of Henry VIII. and Wolsey. With the hall is connected the
great kitchen, the first building undertaken by Wolsey. An
entry through the eastern range of Tom Quadrangle forms the
west portal of the Cathedral Church of Christ.
The cathedral, of which the nave and choir serve also as the college chapel, is the smallest English cathedral, but is of high architectural interest. The plan is cruciform, with a northward extension from the north choir aisle, comprising the Lady chapel and the Latin chapel. It has been seen that probably in the 8th century St Frideswide founded a religious house. In the east end of the north choir aisle and Lady chapel may be seen two blocked arches, rude, narrow and low. Excavations outside the wall in 1887 revealed the foundations of three apses corresponding with these two arches and another which has been traced between them, and in this wall, therefore, there is clearly a remnant of the small Saxon church, with its eastward triple-apsidal termination. In 1002 there took place the massacre of the Danes on St Brice’s day at the order of Æthelred II. Some Danes took refuge in the tower of St Frideswide’s church, which was fired to ensure their destruction. In 1004 the king undertook the rebuilding of the church. There is full reason to believe that he had assistance from his brother-in-law, Richard II., duke of Normandy, and that much of his work remains, notably in some of the remarkable capitals in the choir. About 1160, however, there was an extensive Norman restoration. The arcades of the choir and of the nave, which was shortened by Wolsey for the purpose of his collegiate building, have massive pillars and round arches. Within these arches, not, as usual, above them, a blind arcade forms the triforium, and below this a lower set of arches springs from the outer side of the main pillars. The Norman stone-vaulted aisles conform in height with these lower arches. Over all is a clerestory with passage. The east end is a striking Norman restoration by Sir Gilbert Scott, consisting of two windows and a rose window above them, with an intervening arcade. The choir has a Perpendicular fan-tracery roof in stone, one of the finest extant, and the early clerestory is here altered to conform with this style. The nave roof is woodwork of the 16th century, and there is a fine Jacobean pulpit. The lower part of the tower, with internal arcades in the lantern, is Norman; the upper stage is Early English, as is the low spire, possibly the earliest built in England. St Lucy’s chapel in the south transept aisle contains a rich flamboyant Decorated window. In the north choir aisle are the fragments which have been discovered and roughly reconstructed of St Frideswide’s shrine, of marble, with foliage beautifully carved, representing plants symbolical of the life of the saint. The Latin chapel is of various dates, but mainly of the 14th century. The north windows contain contemporary glass; the east window is a rich early work of Sir E. Burne-Jones, set in stonework of an inharmonious Venetian design. There are other beautiful windows by Burne-Jones at the east ends of the aisles and Lady chapel, and at the west end of the south nave aisle. The corresponding window of the north aisle is a curious work by the Dutch artist Abraham van Ling (1630). There are many fine ancient monuments, notably those of Bishop Robert King (d. 1557), and of Lady Elizabeth Montacute (d. 1355). The so-called watching-chamber for St Frideswide’s shrine is a rich structure in stone and wood dating from c. 1500. The peculiar arrangement of the collegiate seats in the cathedral, the nave and choir being occupied by modern carved pews or stalls running east and west, and the position of the organ on a screen at the west end, add to the distinctive interior appearance of the building. Small cloisters adjoin the cathedral on the south, and an ornate Norman doorway gives access from them to the chapter-house, a beautiful Early English room. Above the cloisters on the south rises the “old library,” originally the monastic refectory, which has suffered conversion into dwelling and lecture-rooms.
To the north-east of Tom Quadrangle is Peckwater Quadrangle, named from an ancient hall on the site, and built from the design of the versatile Dean Henry Aldrich (1705) with the exception of the library (1716–1761), which forms one side of it. The whole is classical in style. The library contains some fine pictures by Cimabue, Holbein, Van Dyck and others, and sculpture by Rysbrack, Roubillac, Chantrey and others. The small Canterbury Quadrangle, to the east, was built in 1773–1783, and marks the site of Canterbury College or Hall, founded by Archbishop Islip in 1363, and absorbed in Henry VIII.’s foundation. To the south of the hall and old library are the modern Meadow Buildings (1862–1865), overlooking the beautiful Christ Church Meadows, whose avenues lead to the Thames and Cherwell.
Corpus Christi College (commonly called Corpus) was founded in 1516 by Richard Fox, bishop of Winchester (1500–1528). He at first intended his foundation to be a seminary connected with St Swithin’s priory at Winchester, but Hugh Oldham, bishop of Exeter, foresaw the dissolution of the monasteries and advised against this. Fox had especially in view the object of classical education, and his foundation, besides a president, 20 fellows and 20 scholars, included 3 professors—in Greek, Latin and theology—whose lectures should be open to the whole university. This arrangement fell into desuetude, but was revived in 1854, when fellowships of the college were annexed to the professorial chairs of Latin and jurisprudence. The foundation now consists of a president, 16 fellows, 26 scholars and 3 exhibitioners. The college has its front upon Merton Street. The first quadrangle, with its gateway tower, is of the period of the foundation, and the gateway has a vaulted roof with beautiful tracery. In the centre of the quadrangle is a curious cylindrical dial in the form of a column surmounted by a pelican (the college symbol), constructed in 1581 by Charles Turnbull, a mathematician who entered the college in 1573. The hall has a rich late Perpendicular roof of timber; the chapel, dating from 1517, contains an altar-piece ascribed to Rubens, and the small library includes a valuable collection of rare printed books and MSS. The college retains its founder’s crozier, and a very fine collection of old plate, for the preservation of which it is probable that Corpus had to pay a considerable sum in aid of the royalist cause. Behind the main quadrangle are the classical Turner buildings, erected during the presidency of Thomas Turner (1706), from a design attributed to Dean Aldrich. The picturesque college garden is bounded by the line of the old city wall. There are modern buildings (1885) by T. G. Jackson on the opposite side of Merton Street from the main buildings. Among the famous names associated with the college may be mentioned those of four eminent theologians—Reginald Pole, afterwards cardinal (nominated fellow in 1523), John Jewel, bishop of Salisbury (fellow 1542–1553), Richard Hooker (scholar, 1573) and John Keble (scholar, 1806). Thomas Arnold, the famous headmaster of Rugby school, was a scholar of the college (1811).
Exeter College was founded, as Stapeldon Hall, by Walter Stapeldon, bishop of Exeter, in 1314, but by the middle of the century it had become known as Exeter Hall. The foundation was extended by Sir William Petre in 1565. Stapeldon’s original foundation for 12 scholars provided that 8 of them should be from Devonshire and 4 from Cornwall. There are still 8 “Stapeldon” scholarships confined to persons born or educated within the diocese of Exeter. The foundation consists of a rector, 12 fellowships and 21 scholarships or more. There are also a number of scholarships and exhibitions on private foundations, several of which are limited in various ways, including 3 confined to persons born in the Channel Islands or educated in Victoria College, Jersey, or Elizabeth College, Guernsey. The college has its front, which is of great length, upon Turl[1] Street. It has been extensively restored, and its gateway tower was rebuilt in 1703, while the earliest part of the quadrangle is Jacobean, the hall being an excellent example dating from 1618. The chapel (1857–1858) is an ornate structure by Sir Gilbert Scott; it is in Decorated style, of great height, with an eastern apse, and has some resemblance to the Sainte Chapelle in Paris. The interior contains mosaics by Antonio Salviati and tapestry by Sir E. Burne-Jones and William Morris. Scott’s work is also seen in the frontage towards Broad Street, and in the library (1856). The college has a beautiful secluded garden between its own buildings and those of the divinity school or Bodleian library.
Hertford College, in its present form, is a modern foundation. There were formerly several halls on the site, and some time between 1283 and 1300 Elias of Hertford acquired one of them, which became known as Hert or Hart Hall. In 1312 it was sold to Bishop Stapeldon, the founder of Exeter, and was occupied by his scholars for a short time. Again, some of William of Wykeham’s scholars were lodged here while New College was building. The dependence of the hall on Exeter College was maintained until the second half of the 16th century. In 1710
- ↑ “The Turl” takes its name from a postern (Turl or Thorold Gate) in the city wall, to which the street led.
