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St John's College, Oxford

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St John's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Sir Thomas White, a merchant, in 1555, and his heart is buried in the chapel. It is the wealthiest college at Oxford with an estimated financial endowment of £220m (2003).

St John's College
Oxford
Full nameSt John's College
Latin nameCollegium Divi Joannis Baptistae
Established1555
Named forSaint John the Baptist
Colours                     
Sister collegeSidney Sussex College
HeadSir Michael Scholar KCB
Undergraduates381
Postgraduates184
WebsiteHomepage
Boat clubBoatclub

History

Thomas White was a Catholic, and St John's was originally intended to provide a source of educated Catholic clerics to support the Counter-Reformation under Queen Mary. Edmund Campion, the Catholic martyr, was a product of St John's. White was Master of the Merchant Taylors' Company, and established a number of educational foundations including the Merchant Taylors' schools. Although the College was closely linked to those institutions for many centuries, it became a more open society in the later 19th century. The endowments which St John's was given at its foundation, and during the 20 or so years afterward, served it very well. In the second half of the nineteenth century it benefited, as ground landlord, from the suburban development of the city of Oxford and was unusual among Colleges for the size and extent of its property within the city.

Although primarily a producer of Anglican clergymen in the earlier periods of its history, St John's also gained a reputation for both law and medicine. Fellows and alumni have included Archbishop Laud, Jane Austen's father and brothers, the early Fabian intellectual Sidney Ball, who was very influential in the creation of the Workers' Educational Association (WEA), Abdul Rasul, one of the first Bengalis to gain the degree of Bachelor of Civil Law at Oxford, and more recently, Tony Blair.

The site was formerly the Cistercian monastery of St Bernard. Fairly large, it comprises approximately 400 undergraduates and 250 postgraduates and academic staff. The college stands on St Giles', and is close to the Martyrs' Memorial. The college's Sir Thomas White Quadrangle is an early work by Ove Arup which won the 1976 Concrete Society Award, but is considered a monstrosity by some members of the college.

College buildings

The college comprises seven quadrangles (quads):

  • Front Quad (the 15th-century buildings of the former St Bernard's monastery)
  • Canterbury Quad (the first example of Italian Renaissance architecture in Oxford)
  • North Quad (mixture of 18th, 19th, and 20th century, including the "Beehive", made up of non-regular hexagonal rooms)
  • Dolphin Quad (built in the early 20th century on the site of the old Dolphin Inn)
  • Sir Thomas White Quad (late 20th century; affectionately known as "Tommy White")
  • Garden Quad (late 20th century)
  • Rural Economy Quad (late 20th century, on the site of the former Department of Rural Economy or Agriculture)

In addition, the College accommodates a number of students, traditionally second-years but nowadays also a significant number of finalists, in the houses owned by the college on Museum Road and Blackhall Road. These houses back on to Queen Elizabeth House, which accommodates the Centre for International Development; plans are underway to convert Queen Elizabeth House into a quad named after Sir John Kendrew, former President of the College, Nobel Laureate and the greatest benefactor of the twentieth century. The College is calling the project "the last great quad in the city centre". Since the college also incorporates Middleton Hall, a stone-fronted building adjacent to the college, and owns St Giles House, the former judge's house north of the college, this will mean the college will extend for almost the entire length of the east side of St Giles, as well as owning parts of the opposite side. This includes the recent purchase of The Eagle and Child pub (where the well-known writers J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis often met their literary friends) to complement the Lamb and Flag opposite it on the college side of the road.

The SCR was renovated and extended in 2004 and 2005 by McCormack Jamieson Pritchard. The new building was given an award by the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2006.

 
Canterbury Quad, St John's College, Oxford : The entrance to the Great Lawn and Groves, which were not (despite popular legend) landscaped by Capability Brown

Notable old members

See also


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