Exeter College, Oxford
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Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford[4] in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university.
The college was founded in 1314 by two brothers from Devon, Bishop Walter Stapledon and Sir Richard Stapledon, as an institution to educate clergy, and has been located on Turl Street since 1315.[5] At its foundation Exeter was popular with sons of the Devon gentry, though it has since become associated with a much broader range of notable alumni, including Raymond Raikes, William Morris, J. R. R. Tolkien, Richard Burton, Roger Bannister, Alan Bennett, and Philip Pullman.
History
Exeter College was founded in 1314 by
In the 16th century, donations from Sir William Petre, assumed to be an Exeter graduate, whose daughter Dorothy Wadham (1534–1618) was a co-founder with her husband Nicholas Wadham (1531–1609) of Wadham College, created the eight Petrean Fellowships, and further contributions from his son John Petre, 1st Baron Petre (1549–1613) helped to expand and transform the college.[9]
In the 18th century the college experienced declining popularity, as did all of Oxford's other colleges. University reforms in the 1850s helped to end this period of stagnation.[citation needed]
Women at Exeter
For over six centuries after its founding, women were not permitted to study at Exeter, but in 1979 it joined many other men's colleges in admitting its first female students.[12] Today it admits men and women in roughly equal numbers.[4] In 1993, Exeter College became the first of the former all-male colleges to elect a woman, Marilyn Butler, as its rector.[13][14] When Butler's tenure expired in October 2004, the college elected another woman—Frances Cairncross, former senior editor of The Economist—as rector.[15]
In 2014, the author J. K. Rowling was elected an honorary fellow of the college for the "extraordinary contribution she has made to the field of literature, and in particular to children's reading and literacy".[16][17]
Adelphi Wine Club
Formed in the 1850s, the Adelphi Wine Club is reputed to be one of the oldest three wine clubs in Oxford. The club draws its membership from undergraduates studying at Exeter College. It has been forcibly closed down by college authorities several times throughout its tumultuous existence and is currently believed to be dormant. The club was renowned for its extravagant dinners, and for excessive gambling after each meeting. One black ball was sufficient to exclude an undergraduate from membership. Beginning in 1923, the college forbade any student holding an exhibition to join the club.[18]
Notable members include
Buildings
Front Quadrangle
The Front Quadrangle sits on roughly the site of the medieval college, although of the earliest buildings, only Palmer's Tower in the north-eastern corner remains.[9] Constructed in 1432, the tower, which was once the primary entrance to the college, now houses various offices and lodgings for fellows, and at its base is a memorial to members who were killed in the Second World War. The quadrangle is dominated by the chapel, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and constructed in 1854–1860,[9] which was heavily inspired by the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. On the opposite side stands the hall, constructed in 1618,[9] notable for its vaulted ceilings and numerous fine portraits, underneath which is the college bar. Building work over the following century resulted in the quadrangle taking on its current appearance in 1710.[citation needed] The Front Quadrangle also houses the Junior, Middle and Senior Common Rooms, as well as lodgings for fellows and undergraduates.[citation needed]
Margary quadrangle
The Margary quadrangle was completed in 1964 with the construction of the Thomas Wood building to commemorate the 650th anniversary of the college and named for Ivan Margary, who paid for its restoration.[20] The quadrangle also incorporates the rector's lodgings, designed by Gilbert Scott and constructed in 1857, and staircases nine, ten and eleven, also erected during the 19th century.[9]
Fellows' Garden
A passageway from the Front Quadrangle leads through to the college's Fellows' Garden, in which stands the library, designed by Gilbert Scott in the 13th-century style. The area is also bounded on the left hand side by Convocation House, the Divinity School and the Bodleian Library, and on the right by Brasenose Lane. The Mound, situated at the end of the Garden, offers views over Radcliffe Square, including All Souls' College and the Radcliffe Camera.
Cohen Quad
In 2007–2008, the college purchased the main site of
In literature and films
Exeter College is the basis for the fictional
Student life
Exeter has a reputation for having a close-knit student body. First-year undergraduates are housed on the college's Turl Street site, and there is dedicated graduate accommodation for the college on Iffley Road.[24]
As the university's fourth oldest college,
Choir
Exeter has a mixed-voice choir, made up of 24 singers, which is administered, conducted and accompanied solely by the Organ Scholars. It is the only college in either Oxford or Cambridge where a choir, run entirely by the Organ Scholar, sings three services a week, and has been heard recently on a number of broadcasts for BBC Radio 4's The Daily Service. The college offers Choral and Parry–Wood Organ Scholarships, and former Organ Scholars include Robert Sharpe (Director of Music, York Minster), Christopher Herrick (International Concert Organist and former Organist, Westminster Abbey), and David Trendell (Director of Music, King's College London), as well as Directors of Music at Rugby, Charterhouse, Sherborne, and Latymer Upper Schools.[28]
Sports
Sports at Exeter College are not headed[clarification needed][organised?] by the school[college authorities/] itself[clarification needed] but rather by student-run clubs. There are sports grounds, which can be reserved with the campus[clarification needed] groundsman.[citation needed] The sports that have active student run clubs as of October 2023 are: boating, netball, football, cricket, badminton, hockey, rugby, ice hockey, pool, darts, croquet, and lacrosse.[citation needed]
In March 2014 Exeter College Association Football Club defeated St Catherine's College 2–1 in the final of the Cuppers tournament to lift the trophy for the first time in over 40 years.[29] In May 2019 Turl Street Rugby, made up of students from Exeter College, Jesus College and Lincoln College, won Oxford's inaugural 15-a-side Women's Rugby Union Cuppers tournament.[30]
People associated with Exeter
Former students
Amongst Exeter's alumni are many writers, including J. R. R. Tolkien, Alan Bennett, Martin Amis and Philip Pullman; Roger Bannister, the first man to run a mile in under four minutes; the actors Richard Burton and Imogen Stubbs; Liaquat Ali Khan, the first prime minister of Pakistan, John Kufuor, the former President of Ghana and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, former president of Peru.
Academics and tutors
- Basil Allchin, organist
- C.T. Atkinson, Fellow and tutor in military history, 1898–1955.
- Frank Close
- Cornelia Druțu
- Raymond Dwek
- Sandra Fredman
- William Gould
- Catherine M. Green
- Michael Hart
- Elizabeth Jeffreys
- Eric Waldram Kemp– Fellow, tutor, and chaplain 1946–1969, later bishop of Chichester
- Jacob Klein
- George Alfred Kolkhorst – Reader in Spanish 1931–1958
- John Maddicott – History fellow
- Michael Osborne (academic)
- George Rawlinson
- Andrew Steane
- Magdi Wahba – Egyptian academic and lexicographer
- Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly – Official fellow and tutor in German
Rectors
In June 2023, Andrew Roe was announced as the next rector of the college, starting in October 2024.[31]
References
- ^ a b c "Student statistics". University of Oxford. 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
- ^ "Fellow numbers". Exeter College, Oxford. 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
- ^ "Exeter College : Annual Report and Financial Statements : Year ended 31 July 2022" (PDF). ox.ac.uk. p. 32. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
- ^ a b "Exeter College | University of Oxford". www.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
- ^ "Exeter College | University of Oxford". www.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ Hingeston-Randolph, Francis Charles (1898). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 54. pp. 92–93.
in 1314, in conjunction with his brother, Sir Richard, he founded Stapeldon Hall in Oxford (now known as Exeter College)
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 784.
Stapledon is famous as the founder of Exeter College, Oxford, which originated in Stapledon Hall, established in 1314 by the bishop and his elder brother, Sir Richard Stapledon, a judge of the King's Bench.
. - ^ Rev. Francis Charles Hingeston-Randolph, ed. (1892). The Register of Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter (A.D. 1307-1326). London and Exeter. p. xvii. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) “Meanwhile, in conjunction with his brother. Sir Richard, our Bishop was engaged on another undertaking of the first importance, for which he will be had in everlasting remembrance — the foundation, in the University of Oxford, of the Hall which for a while bore his own name, and subsequentlv that of his Diocese — Exeter College.” - ^ a b c d e f g h "Exeter College | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
- ^ "Exeter College". OxfordVisit. 18 February 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
- ^ Acland, Anne. A Devon Family: The Story of the Aclands. London and Chichester: Phillimore, 1981, p.4
- ^ "Exeter College History". Exeter College, Oxford. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
- ^ "Who's Who, Butler, Prof. Marilyn Speers, (Lady Butler)". Who's Who. 1 December 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
- ^ "The sociable revolutionary". Times Higher Education (THE). 15 September 1995. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
- ^ "Who's Who, Cairncross, Dame Frances (Anne), (Dame Frances McRae)". Who's Who. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
- ^ "J K Rowling elected to an Honorary Fellowship of Exeter College". Exeter College. 12 May 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
- ^ Brewster, Ellen (15 May 2014). "Honorary fellowship for J.K. Rowling". Cherwell. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
- ^ a b "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Ivan D Margary" (PDF). rh7.org. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ^ Enderby, Lucy (20 March 2017). "Exeter College's Cohen Quad formally opened". Cherwell. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
- ^ "RIBA South Award winners". www.architecture.com. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- IMDblocations page. Retrieved 26 April 2007.
- ^ "Accommodation". Exeter College. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
- ^ "About". Exeter College. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ "Exeter College Oxford". ox.ac.uk.
- ^ "Exeter College Oxford". ox.ac.uk.
- ^ "Past Organists and Organ Scholars". Exeter College, Oxford. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
- ^ "Exeter College Oxford". ox.ac.uk. 10 March 2014.
- ^ "Exeter students win first ever women's rugby cuppers". Exeter College. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
- ^ "Exeter College announces its next Rector". Exeter College. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
External links
- College website
- JCR website
- MCR website
- Virtual Tour of Exeter College Archived 25 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine