jairus
Daughter of Jairus
The record of the daughter of Jairus is a combination of miracles of Jesus in the Gospels .The story immediately follows the exorcism at Gerasa. Jairus, a patron of the synagogue, asks Jesus to heal his dying daughter. However, according to Matthew, his daughter is already dead, not dying...
, the son of the widow of Nain
The Young Man from Nain
The young man from Nain was the widow's son who Christ raised from the dead. He did so during the young man's burial in the village of Nain, Israel, two miles south of Mount Tabor. This is told in the Gospel of Luke 7:11-17...
, and Lazarus
Lazarus of Bethany
Lazarus of Bethany, also known as Saint Lazarus or Lazarus of the Four Days, is the subject of a prominent miracle attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus restores him to life four days after his death...
. There are also pairs of scenes from the New Testament and the Old Testament to demonstrate the typological relationship
Typology (theology)
Typology in Christian theology and Biblical exegesis is a doctrine or theory concerning the relationship between the Old and New Testaments...
between them: for example, the Passover
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
is paired with the Last Supper
Last Supper
The Last Supper is the final meal that, according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "communion" or "the Lord's Supper".The First Epistle to the Corinthians is...
, Jonah
Jonah
Jonah is the name given in the Hebrew Bible to a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th century BC, the eponymous central character in the Book of Jonah, famous for being swallowed by a fish or a whale, depending on translation...
escaping from the whale with the Resurrection of Jesus
Resurrection of Jesus
The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus states that Jesus returned to bodily life on the third day following his death by crucifixion. It is a key element of Christian faith and theology and part of the Nicene Creed: "On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures"...
, and the ascension of Elijah with the ascension of Jesus. Pevsner described it as "a busy, somewhat gloomy piece with many small scenes". A copy of Guido Reni
Guido Reni
Guido Reni was an Italian painter of high-Baroque style.-Biography:Born in Bologna into a family of musicians, Guido Reni was the son of Daniele Reni and Ginevra de’ Pozzi. As a child of nine, he was apprenticed under the Bolognese studio of Denis Calvaert. Soon after, he was joined in that...
's painting St Michael subduing the dragon, which had been presented to the college by Thomas Bulkeley, 7th Viscount Bulkeley
Thomas Bulkeley, 7th Viscount Bulkeley
Thomas James Bulkeley, 7th Viscount Bulkeley, later Warren-Bulkeley, was an English aristocrat and politician.-Life:...
(a student who matriculated
Matriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...
at the university in 1769), had previously been hung in front of the east window. When the stained glass was installed, the painting was moved to the ante-chapel; it was moved to the south wall of the chancel when the Binns organ was installed. The panels of Hedgeland's window were removed and cleaned in the summer of 2000, while maintenance was being carried out to the Turl Street stonework.
On 15 June 1863, the principal Charles Williams
Charles Williams (academic)
Charles Williams was Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1857 to 1877.-Life:Williams studied at Jesus College from 1823 to 1827, holding a scholarship and gaining a First in Literae Humaniores. He was then ordained, and was a missionary Fellow of the college from 1829 to 1845...
(principal 1857–1877) and fellows agreed to renovate the chapel. One of the prime movers behind the decision was the vice-principal, Lewis Gilbertson
Lewis Gilbertson
Lewis Gilbertson was a Welsh clergyman and academic, who was a Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford for 32 years, rising to the position of Vice-Principal.-Life:...
, as part of his unsuccessful attempt to move the college towards Anglo-Catholicism
Anglo-Catholicism
The terms Anglo-Catholic and Anglo-Catholicism describe people, beliefs and practices within Anglicanism that affirm the Catholic, rather than Protestant, heritage and identity of the Anglican churches....
. The architect George Edmund Street
George Edmund Street
George Edmund Street was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex.- Life :Street was the third son of Thomas Street, solicitor, by his second wife, Mary Anne Millington. George went to school at Mitcham in about 1830, and later to the Camberwell collegiate school, which he left in 1839...
was appointed, and had almost free rein in his work. In 1863, he said to the bursar
Bursar
A bursar is a senior professional financial administrator in a school or university.Billing of student tuition accounts are the responsibility of the Office of the Bursar. This involves sending bills and making payment plans with the ultimate goal of getting the student accounts paid off...
that the chapel was "so good in style considering its late date" that it would be "very inadvisable to alter it in any respect, save one, the old features of the walls and roofing". However, he later said that the fittings were "incongruous", with the seats being "so thoroughly uncomfortable that kneeling is rendered all but impossible, and sitting even is concerted into a sort of penance". His work was completed in 1864, at a cost of £1,679 18s 10d. The arch of the chancel was widened and the memorials to Sir Eubule Thelwell and Francis Mansell, which had been on each side of the arch, were moved to the north wall of the chancel. The original Jacobean woodwork was removed, with the exception of the screen donated by Edwards and the pulpit, new seats were installed and new paving was placed in the main part of the chapel. A stone reredos
Reredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
was added behind the altar, although the design originally submitted by Street was not approved and he was asked to make changes. The reredos as finally installed has three marble panels: a crucifixion scene
Crucifixion of Jesus
The crucifixion of Jesus and his ensuing death is an event that occurred during the 1st century AD. Jesus, who Christians believe is the Son of God as well as the Messiah, was arrested, tried, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged, and finally executed on a cross...
(centre), Christ carrying his cross (right) and Christ on the knees of St Mary (left). The altar has a slab and six pillars, all made from granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
.
Views of Street's alterations have differed. On 21 October 1864, Building News reported that the restoration was nearing completion and was of "a very spirited character". It said that the new "handsome" arch showed the east window "to great advantage", with "other improvements" including a "handsome reredos" and an "exceedingly beautiful" pavement of marble, alabaster and Minton's encaustic tile
Encaustic tile
Encaustic tiles are ceramic tiles in which the pattern or figure on the surface is not a product of the glaze but of different colors of clay. They are usually of two colors but a tile may be composed of as many as six. The pattern is inlaid into the body of the tile, so that the design remains as...
s. Llewellyn Thomas said that there might be two opinions as to the success of the restoration, but there was "no doubt" that widening the arch was a mistake, since "it has permanently dwarfed the proportions of the building". He said that the new woodwork, "though good of its kind", presented "too violent a contrast" with the ante-chapel screen. Hardy was also critical, calling the work "ill-considered". He complained that the Jacobean woodwork had been sold for too little, saying that it had been "ruthlessly torn up and sold for a mere song to a passing stranger", and described the reredos as "somewhat tawdry". William Stride, writing at about the same time as Hardy, said that the "beautiful" Jacobean interior of the chapel had been "destroyed", and Oxford had "narrowly escaped other irreparable losses". Norwich said that the restoration was "good in individual details" but was "sadly damaging to its character and atmosphere".
In contrast, Pevsner called the reredos "heavily gorgeous". One chaplain in the 20th century covered up the reredos with curtains, describing the brown and white marbling as looking like "corned beef". Betjeman, however, was heard when showing a group around the college to describe the altar as "delicious"; he also wrote that the chapel's "fine classic screen" had "somehow survived a fearful 'restoration. The curtains around the altar and a carpet covering the tiling in the aisle were removed when the new organ was installed in 1994, following the organ builder's advice that these items detracted from the chapel acoustics. The work proved to be Street's only commission at the university, although he built or restored a number of churches in the city. In his biography of his father, Arthur Street said that it was possible that George Street's "very decided adherence to the earlier phase of Gothic, and the eagerness with which he argued that Oxford had already enough of debased types, and should revert to the purity of the early forms, may have frightened the authorities". Casson, although referring to the chapel and other parts of the college from the Victorian era as "mostly pretty dull", thought that the "sturdy pews with their flatly modelled leafy finials hold their own".
The woodwork removed by Street was sold for a nominal sum, with a condition that it could only be used for a hall, chapel or library. Some pieces ended up in the library and chapel of Forest School in Walthamstow
Walthamstow
Walthamstow is a district of northeast London, England, located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It is situated north-east of Charing Cross...
, east London (an institution that previously had no link to the college). Panels under the communion rail
Altar rails
Altar rails are a set of railings, sometimes ornate and frequently of marble or wood, delimiting the chancel in a church, the part of the sanctuary that contains the altar. A gate at the centre divides the line into two parts. The sanctuary is a figure of heaven, into which entry is not guaranteed...
were also removed from the chapel, even though Street had reported to the college that these carvings were the only portion of the chapel woodwork with any real value, and had suggested at one point reusing them in connection with the ante-chapel screen and the adjoining seats. Some of the woodwork was transferred to St Edern's Church, Bodedern
St Edern's Church, Bodedern
St Edern's Church, Bodedern is a medieval parish church in the village of Bodedern, in Anglesey, north Wales. Although St Edern established a church in the area in the 6th century, the oldest parts of the present building date from the 14th century...
, in Anglesey, which had links with the college from 1648 until the Church in Wales
Church in Wales
The Church in Wales is the Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.As with the primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Archbishop of Wales serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The current archbishop is Barry Morgan, the Bishop of Llandaff.In contrast to the...
was disestablished in 1920. Some of the panels may also have been re-used in the Fellows' Library (in the second quadrangle); other panelling at Bodedern came from the college, but not apparently from the chapel, and so may have been from a disused library gallery.
Memorials
The chapel contains monuments to several former principals. In addition to those of Sir Eubule Thelwell and Francis Mansell relocated to the north wall of the chancel, there are monuments to Sir Leoline Jenkins (who is buried in the chapel), William JonesWilliam Jones (college principal)
William Jones , born Kidwelly, Wales, was Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1720 to 1725. He had previously been a student of the college, obtaining his BA in 1697, his MA in 1700, his BD in 1708 and his DD in 1720....
, Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Pardo, Joseph Hoare
Joseph Hoare
Joseph Hoare was a Welsh clergyman and Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1768 to 1802.The son of Joseph Hoare, from Cardiff, Wales, Hoare studied at Jesus College from 1727 , obtaining his BA in 1730 and his MA in 1733. He was a Prebendary of Westminster Abbey. He was appointed Principal in...
, Henry Foulkes
Henry Foulkes
Henry Foulkes of North Wales was Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1817 to his death. He holds the record for the long-serving Principal of the college....
, Charles Williams and Hugo Harper
Hugo Harper
Hugo Daniel Harper was Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1877 to 1895.Harper was educated at Christ's Hospital and won a scholarship to Jesus College in 1840. He obtained a second in classical moderations, followed by a First in Mathematics in 1844. He was a Fellow of Jesus College between...
. Thelwall's monument is one of the few in Oxford to include kneeling figures. There are painted glass windows in memory of Llewellyn Thomas (by Charles Kempe), of Charles Williams (by Clayton and Bell
Clayton and Bell
Clayton and Bell was one of the most prolific and proficient workshops of English stained glass during the latter half of the 19th century. The partners were John Richard Clayton and Alfred Bell . The company was founded in 1855 and continued until 1993...
), of Samuel Morris, a victim of the sinking of HMS Eurydice in 1878 (by Westlake and Lavers
Lavers, Barraud and Westlake
Lavers, Barraud and Westlake were an English firm that produced stained glass windows from 1855 until 1921. They were part of the Gothic Revival movement that affected English church architecture in the 19th century.-History:...
), and of Lewis Gilbertson. The Garter banner
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
of Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
(who studied at the college in the 1930s, and was twice Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
) hangs on the south wall; it was donated by his widow after his death in 1995. There is also a bust of T. E. Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO , known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British Army officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916–18...
(better known as "Lawrence of Arabia") by the sculptor Eric Kennington
Eric Kennington
Eric Henri Kennington RA was an English Sculptor, artist and illustrator, and an official war artist in both World Wars.-Early life:...
, which is a copy of the one in St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
. Lawrence was a student at the college, graduating in 1910.
Principal's lodgings
The principal of the college resides in the lodgings, a Grade I listed building, on the north side of the first quadrangle between the chapel (to the east) and the hall (to the west). They were the last part of the first quadrangle to be built. Sir Eubule Thelwall, principal from 1621 to 1630, built the lodgings at his own expense, to include (in the words of the antiquarian Anthony WoodAnthony Wood
Anthony Wood or Anthony à Wood was an English antiquary.-Early life:Anthony Wood was the fourth son of Thomas Wood , BCL of Oxford, where Anthony was born...
) "a very fair dining-room adorned with wainscot curiously engraven". Tyack said that "the carved wooden panelling of the main rooms [set] a new standard of luxury for the heads of colleges". Pevsner commented that the panelling, set in three tiers with ovals placed vertically rather than horizontally, "looks both dignified and splendid". In 1637, the lodgings were considerably changed with the installation of five "studyes". The shell-hood
Hood mould
In architecture, a hood mould, also called a label mould or dripstone, is an external moulded projection from a wall over an opening to throw off rainwater...
over the doorway (which Pevsner and Casson both called "beautiful") was added at some point between 1670 and 1740; Pevsner dates it to about 1700. It is elaborately carved on the inside with a decorated cartouche
Cartouche
In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an ellipse with a horizontal line at one end, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name, coming into use during the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty under Pharaoh Sneferu, replacing the earlier serekh...
and a cherub-head. Casson called it the college's "most engaging" feature. The original gables over the front of the lodgings were removed and replaced with battlements between 1733 and 1740.
John Nash
John Nash (architect)
John Nash was a British architect responsible for much of the layout of Regency London.-Biography:Born in Lambeth, London, the son of a Welsh millwright, Nash trained with the architect Sir Robert Taylor. He established his own practice in 1777, but his career was initially unsuccessful and...
drew up plans to alter the lodgings in 1802. His plans were not used immediately (although other work was carried out at that time) but they were partly implemented in 1884 when a north wing was added, using Milton
Milton-under-Wychwood
Milton-under-Wychwood is a village and civil parish about north of Burford, Oxfordshire, just off the A361 road between Burford and Chipping Norton.-History:The village is one of three named after the ancient forest of Wychwood...
stone. This extension was later converted into general college accommodation. An oriel window
Oriel window
Oriel windows are a form of bay window commonly found in Gothic architecture, which project from the main wall of the building but do not reach to the ground. Corbels or brackets are often used to support this kind of window. They are seen in combination with the Tudor arch. This type of window was...
on the west side of the lodgings, overlooking the second quadrangle, was also added in 1884. Much of the lodgings were refaced between 1927 and 1935, using Clipsham
Clipsham
Clipsham is a village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England.The village is well-known for its limestone quarries. Clipsham stone, part of the Upper Lincolnshire Limestone Formation, can be found in many of Britain's most famous buildings including King's College Chapel , the...
stone on the side facing the front quadrangle in place of the original Headington stone.
Michael Roberts (college principal)
Michael Roberts was Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1648 to 1657.-Life:Roberts came from the parish of Llanffinan in Anglesey, Wales, but his date of birth is uncertain. He graduated with a BA from Trinity College, Dublin in 1620 and was incorporated at Oxford and Cambridge in 1624...
was principal, the college accounts record payment for construction of a ball court. This was to the west of the principal's garden (which is to the north of the lodgings, alongside Ship Street), between a privy
Outhouse
An outhouse is a small structure separate from a main building which often contained a simple toilet and may possibly also be used for housing animals and storage.- Terminology :...
, stables, and the wall of the garden. Ball courts, bowling greens and grove
Grove (nature)
A grove is a small group of trees with minimal or no undergrowth, such as a sequoia grove, or a small orchard planted for the cultivation of fruits or nuts...
s were often added within the precincts of colleges during the 17th century so that undergraduates could amuse themselves under the watchful eyes of their tutors, rather than indulge in forbidden pursuits such as drinking in alehouses. In 1757, principal Thomas Pardo added the area of the ball court to the garden of the lodgings and had a coach-house built there, which was reached from an entrance on the corner of Turl Street and Ship Street along a driveway across the north of the garden.
The garden and the ball court are depicted in David Loggan
David Loggan
David Loggan was an English baroque engraver, draughtsman and painter.-Life:He was baptized 27 August 1634 in Danzig, then a semi-autonomous city within Prussian Poland and a member of the Hanseatic League...
's 1675 engraving of the college, which shows an "attractive pleasure garden with box-edged paths and dense patterns of formal beds". In 1826, the garden was renovated and a Bath stone gateway installed on the corner of Turl Street and Ship Street. The size of the garden has been reduced at the west end by the 1884 extension to the lodgings (which was built on the area of the old ball court) and at the east end by the construction of a bicycle shed and garage. The boundary wall that runs from the north of the chapel along Turl Street and along Ship Street to the north of the garden is a Grade II listed building (a designation given to buildings of national importance and special interest).
Hall
The hall, like the chapel, was largely built by Griffith Powell between 1613 and 1620, and was finally completed soon after his death in 1620. The panelling, three tables and two benches date from Powell's time. It measures 54 by and is a Grade I listed building. The fireplace was set in an enclosed hearth with a large projecting chimney-breast, in contrast to the traditional method of heating the hall, which was by a brazier on an open hearth. A screen was installed in 1634 at a cost of £3 1s. Pevsner noted the screen's "elaborately decorated columns" and the dragons along the frieze, and said that it was one of the earliest examples in Oxford of panelling using four "L" shapes around a centre. Norwich said that the dragons on the screen were "rather lovable", and Tyack said that they underlined the Welsh connections of the college: the red dragon is one of the national symbols of Wales. The stone steps from the first quadrangle to the hall were added in 1637. During the 17th century, changes were made to the interior of the hall. Windows painted with various coats of arms were removed and a bay windowBay window
A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room, either square or polygonal in plan. The angles most commonly used on the inside corners of the bay are 90, 135 and 150 degrees. Bay windows are often associated with Victorian architecture...
was added on the west side. Pevsner commented that "the hall windows themselves are different from all other 17th-century Gothic windows in Oxford except for the exactly contemporary hall bay-window of Exeter".
In 1741 and 1742, a total of £423 17s 4d was spent on the hall, which included the cost of covering the oak-beamed roof with plaster and making rooms in the original roof space. Writing in 1891, Llewellyn Thomas noted that the plaster roof was added to create attic rooms to increase the accommodation of the lodgings. He expressed the hope that the hall might soon regain its original proportions, following the enlargement of the lodgings a few years previously. This has not happened, and the plaster ceiling remains. However, in 2003, partitions between the rooms were knocked through to convert them into teaching rooms and the renovations enabled the upper part of the hall's hammerbeam roof
Hammerbeam roof
Hammerbeam roof, in architecture, is the name given to an open timber roof, typical of English Gothic architecture, using short beams projecting from the wall.- Design :...
to be seen from inside the rooms. Pevsner described the 1741 cartouche
Cartouche (design)
A cartouche is an oval or oblong design with a slightly convex surface, typically edged with ornamental scrollwork. It is used to hold a painted or low relief design....
on the north wall, which contains the college crest, as "large [and] rich". Tyack noted the "lively Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
plasterwork" of the flat ceiling. In the early 19th century the east and west sides of the hall were crenellated, and the roof was re-slated. A clock was installed on the external wall of the hall in 1831 by the principal Henry Foulkes
Henry Foulkes
Henry Foulkes of North Wales was Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1817 to his death. He holds the record for the long-serving Principal of the college....
. There is a college tradition that students aim a champagne cork at the clock after finishing their final university examinations; hitting it is supposed to mean that the student will obtain a first class honours degree. An extensive fire on 4 December 1913 threatened to destroy the hall before it was brought under control. In the rebuilding work that followed, a gallery was added to the hall, with the balustrade joining the 1634 screen. The hall contains a portrait of Elizabeth I, as well as portraits of former principals and benefactors. There are also portraits by court artists of two other monarchs who were college benefactors: Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
(by Anthony van Dyck
Anthony van Dyck
Sir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England. He is most famous for his portraits of Charles I of England and his family and court, painted with a relaxed elegance that was to be the dominant influence on English portrait-painting for the next...
) and Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
(by Sir Peter Lely
Peter Lely
Sir Peter Lely was a painter of Dutch origin, whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court.-Life:...
). It has been said to be "among the most impressive of all the Oxford college halls", with its "fine panelling, austere ceiling, and its notable paintings".
Expansion and the Civil War
Francis Mansell, who was appointed principal in 1630, raised hundreds of pounds from donors towards the building of a second quadrangle in 1640. Buildings along part of the north and south sides were completed at this time, and in 1638 he purchased some land known as Coggan's Garden adjoining Market Street for £90, upon which much of the west side of the second quadrangle was later built. The college also unsuccessfully proposed to the city council in 1638 that it should be permitted to expand to the north by closing Ship Street and purchasing the council's properties there. According to his successor and biographer, Sir Leoline Jenkins, Mansell had sufficient benefactors to be able to complete the quadrangle, including the construction of a library on the west side, but the outbreak of the English Civil WarEnglish Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
in 1641 put paid to his plans. Welsh tenants who supported Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
refused to pay rent to the college after Michael Roberts
Michael Roberts (college principal)
Michael Roberts was Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 1648 to 1657.-Life:Roberts came from the parish of Llanffinan in Anglesey, Wales, but his date of birth is uncertain. He graduated with a BA from Trinity College, Dublin in 1620 and was incorporated at Oxford and Cambridge in 1624...
was installed as principal in 1648 by the puritan regime, leaving the college "on the verge of financial collapse". Overall, the college was "reduced ... to administrative chaos" and in 1660 it was said to be in a "shatter'd condition", having suffered "a decade of corruption and internal strife quite unique in Oxford during the revolutionary period". The college obtained further land on Market Street in 1675, and building work began again in 1676. Sir Leoline Jenkins built the library on the west side, which was completed by 1679. After further land was obtained to link the Market Street and Ship Street sides of the college, further rooms, including what is now known as the Senior Common Room (SCR), were built at the instigation of Jonathan Edwards (principal from 1688 to 1712) to complete the inner quadrangle; the project was completed just after his death in 1712. Work to add a ceiling and wainscotting in the SCR took place in 1736, at a cost of £52 4s
Shilling (United Kingdom)
The British shilling is an historic British coin from the eras of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the later United Kingdom; also adopted as a Scot denomination upon the 1707 Treaty of Union....
5d
Penny (British pre-decimal coin)
The penny of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, was in circulation from the early 18th century until February 1971, Decimal Day....
, with the walls to the west of the college placed further back to enlarge the common room's garden and increase the light. Some minor work to repair and restore the walls has been carried out using Doulting stone
Doulting Stone Quarry
Doulting Stone Quarry is a limestone quarry at Doulting, on the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England.At Present there are only three quarries in the country quarrying Doulting stone. The Largest has been producing stone since Roman times....
.
The second quadrangle is larger than the first quadrangle, measuring 103 feet 6 inches by 94 feet 6 inches (31.55 by 28.80 m). The central plot of the quadrangle was filled with gravel from at least 1695; grass was laid in 1859. All four sides of the quadrangle are Grade I listed buildings. Pevsner described the second quadrangle as "a uniform composition", noting the "regular fenestration by windows with round-arched lights, their hood-moulds forming a continuous frieze". The Dutch gables have ogee
Ogee
An ogee is a curve , shaped somewhat like an S, consisting of two arcs that curve in opposite senses, so that the ends are parallel....
sides and semi-circular pediments. Norwich described the second quadrangle as having "a strong feeling of unity owing to the somewhat relentless succession of ogival gables", adding that "One is grateful for the projecting bay, oriel, chimneybreast and clock on the east side for breaking the monotony". He pointed out that it was "almost a carbon copy" of the front quadrangle of University College, Oxford
University College, Oxford
.University College , is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2009 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £110m...
, which was begun in 1634: in describing University College, he wrote that "There are the same two-light windows, the same continuous rising and falling head-moulds on the three storeys, even the same oddly shaped gables" as in Jesus College. Tyack, too, said that the gables were "clearly influenced" by University College. The writer Simon Jenkins
Simon Jenkins
Sir Simon David Jenkins is a British newspaper columnist and author, and since November 2008 has been chairman of the National Trust. He currently writes columns for both The Guardian and London's Evening Standard, and was previously a commentator for The Times, which he edited from 1990 to 1992...
said that the quadrangle has "the familiar Oxford Tudor windows and decorative Dutch gables, crowding the skyline like Welsh dragons' teeth and lightened by exuberant flower boxes". Betjeman, describing the first and second quadrangles, said that they had "what look like Cotswold manors on all sides", adding that "The clearness of the planning of Jesus College and the relation of the heights of the buildings to the size of the quadrangles make what would be undistinguished buildings judged on their detail, into something distinguished". The 19th-century antiquarian Rowley Lascelles, however, described the ogee gables as "dismal" and called for them to be cut down into "battlements" (crenellations) to match those on the hall bay window; he went further, saying that "this whole College requires to be gothicised, as it is called; that is, mannered into the pointed style. It is a good subject for it". Casson said that the second quadrangle was "much the same mixture" as the first, but looked "a bit cramped and stiff".
Fellows' Library
What is now called the Fellows' Library, on the west side of the second quadrangle, dates from 1679; it was built by Sir Leoline Jenkins (appointed principal in 1661), one of the project's donors. It replaced the college's first purpose-built library, built by Sir Eubule Thelwall to the west of the hall, in line with the lodgings, on the north side of what is now the college's second quadrangle. Until that time, the books had been kept in rooms above the kitchen and buttery. Thelwall's library appears to have been built over a covered walkway, with rooms for students above it. It fell into a "ruinous condition" and was pulled down by 1640 when Francis Mansell (principal since 1630) erected further buildings on the north and south sides of the quadrangle. After a long delay in building work caused by the effects of the civil war, the college purchased three properties on Market Street adjoining Coggan's Garden in 1675, and development of the south-west corner of the second quadrangle took place between 1676 and 1678 at a cost of £1,439 14s 13d.The library, which is 65 feet (19.8 m) long and 21 in 9 in (6.63 m) wide, was built on the first floor of a free-standing building, above common rooms for students and fellows, and largely followed the layout of Thelwall's earlier library. The books were moved to their new location in 1679. The library contains bookcases dating from about 1628, which are decorated with strapwork
Strapwork
In the history of art and design, the term strapwork refers to a stylised representation in ornament of strips or bands of curling leather, parchment or metal cut into elaborate shapes, with piercings and often interwoven...
and were used in the earlier library. The bookcases are 7 feet (2.1 m) long, with hinged desks. Some of the books were secured with chains
Chained library
A chained library is a library where the books are attached to their bookcase by a chain, which is sufficiently long to allow the books to be taken from their shelves and read, but not removed from the library itself...
; these were removed at an unknown date, although some payments for chains were made until 1765. A gallery storey was added, probably in 1691, and a wood-panelled gallery runs the length of the east side. It is reached by "an ingenious and graceful spiral staircase". On the west side of the library, there are nine windows on two levels; on the east side, there are now six on the lower level and four (blocked by gallery bookcases) on the upper level. The layout of the library, as well as the position of an exposed timber, suggests that there was previously a gallery on the west side. If so, it was not used after 1800, when the library was re-arranged. It may have been removed and transferred to St Edern's, Bodedern
St Edern's Church, Bodedern
St Edern's Church, Bodedern is a medieval parish church in the village of Bodedern, in Anglesey, north Wales. Although St Edern established a church in the area in the 6th century, the oldest parts of the present building date from the 14th century...
, along with some woodwork from the chapel after Street's renovations, with other sections of the chapel woodwork re-used in the east gallery – some of the carved patterns in the gallery are identical to those in Bodedern, and some of the gallery panels have been cut to fit their position, or are loose-fitting or upside down, suggestive of repositioning from a previous location.
Hardy's opinion was that, "if only it had an open timber roof instead of the plain ceiling, it would be one of the most picturesque College Libraries". Another author said (in 1914, after the provision of a library for undergraduates elsewhere in the quadrangle) that it was "one of the most charming of Oxford libraries, and one of the least frequented". The window at the south end has four lights; Pevsner noted that it was Gothic in style, despite the date of construction. Simon Jenkins said that the library is "a delight". Betjeman wrote in 1938 that "The woodwork, the brown leather of the books, the clear windows and the slim height of the room make it one of the best little-known sights of Oxford".
The library holds 11,000 antiquarian printed books and houses many of the college's rare texts, including a Greek bible dating from 1545 and signed by Philipp Melanchthon
Philipp Melanchthon
Philipp Melanchthon , born Philipp Schwartzerdt, was a German reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and an influential designer of educational systems...
and others, much of the library of the scholar and philosopher Lord Herbert of Cherbury
Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury
Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Chirbury was an Anglo-Welsh soldier, diplomat, historian, poet and religious philosopher of the Kingdom of England.-Early life:...
and 17th-century volumes by Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle FRS was a 17th century natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor, also noted for his writings in theology. He has been variously described as English, Irish, or Anglo-Irish, his father having come to Ireland from England during the time of the English plantations of...
and Sir Isaac Newton. The library also holds the undergraduate thesis of T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"), entitled "The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture to the end of XIIth Century". The college launched a restoration appeal in 2007 for work that was anticipated to cost £700,000. The roof was leaking, the floorboards had been affected by dry rot
Dry rot
Dry rot refers to a type of wood decay caused by certain types of fungi, also known as True Dry Rot, that digests parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness...
and death watch beetle
Death watch beetle
The death watch beetle, Xestobium rufovillosum, is a woodboring beetle. The adult beetle is long, while the xylophagous larvae are up to long....
, and new heating and ultra-violet light controls were needed to help preserve the books. The work to remedy these problems, and others, was completed in 2008.
Expansion in the 20th century
The long but narrow third quadrangle adjoins Ship Street, on the north of the site and to the west of the garden of the principal's lodgings, where the college has owned some land since its foundation. In the 18th century, this was home to the college stables. A fire in 1904 led to the demolition of the stables and the gateway to Ship Street. The fire also caused considerable damage to another building, about 80 metres (262.5 ft) long, owned by the college. The ground floor had been rented out to the Oxford Electric Light Company – the fire originated in their premises when cables overheated – and the first floor had been used as a carpenter's shop and a bookseller's stores. This building was also demolished, along with houses occupied by the college porter and the college butler. Some stones from the demolished building were used to build a house in Kennington, OxfordshireKennington, Oxfordshire
Kennington is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire, just south of Oxford. The village occupies a narrow stretch of land between the River Thames and the A34 dual carriageway...
.
Replacement buildings adjoining Ship Street, effectively creating a third quadrangle for the college, were constructed between 1906 and 1908. These were designed by the college architect and surveyor (Reuben England) and built in Doulting stone with Clipsham
Clipsham
Clipsham is a village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England.The village is well-known for its limestone quarries. Clipsham stone, part of the Upper Lincolnshire Limestone Formation, can be found in many of Britain's most famous buildings including King's College Chapel , the...
stone dressings, experience having shown that Doulting stone lasts longer when used in combination with a harder stone. The buildings, which have been given a Grade II listing, have been said to be keeping with the medieval look of the college as refaced by Buckler in the 19th century. However, Howell's description of England's work on Ship Street is that the design was "in an almost comically 'traditional' style", and Betjeman thought that the buildings were "dull". Casson described the third quadrangle as "a long, narrow court with a jumble of nineteenth- and twentieth-century buildings trying a bit too hard to be interesting". The extension cost £13,656. It contained the college's science laboratories and a new gate-tower, as well as further living accommodation and a library for students, known as the Meyricke
Edmund Meyrick
Edmund Meyrick was a Welsh cleric and benefactor of Jesus College, Oxford, where scholarships are still awarded in his name.-Life:...
Library, after a major donor – there had been an undergraduate library in the second quadrangle since 1865, known as the Meyricke Library from 1882 onwards. A small block of toilets and bathrooms was also built in the third quadrangle in 1908; it was nicknamed the "fourth quad". Until then, students had had to use tin baths in their rooms to wash. It was not until 1946 that the college began to install baths and wash-basins on each staircase in the quadrangles. The "fourth quad" was demolished as part of the work to erect the Old Members' Building in 1971. The third quadrangle also contains the bar (in the basement beneath the library), the computer room, and student laundry facilities.
Laboratories
The laboratories, which were in use from 1907 to 1947, occupied three floors. They were overseen (for all but the last three years) by the physical chemistPhysical chemistry
Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems in terms of physical laws and concepts...
David Chapman
David Chapman (scientist)
David Leonard Chapman FRS was an English physical chemist, whose name is associated with the Chapman-Jouget treatment and the Gouy-Chapman layer...
, a college fellow from 1907 to 1944. At the time of their closure, they were the last college-based science laboratories at the university. They were named the Sir Leoline Jenkins laboratories, after the former principal of the college. The laboratories led to scientific research and tuition (particularly in chemistry) becoming an important part of the college's academic life. The brochure produced for the opening ceremony noted that the number of science students at the college had increased rapidly in recent years, and that provision of college laboratories would assist the tuition of undergraduates, as well as attracting to Jesus College graduates of the University of Wales
University of Wales
The University of Wales was a confederal university founded in 1893. It had accredited institutions throughout Wales, and formerly accredited courses in Britain and abroad, with over 100,000 students, but in October 2011, after a number of scandals, it withdrew all accreditation, and it was...
who wished to continue their research at Oxford. The laboratories became unnecessary when the university began to provide centralised facilities for students; they were closed in 1947. The college then converted the laboratories (along with other rooms in the buildings adjoining Ship Street) into further accommodation for students and fellows, as well as relocating the Meyricke Library and providing a separate library for Celtic studies. The total cost was £25,000.
Old Members' Building and Junior Common Room
The Old Members' Building, which contains a music room, 24 study-bedrooms and some lecture rooms, was built between 1969 and 1971, and designed by John Fryman of the Architects' Design Partnership. It was built after a fundraising appeal to Old Members to mark the college's quatercentenary, and was opened by Charles, Prince of WalesCharles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
, in 1971. When the plans for the building were being drawn up, the college stated that it was "prepared to sacrifice some accommodation to obtain a scheme of architectural merit". The result is a concrete building, faced with grit-blasted
Abrasive blasting
Abrasive blasting is the operation of forcibly propelling a stream of abrasive material against a surface under high pressure to smooth a rough surface, roughen a smooth surface, shape a surface, or remove surface contaminants. A pressurized fluid, typically air, or a centrifugal wheel is used to...
concrete and, as elsewhere in the third quadrangle, Clipsham limestone. Part of the ground floor is an extension at the rear of W. H. Smith on Cornmarket Street
Cornmarket Street
Cornmarket Street is a major shopping street and pedestrian precinct in Oxford, England that runs north-south between Carfax Tower and Magdalen Street.Retailers in Cornmarket include:* Austin Reed...
, and so access is at first-floor level. The windows, which project from the bedrooms in a V-shape, were said to have been intended to "reflect the intricacy of the older building", and to help improve the views from within.
Pevsner was critical of the use of canting
Cant (architecture)
Cant is the architectural term describing part, or segment, of a facade which is at an angle to another part of the same facade. The angle breaking the facade is less than a right angle thus enabling a canted facade to be viewed as, and remain, one composition.Canted facades are a typical of, but...
in the design. He wrote that the entrance was reached by staircases set diagonally, which is "typical of the building", and that Fryman had "succumbed to the canting fashion of today: canted back, canted exposed supports on the entrance floor, canted base to the two upper floors". He called it a "mannered and modish design". Tyack referred to the building's "brutalism
Brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movement.-The term "brutalism":...
". Norwich said that it displays "an antipathy to the right-angle that makes the Front Quad look positively Pythagorean". Another reviewer, though, said that whilst the building tried too hard to be "Oxford" with "quirky and derivative details", the design made "ingenious use of minimal space" and filled a "drab" corner with "something lively and intimate"; overall, the review concluded, the virtues of the building overcame its faults.
A conference room, known as the Habakkuk
John Habakkuk
Sir John Habakkuk was a British economic historian.-Biography:Habakkuk was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, the son of Evan and Anne Habakkuk. He was named "Hrothgar" after Hroðgar in Beowulf, which his father was reading at the time of his birth...
Room after a former principal, was added in 1989. The Old Members' Building is connected by a bridge (Pevsner adding, "Of course it runs diagonally") to further college rooms above shops on Ship Street. These were added in 1908–1909 and were also designed by England. Pevsner noted the "four symmetrically grouped gables". There are also some student rooms above the shops in Cornmarket Street, some of which were refurbished in 2000.
In 2002, a two-year project to rebuild the property above the shops on Ship Street was completed. As part of the work, carried out by the architects Maguire & Co., the bottom floor was converted from rooms occupied by students and fellows into a new Junior Common Room (JCR), to replace the common room in the second quadrangle, which was by then too small to cope with the increased numbers of students. The new JCR, about twice the size of the previous one, can be partitioned into smaller rooms or kept open for large meetings; there is also a kitchen, a student committee room and a glazed conservatory extending onto the adjoining terrace. Above the JCR are three floors of new student rooms. The two rooms of the old JCR, each of which contain war memorials, have been converted into seminar and meeting rooms, and are now known as the Harold Wilson Room and the Memorial Room.
Fellows' Garden
The Fellows' Garden runs behind the west side of the second quadrangle, behind the SCR; it can be reached from there or from the third quadrangle. It dates from 1683, when 3s 6d was spent on making a garden; it would have been about 100 feet (30.5 m) long and between 10 to 20 ft (3 to 6.1 m) wide, but a further purchase of land in 1735 extended its length to about 170 feet (51.8 m). It is now overshadowed by adjoining buildings (including the Old Members' Building). The college archivist, Brigid Allen, has described it as "a kind of gated tunnel between high buildings, paved, scattered with seats and tables, and filled with gloomy foliage of the purple-leaved plum".Other buildings
The college purchased 10 acre (0.0404686 km²; 0.0156250138152179 sq mi) of land in east Oxford (near the Cowley RoadCowley Road, Oxford
Cowley Road is an arterial road in the city of Oxford, England, following a southeasterly route from the city centre at The Plain roundabout near Magdalen Bridge, through the inner city area of East Oxford, and into the industrial suburb of Cowley...
) in 1903 for use as a sports ground. The 1905 pavilion was replaced in 1998 by a new pavilion on the opposite side of the sports ground; the old pavilion is now used as a table-tennis room (ground floor) with a three-bedroomed flat for graduates above. Residential accommodation was first built at the sports ground in 1967 (Thelwall House, rebuilt in 1998), with additions between 1988 and 1990 (Hugh Price House and Leoline Jenkins House). Writing in 1974, Pevsner said that Thelwall House was one of the recent college buildings that deserved note.
A further development, known as Hazel Court (after Alfred Hazel
Alfred Hazel
Alfred Ernest William Hazel CBE KC was a British Liberal Party Member of Parliament and legal academic at the University of Oxford....
, principal 1925–1944), was built in 2000, bringing the total number of students who can be housed at the sports ground to 135. Writing in the Royal Institute of British Architects
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...
Journal in 2002, Jeremy Melvin praised the architects of Hazel Court, Maguire & Co., for their "crispness of detail" and "richness of composition"; he said that "the sense of ordered space ... recalls the way in which the traditional collegiate quads gave architectural expression to the then-new idea of a university". He noted that, whilst the first impression of the houses was Elizabethan with the air of a courtyard garden, "closer inspection reveals a contemporary design sensibility"; there was, he wrote, "the impression of an order that comes from making the construction explicit whils combining sensitivity to function and use". However, he commented that whilst there was plenty of space inside, the furniture "would not look out of place in a motorway hotel".
Edwin Stevens
Edwin Stevens CBE was a Welsh inventor who designed the world's first wearable electronic hearing aid. He was also a philanthropist, becoming a major benefactor to the Royal Society of Medicine, and to Jesus College, Oxford, at which he had studied between 1927 and 1929.-Life:Stevens was born at...
, an Old Member of the college, enabled the construction in 1974 of student flats at a site in north Oxford on the Woodstock Road, named "Stevens Close" in his honour. The flats were opened by Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
in 1976. The college also owns a number of houses on Ship Street, which are used for student accommodation. It has purchased a further site in Ship Street at a cost of £1.8M, which will be converted at a projected cost of £5.5M to provide 31 student rooms with en-suite facilities, a 100-seat lecture theatre and other teaching rooms. The site includes a bastion
Bastion
A bastion, or a bulwark, is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall , facilitating active defence against assaulting troops...
from the Oxford city wall, which is a scheduled ancient monument
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorized change. The various pieces of legislation used for legally protecting heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term...
. The plans provide for the inner curve of the bastion to be used as a featured alcove in the ground floor reception area and for study bedrooms on the upper floors. The Ship Street Centre was officially opened by the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Lord Patten of Barnes, on 25 September 2010.