New College, Oxford

History

Despite its name, New College is one of the oldest of the Oxford colleges, having originally been founded in 1379. It was founded by William of Wykenham, Bishop of Winchester. The college was originally founded to educate priests for the parish of Winchester. In 1348 the Black Death claimed the lives of many priests in the parish, and William intended to replace them quickly.

Related Topics:
William of Wykenham - Winchester - Black Death

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As well as being the first Oxford college for undergraduates and the first to have Senior members of the college give tutorials, New College was the first college in Oxford to center on a main "quadrangle," with student rooms, a dining hall, a library, and study rooms within the square ring of buildings and gates. The porters there will tell you that the reason why the huge doors on both entrances have much smaller cut-out doors is because the college was designed and built to fortify against any outside attackers. The quadrangle design inspired many of the later colleges, perhaps most strangely St. Catherine's College, Oxford because Arne Jacobsen was an ardent admirer of "the Oval", or oval-shaped lawn in the old quad. (It should be noted, however, that that New College's quadrangle is not the first in Oxford, but merely the first to contain all of the above elements; the first quadrangle was Merton's Mob Quad--Merton's dining hall, though, is in a connecting building outside of the quad due to the smaller size of Mob, as is its chapel.)

Related Topics:
Quadrangle - St. Catherine's College, Oxford - Arne Jacobsen - Merton

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The New College grounds are among the largest and most beautiful in Oxford. The Cloisters and the Chapel are of particular note, as is the old City Wall (around which the College is built). The gardens are equally impressive and include the decorative Mound (which originally had steps, but is now smooth with one set of stairs). Visitors and students enjoy standing at the bottom of the stairs facing the Mound and clapping, listening to the sharp echoes. The college is also in possession of a respectable collection of silver, and a notable "unicorn horn" (really a narwhale tusk).

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