Keble College, Oxford

History

The best-known of Keble's Victorian founders was Edward Pusey, after whom parts of the college are named. The college itself is named after John Keble, one of Pusey's colleagues in the Oxford Movement, who died four years before its foundation in 1870. William Butterfield was appointed architect, and produced a masterpiece of Victorian Gothic. The College is built of red, blue, and white bricks; the main structure is of red brick, with white and blue patterned banding.

Related Topics:
Victorian - Edward Pusey - John Keble - Oxford Movement - 1870 - William Butterfield - Architect - Victorian Gothic

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On its construction, Keble was not widely admired within the University, and an undergraduate sociey was formed, entrance to which depended upon secretly removing one brick from the College (some accounts specify that one of the commonest red bricks was necessary for ordinary membership, a rarer white brick for higher-level membership, and one of the rarest blue bricks for chairmanship). The hope was that eventually Keble would be completely demolished.

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Keble College recently featured in the U.K. press when its bursar, Roger Boden, was found guilty of racial discrimination by an employment tribunal. (http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,1455086,00.html). This has now been resolved (http://www.keble.ox.ac.uk/life/governance/employmenttribunalstatement.pdf).

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Keble houses the original of William Holman Hunt's painting, The Light of the World (the version in St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a copy).

Related Topics:
William Holman Hunt - St Paul's Cathedral - London

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