Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/159

Rh OXFORD. 147 OXFORD. some to be derived from brasinium, " a brewery," which is asserted to have stood near a hall built by Alfred tho Great at the N.E. angle of the more modern building. Another derivation of the term is held to be a piece of brass in the shape of a nose, and having an iron ring through it so as to form a knocker, which was brought here by some students who removed from tho univer- sity of Stamford to that of Oxford, temp. Edward III. Be this as it may, certain it is that the college gateway and boat both have a brass nose displayed upon them ; and it is evident that tho last-given derivation of their name is that generally accepted by the members of the society. The hall is on the S. side of the first quadrangle, and is embellished with some good portraits, a modern painted window, and a handsome chimney- piece. The library contains some fine busts, especially one of Lord Grenvillo, Chancellor of the University in 1809, by Nollekens, and the chapel has a Gothic roof ornamented with rich fan-tracery, a marble communion- table, with a very massive pair of silver-gilt candlesticks, given by Lord Ellesmere in 1677, a good brass eagle lec- tern, and an E. window of stained glass representing Jesus, and SS. Mary, Matthew, Luke, and John. In the ante-chapel are several monuments. CORPVS CHRISTI COLLEGE (or, as it is generally styled by members of the University, Corpus) was founded in 1516 by Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester and Lord Privy Seal in the reign of Henry VIII. The entrance is by a vaulted gateway under a square tower, in front of which are three richly canopied but unoccupied niches. The quadrangle, in the centre of which is a curious cylindrical dial, erected in 1605, is 100 feet by 80, and opposite tho entrance is a statue of the founder with his crozier and mitre, under a Gothic canopy. The hall, which lies on the left of the quadrangle, contains some fine carving, an ancient timber roof, and N. window, and some good portraits. The chapel is in the S.E. corner of the quadrangle, and has an arched and oak-panelled roof, with moulded ribs and carved bosses adorned with Christian emblems, and the arms of the founder in gold and colours. There is besides a cedar screen, having on it life-sized carved figures of the Evangelists, and the altar-piece is a paint- ing of the Adoration, by Rubens, formerly belonging to tho Prince of Conde, but presented, at a cost of 2,500, by Sir R. Worsley in 1804. The library extends in a line with the chapel along tho whole S. front of the quadrangle. It possesses very valuable printed books and MSS., and two ancient portraits of the founder. Tho new buildings, generally called Turner's Buildings, from the fact of their haviug been erected by Thomas Turner, president of the college, in 1706, have a frontage of 119 feet, and in the centre of them is the entrance to the college garden. From hence may be obtained a good view of the meadows belonging to the college, bounded by the Broad Walk, and the cathedral, while on the terrace may be seen several remains of the old city walls. This college possesses the crozier of the founder, which is 6 feet long, made entirely of silver gilt, and most elaborately ornamented ; his gold sacramental plate ; a pix, and some very curious and valuable finger-rings, spoons, crucifixes, taubards, and other utensils and orna- ments. CHKIST CIUJUCH COLLEGE, the largest and most magnificent in the University, was founded by the Cf le- bnited Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York, in 1526, on the site of the priory of St. Frideswido, who died 19th October, 740. In her time a church, dedicated to St. Mary and All Saints, stood here. In 1012 the Saxon King Kthelred considerably enlarged the church and tli.: religious houses attached to it, and the latter, during tho following century, having fallen into tho hands of some of tho secular canons, they dispersed the nuns and seized the promises for themselves. They were, however, in their turn dispossessed by Guimand, orWymand,chap- hiin to Henry I. Ho applied himself to cultivating the lands and increasing the revenues of the establishment, and this, and the quantity of presents and offerings brought to tliu sluinoby pilgrims and devotees, made tho foundation very rich and prosperous. Numerous valu- able gifts and endowments were ndded till the time of VOL. in. Henry VIII., when Wolsey obtained leave from the monarch to found this college by applying the funds raised by the suppression of several smaller monasteries and priories for the purpose. In 1529 the king took pos- session of all the revenues belonging to the society ; and in 1532, in consequence of certain restorations which he caused to be made in the college, he took the credit of its foundation to himself, and dedicated the building to the Holy Trinity, St. Mary, and St. Frideswide. In 1646 he determined to connect the see of Oxford with his lately endowed college, and removed the seat of the bishopric from Osney Abbey to St. Frideswide's, where he finally laid the foundation, as an establishment partly cathedral and partly academical, and since that time known as Christ Church. The front of this noble build- ing is surmounted with turrets, bastions, and battlements, and is 400 feet in length. In the centre is an octagonal Gothic tower, called " Tom Gate and Tower," from the cupola containing the great bell, which was brought here from Osney. Upon entering, we find a quadrangle of 264 feet by 261, surrounded by a terrace walk, and having in the centre a small reservoir and fountain. The hall lies to the right of the quadrangle, and to the left is the dean's house, and in the farther corner on the same side a vaulted passage leading to Peckwater Quadrangle, so called from an ancient inn or hall kept by a person of that name. A passage in the centre of the right wing leads to the Common Room and the Anatomy School, the latter is in the " Chaplains' Quadrangle," to the S. of the cathedral, which is said to have formed one of the earliest existing portions of the foundation. It contains a museum, anatomical preparations, wax models, &c., and is used by the Reader in Anatomy for lecture and class rooms. The approach to the hall is by n wide stone staircase, with a stone balustrade on each side, and having a carved and vaulted stone roof of fan-work, supported on a single light pillar 80 feet high. The hall is a most noble apartment, 115 feet by 40, and being 60 feet high. The roof, which was executed in 1529, is of richly carved oak, with pendants decorated with 300 armorial devices of Henry VIII. and Wolsey. There are in it two Gothic chimney-pieces, and in a recess on the S. side a finely carved oriel window with a fret- work roof. There are on tho walls 120 por- traits of celebrated personages, who have been on tho foundation, painted by the most distinguished painters from tho time of Holbein up to the present day. The Common Room also is decorated with some fine por- traits and engravings. On tho left of a flight of steps at the bottom of the hall staircase is the cathedral, which, without doubt, formed a part of the original church of St. Frideswide's Priory. The choir, the dor- mitory, the Latin chapel, and the nave have each their own distinctive architectural and decorative features ; and in the latter, on certain appointed days, the Univer- sity sermon (which is ordinarily preached at St. Mary's) is preached here. The vice-chancellor's seat and the pulpit were both brought from Osney Abbey, and tho whole of this sacred edifice abounds with ancient and modern monuments, carvings, stained glass, heraldic devices, and various ecclesiastical monuments, a de- tailed description of which would demand a volume, and which will bo found amply treated of, for all occa- sional visitors, in the Oxford guide-books, and more fully and scientifically in those works which especially treat of English cathedrals. Choral service is performed in the choir at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and in the nave on Good Friday, Ascension Day, Christmas Day, and those occasions when tho University sermon is preached at Christ Church. Tho cloisters exhibit the different dates at which they were erected, and contain speci- mens both of early Norman and Saxon architec- ture. Tho Chapter House, built about tho 13th cen- tury, is of early English work, and contains a few good portraits. On tho S. side of Peckwater Quadrangle is tho library, which was commenced in 1716, and finished in 1701. Itextendsl61feet,andthpwholeoftheground- floor forms a picture gallery, containing a most valuable collection of paintings by the most celebrated masters