Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/161

Rh OXFORD. 149 OXFORD. benefactors and distinguished members of the college. The library, which is connected with the chapel by a cloister, is 55 feet by 30, and in the common room is a painting of "Christ at the Tool of Bethesda," exe- cuted by Dirk Van Delen in 1647, and some good portraits. Near the chapel, on the left, is the college garden, which, although not very extensive, is tastefully laid out. PEMBROKE COLLEGE, which was originally Broadgate's Hall, was founded in 1624 by James I., at the expense of Thomas Tesdalo, of Glympton, in Oxford- shire, and the Rev. Richard Wightwick, Rector of llsley, in Berkshire, and obtained its present name from Wil- liam Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, who was chancellor of the university when it was founded. It consists of two small quadrangles, in the first of which is the hall, with the library over it, and in the second the chapel ; but they present no remarkable features, either of architecture or decorative beauty. WOB.CESTEH. COLLEGE, which is the latest-established collegiate society in the University, was originally Gloucester Hall, and was founded in 1714 by Sir Thomas Cookes, of Bentley, in Worcestershire. Although it is the most modern college in Oxford, it occupies the site of one of the earliest religious semi- naries, for in 1283 John Giffard obtained a license from Edward I. to form an establishment of Benedictines here, for the purpose of instructing those of their order who might chooso to reside there. After the suppression of the monasteries, temp. Henry VIII., when the see of Osney was removed to Oxford, it became the episcopal palace, until it was purchased in 1559 by Sir Thomas White, the founder of St. John's, and was then known as St. John the Baptist's Hall. It continued in a very flourishing condition till the time of the Rebellion, when it sunk into insignificance, and was ultimately made over to the trustees of Sir Thomas Cookes, who, in accordance with his intention, founded the present col- lege. The ancient kitchen and buttery still remain, and many vestiges of the rooms of the Benedictines and other portions of the original architecture are still visible, and render the contrast between the old and new style of the buildings very striking. There is only one quadrangle, having the chapel, hall, and library on the E., and the gardens on the W. The chapel is GO feet long by 30 broad, and has a richly-ornamented stucco roof and an altar- piece representing a Magdalen, supposed by some to be the work of Guido. The hall, which is 60 feet by 30, contains several portraits of benefactors and digni- taries of the college, and the library, which is 120 feet in length, possesses a valuable collection of books, among which may be mentioned some architectural works, with MS. notes, by Inigo Jones (of whom there is a bust near the window opposite the entrance), and several casts from ancient statues. In the lobby is a full-length portrait of the founder, and some good portraits and paintings are hung in the common room and the bursary. The gardens and water-walks beyond are of considerable extent and tastefully laid out, and are well adapted for the flower-shows and promenades which take place here at commemoration and upon other public occasions. Of the halls, ST. MAHY is the oldest. It was the parsonage- house of the rectors of St. Mary's Church till 1325, when Edward II. gave the church, with all its appurtenances, to Oriel College. That society converted it into a sepa- rate educational establishment in 1333, and temp. Ed- ward IV. it was enlarged by the addition of Bedell Hall, which was contiguous to it. Since that time it has received constant enlargement and improvements in its building, the last having been effected by Dr. Hampdcn, formerly principal, who was raised to the see of Hereford in 1 848. MAGDALEN HALL was originally a school with a refectory and chambers, erected by Bishop Waynflete for students previous to their admission to Magdalen College, and was known as " St. Mary Magdalene Hall " as early as 1487. It was governed by one of the fellows of Magda- len till 1602, when it became an independent hall. It originally stood near the parent college, hut in 1816 the i'leut and fellows obtained an Act of Parliament which authorised them to remove it to its present site, which had formerly been occupied by Hart Hall, which in its turn was, in 1740, converted into Hertford College, but lapsed to the crown, 1805, in consequence of want of sufficient funds to carry it on. Magdalen Hall is more extensive than any other similar establishment in the University, and more nearly resembles a college, both in its arrangements and endowments. Magdalen Hall contains among its list of members the names of many who have become men of note, both in the Uni- versity and in public life. NEW INN HALL was formerly known as "Trillech's Inn," from the circumstance of its haying belonged to John Trillech, Bishop of Here- ford, in 1334. The site and premises were ultimately conveyed to William of Wykeham, who in 1392 gave them, with a messuage called Rose Hall, with a garden adjoining and three gardens on the W. side, to tho warden and fellows of New College. In the time of the Civil War(1642 1646) this hall was used as a royal mint, to which the colleges and halls sent their plate to bo melted down and coined for the use of the kiug. It was restored to the purposes of academical instruction by Dr. Cramer, who became principal in 1831, and erected at his own expense suitable apartments and offices for his own occupation and the use of students. ST. ALBAN HALL owes its name to the fact of its site having been originally the property of Robcrtus de Sancte Albano, a burgher of Oxford, temp. King John, who, in 1230, conveyed tho tenement ho had built there to the nuns at Littlemore, near Oxford. On tho dissolu- tion of Littlemore Nunnery, it was given by Henry VIII. to his physician, Dr. John Owen, and by liim it was after- wards conveyed to Sir John (afterwards Lord) Williams, of Thame, and Sir Thomas Gresham. By permission of Edward VI. they assigned it over, in 1647, to John Pollard and Robert Perrot, Esqs., und they finally trans- ferred it to tho warden and fellows of Merton College, by whom it was established as a separate academical hall. The front of tho hall was built in 1600, chieily from a legacy left for the purpose by Benedict Barnham, once a member of the house, and at tho N.W. corner of the quadrangle is an ancient bell-tower, which is in itself very picturesque, but has received a modern addition, which imparts to it somewhat of a grotesque appearance. ST. EDMUND'S HALL derives its name from Edmund le Riche, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1233. He built that part of St. Peter's church (which lies close to tho hall) called the Lady chapel, and after his death was canonised by Pope Innocent V. In 1269 it was pur- chased by the Canons of Osney, and soon after devoted by them to the purposes of education. At tho dissolution of the monasteries it was granted by Henry VIII. to two citizens of Oxford, after which it came by purchase into the possession of William Denyso, Devenysh, or Dennyon, Provost of Queen's College, and was devised by him to that society in 1557. The chapel and the library, which is over the ante-chapel, were built by Stephen Penton, a principal of the hall, and tho former was consecrated by Dr. Fell, Bishop of Oxford, in 1682. The " Oxford University Calendar " contains a variety of useful information respecting all academical matters, such as an almanac with calendar of University cere- monies and other remarkable days, notices of prize sub- jects, professorships, terms, degrees, institutions, and fees, lists of professors, University officers, -and members of the governing bodies and of the colleges, an alpha- betical list of the members of the University, and various other matters, a knowledge of which is indispensable to any who may bo about to enter the University, a fact which has obtained for it the sobriquet of the " fresh- man's Bible." There are several maps and guide-books published for the use of visitors, and many standard works descriptive of the city and university. Among these may be mentioned the celebrated " Athena) and Fasti Oxonienses," by Antony a Wood, containing the lives, &c., of the most celebrated members of the Univer- sity during the 16th and 17th centuries (Bliss's edition, 4 vols., 4to. London, 1813 1820) ; the Appendix to tho " Fasti," carried down to 1778 by John Gutch, and printed at the Clarendon in 1790; Antony a Wood's "History and Antiquities of tho Colleges and Halls in