St Peter's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, Oxford, England, located in New Inn Hall Street. It occupies the site of two of the University's oldest Inns, or medieval hostels, Bishop Trellick's, later New Inn Hall, and Rose Hall, both of which were founded in the 13th century. These were initially part of the University in their own right (William Blackstone became the Principal of New Inn Hall after being appointed the Vinerian Professor of Law at Oxford). The two halls later became part of Balliol College.
| St Peter's College | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxford | |||||||||||||||||
| Full name | St Peter's College | ||||||||||||||||
| Latin name | Collegium Sancti Petri-le-Bailey | ||||||||||||||||
| Established | 1965 | ||||||||||||||||
| Named for | St Peter | ||||||||||||||||
| Colours | |||||||||||||||||
| Sister college | none | ||||||||||||||||
| Head | The Rev Prof Bernard Silverman DSc FRS | ||||||||||||||||
| Undergraduates | 396 | ||||||||||||||||
| Postgraduates | 125 | ||||||||||||||||
| Website | Homepage | ||||||||||||||||
| Boat club | Boatclub | ||||||||||||||||
However, its history really began in 1929 when St Peter's Hall was founded by Francis James Chavasse, Bishop of Liverpool, who was concerned at the rising cost of education in the older universities in Britain, and projected St Peter's as a College where promising students, who might otherwise be deterred by the costs of College life elsewhere, could obtain an Oxford education. The commitment to make Oxford accessible to any student of ability, irrespective of means, remains a feature of St Peter's today.
In 1961, the University approved a statute giving St Peter's Hall full collegiate status. With the granting of its Royal Charter in the same year, it took the name St Peter's College.
Buildings
St Peter's has an interesting and varied set of buildings, many of them much older than the College itself. The College has, in effect, adapted existing buildings to provide the collective facilities needed for College life, and built new ones to provide for student accommodation. Linton House, a handsome Georgian rectory, dating from 1797, is the entrance to the College, and houses the Porters' Lodge and College library. Canal House, the Master's Lodge, dates from the early 19th century.
The College Dining Hall, known as Hannington Hall after the Victorian missionary, Bishop James Hannington, dates from 1832 and is the only surviving part of New Inn Hall. The College chapel was originally the Church of St Peter-le-Bailey, built in 1874, and the third church of that name on this site. The buildings of the former Oxford Girls' School, which adjoin the original site of the College, have been acquired more recently and provide living accommodation for students, seminar rooms, a Middle Common Room (for postgraduates) and a Music Room.
On-site, students are housed in the modern New Block, in the spacious Latner building and in the Matthews block, which is stylistically challenged.
Most recently, St Peter's has built two new student blocks a few minutes walk from the College, one by the site of the remains of Oxford's Norman castle, and the old mill stream, the other behind St Aldate's.
| Meeting rooms | ||
|---|---|---|
| Room name | Capacity | Layout |
| Miles room | 40 | theatre style |
| Davis room | 12 | boardroom style |
| Theberge room | 25 | boardroom style |
| Music room | 40 | theatre style |
| Latner room | 45 | theatre style |
| Dorfman Centre | 60/40 | theatre/boardroom style |
| Junior Common Room | 85 | theatre style |
| Chapel | 150 | |
Succession of Masters
- The Reverend Christopher Maude Chavasse, M.C. (1929)
- Julian Thornton-Duesbery
- Robert Wilmot Howard
- Julian Thornton-Duesbery
- Sir Alec Cairncross
- Gerald Aylmer
- John Barron (until 2003)
- The Reverend Professor Bernard Silverman FRS (from 2003)
Notable alumni
- Edward Akufo-Addo, former President of Ghana
- Carl Albert, former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
- The Reverend Wilbert Vere Awdry, writer of Thomas the Tank Engine
- Simon Beaufoy, writer of the screenplay for the film The Full Monty
- Sir Paul Condon, former Metropolitan Police Commissioner
- Jamie Dalrymple, Middlesex and England cricketer
- Hugh Dancy, actor
- David Davies, Chief Executive of the Football Association
- Jack Dormond, later Baron Dormand of Easington, Labour MP for Easington, 1970–87
- Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, chef and owner of River Cottage
- The Revd Prof Paul S. Fiddes, D.D., Principal, Regent's Park College, Oxford
- Matt Frei, BBC Washington correspondent
- Geordie Greig, editor of Tatler
- Lieutenant General Nick Houghton CBE, current Chief of Joint Operations, British Armed Forces
- Sir Rex Hunt, Governor of the Falkland Islands
- Kurt Jackson, painter
- Ken Loach, film director
- Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor, The Times of London
- The Most Revd the Hon Sir Paul Reeves GCMG GCVO QSO, former Archbishop of New Zealand and Governor-General of New Zealand
See also Former students of St Peter's College.
Trivia
The college is nicknamed Pot Hall, after its ability to win cups in sport.
The mascot of the college is the squirrel. As the Junior Common Room advertises: "We've got squirrels in our quad." There really are squirrels in the quads at St Peter's.
The college paper is called "The Peterphile" and is one of the few college papers to publish four times a term.