| Christ Church | ||||||||||||
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| University of Oxford | ||||||||||||
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 Arms: Sable, on a cross engrailed argent, a lion passant gules, between four leopards' faces azure, on a chief or, a rose gules barbed and seeded proper, between two Cornish choughs sable, beaked and membered gules. | ||||||||||||
| Location | St Aldate's, Oxford, OX1 1DP | |||||||||||
| Coordinates | 51°45′1″N1°15′21″W / 51.75028°N 1.25583°W /51.75028; -1.25583 | |||||||||||
| Full name | The Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral Church of Christ in Oxford of the Foundation of King Henry the Eighth | |||||||||||
| Latin name | Ædes Christi/Ecclesia Christi Cathedralis Oxon: ex fundatione Regis Henrici Octavi[1] | |||||||||||
| Established | 1546; 479 years ago (1546) | |||||||||||
| Named for | Jesus Christ | |||||||||||
| Sister college | Trinity College, Cambridge | |||||||||||
| Dean | Sarah Foot | |||||||||||
| Undergraduates | 432[2] (2017/2018) | |||||||||||
| Postgraduates | 196 | |||||||||||
| Endowment | £787,114,000 (2024)[3] | |||||||||||
| Visitor | .svg) Charles III,The Crownex officio[1] | |||||||||||
| Website | chch | |||||||||||
| Boat club | Christ Church Boat Club | |||||||||||
| Map | ||||||||||||
  Location in Oxford city centre | ||||||||||||
Christ Church (Latin:Ædes Christi, the temple or house,ædes, of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is aconstituent college of theUniversity of Oxford inEngland.[4] Founded in 1546 byKing Henry VIII, the college is uniquely a joint foundation of the university and the cathedral of the Oxford diocese,Christ Church Cathedral, which also serves as the collegechapel and whosedean isex officio the college head.
As of 2022, the college had 661 students.[4] Its grounds contain a number of architecturally significant buildings includingTom Tower (designed bySir Christopher Wren),Tom Quad (the largest quadrangle in Oxford), and the Great Dining Hall, which was the seat of theparliament assembled byKing Charles I during theEnglish Civil War. The buildings have inspired replicas throughout the world in addition to being featured in films such asHarry Potter andThe Golden Compass, helping Christ Church become the most popular Oxford college for tourists with almost half a million visitors annually.[5]
The college's alumni include 13British prime ministers (the highest number of any Oxbridge college), as well as former prime ministers ofPakistan andCeylon. Other notable alumni includeKing Edward VII,King William II of the Netherlands,William Penn, writersLewis Carroll (author ofAlice in Wonderland) andW. H. Auden, philosopherJohn Locke, and scientistRobert Hooke. Two Nobel laureates,Martin Ryle andJohn Gurdon, studied at Christ Church.[6]Albert Einstein is also associated with the college. The college hasseveral cities and places named after it.[7]
In 1525, at the height of his power,CardinalThomas Wolsey,Lord Chancellor of England andArchbishop of York, suppressedSt Frideswide's Priory in Oxford and founded Cardinal College on its lands, using funds from the dissolution ofBayham Old Abbey,Wallingford Priory andother minor priories.[8] He planned the establishment on a magnificent scale, but fell from grace in 1529, with the buildings only three-quarters complete, as they were to remain for 140 years.[citation needed]
In 1531 the college was itself suppressed, but it was refounded in 1532 as King Henry VIII's College byHenry VIII, to whom Wolsey's property hadescheated. Then in 1546 the King, who had broken from theChurch of Rome and acquired great wealth through the dissolution of the monasteries in England, refounded the college as Christ Church as part of the reorganisation of theChurch of England, making the partially demolished priory church the cathedral of the recently created Diocese of Oxford.[citation needed]
Christ Church'ssister college in the University of Cambridge isTrinity College, Cambridge, founded the same year by Henry VIII. Since the time ofQueen Elizabeth I the college has also been associated withWestminster School. The dean remains to this day anex officio member of the school's governing body.[9][10]
Major additions have been made to the buildings through the centuries, and Wolsey's Great Quadrangle was crowned with the famousgate-tower designed byChristopher Wren. To this day, the bell in the tower,Great Tom, is rung 101 times at 9 pm measured byOxford time, meaning at 9:05 pmGMT/BST every night, once for each of the 100 original scholars of the college, plus one more stroke added in 1664. In former times this was done at midnight, signalling the close of all college gates throughout Oxford. Since it took 20 minutes to ring the 101, the Christ Church gates, unlike those of other colleges, did not close until 12:20 am. When the ringing was moved back to 9:00 pm, Christ Church gates still remained open until 12.20, 20 minutes later than any other college. Although the clock itself now shows GMT/BST, Christ Church still follows Oxford time in the timings of services in the cathedral.[11]
King Charles I made the Deanery his palace and held his Parliament in the Great Hall during theEnglish Civil War.[12] In the evening of 29 May 1645, during the secondsiege of Oxford, a "bullet of IX lb. weight" shot from theParliamentarians' warning-piece atMarston fell against the wall of the north side of the Hall.[13]
Several of Christ Church's deans achieved high academic distinction, notablyOwen under theCommonwealth,Aldrich andFell in theRestoration period,Jackson andGaisford in the early 19th century andLiddell in the high Victorian era.[citation needed]
For more than four centuries Christ Church admitted men only; the first female students at Christ Church matriculated in 1980.[14]
Christ Church, formally titled "The Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral Church of Christ in Oxford of the Foundation of King Henry the Eighth",[1] is the only academic institution in the world which is also acathedral, the seat (cathedra) of theBishop of Oxford. Thevisitor of Christ Church is the reigningBritish sovereign[15] (currentlyKing Charles III), and the Bishop of Oxford is unique among English bishops in not being the visitor of his own cathedral.[citation needed]
The head of the college is the Dean of Christ Church.[16] Christ Church is unique among Oxford colleges in that its head of house, who is head of both college and cathedral, must be an Anglican cleric appointed by the Crown asdean of the cathedral church. The dean lives on site in a grand 16th-century house in the main quadrangle. The college's activities are managed by a senior and a junior censor (formally titled theCensor Moralis Philosophiae and theCensor Naturalis Philosophiae) the former of whom is responsible for academic matters, the latter for undergraduate discipline. They are chosen from among the members of the governing body. Acensor theologiae is also appointed to act as the dean's deputy.
The form "Christ Church College" is considered incorrect, in part because it ignores the cathedral, an integral part of the unique dual foundation.[citation needed]
The governing body of Christ Church consists of the dean andchapter of the cathedral, together with the "Students of Christ Church", who are not junior members but rather the equivalent of thefellows of the othercolleges. Until the later 19th century, the students differed from fellows in that they had no governing powers in their own college, as those resided solely with the dean and chapter. The governing body of Christ Church now has around 60 members. Serving alongside the seven members of chapter, the other members include statutory professors and associate professors with joint appointments (employed both by the University and Christ Church) as well as early-career career development fellows on fixed-term contracts. SirJohn Bell and SirTim Berners-Lee are both members of the governing body of Christ Church.[17]
Christ Church sits in approximately 175 acres (71 hectares) of land.[18] This includes theChrist Church Meadow (includingMerton Field and Boathouse Island), which is open to the public all year round. In addition Christ Church ownAston's Eyot (purchased fromAll Souls College in 1891),[19]Christ Church recreation ground (including the site of Liddell Building), and School Field which has been leased toMagdalen College School since 1893.[20] The meadow itself is inhabited byEnglish Longhorn cattle.[21] In October 1783James Sadler made the first hot air balloon ascent in Britain from the meadow.[22] The college gardens, quadrangles, and meadow are Grade I listed on theRegister of Historic Parks and Gardens.[23]
Christ Church has a number of architecturally significant buildings. These include:
Grade I listed:
| Grade II* listed: Others:
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The college buildings and grounds are the setting for parts ofEvelyn Waugh'sBrideshead Revisited, as well as a small part ofLewis Carroll'sAlice's Adventures in Wonderland.[28][29] More recently it has been used in the filming of the movies ofJ. K. Rowling'sHarry Potter series and also the film adaptation ofPhilip Pullman's novelNorthern Lights (the film bearing the title of the American edition of the book,The Golden Compass). Distinctive features of the college's architecture have been used as models by a number of other academic institutions, including theNUI Galway, which reproducesTom Quad. TheUniversity of Chicago,Cornell University, andKneuterdijk Palace have reproductions of Christ Church's dining hall (in the forms ofHutchinson Hall, the dining hall ofRisley Residential College, and the Gothic hall of Kneuterdijk Palace,[30][31] respectively).ChristChurch Cathedral in New Zealand, after which theCity of Christchurch is named, is itself named after Christ Church, Oxford. Stained glass windows in the cathedral and other buildings are by thePre-RaphaeliteWilliam Morris group with designs byEdward Burne-Jones.[32][33]
Historically, there has been a resident tortoise for the annual Oxford tortoise races.[34] However, since 2020, due to the pandemic, there has not been a tortoise. Recently, there have been two "resident" ducks, which can be seen inTom Quad, affectionately named "Tom" and "Peck" after two of the famous quadrangles in Christ Church.[35][36]
The Mercury fountain also houses carp, notably a large koi carp named George, which was a gift from the Empress of Japan. A heron may also be frequently seen visiting the pond as their hunting ground. This stopped, in September 2022, when the fishes were moved to a spacious lake home somewhere in Oxfordshire while the College perform essential maintenance on the pond.[37]
Outside theMeadow Building in the Christ Church Meadow, there are also cows present during the day. The cows are of rareEnglish Longhorn breed.[38]
Long associated withhigh church Anglicanism,[39] Christ Church is unique in that it has both a cathedral choir and a college choir. The cathedral choir comprises twelve adults and sixteen boys. The adults are made up of lay clerks and choral scholars, or academical clerks. The choir was all male until 2019, when they welcomed alto Elizabeth Nurse, the first female clerk of Christ Church Cathedral Choir.[40] The boys, whose ages range from eight to thirteen, are chosen for their musical ability and attendChrist Church Cathedral School. Aside from the director,Peter Holder, there is also a sub-organist and two organ scholars. The college choir, however, is always a student-run society, and sings Evensong once a week in term time. In vacations the services are sung by the Cathedral Singers of Christ Church – a choir drawn from semi-professional singers in and around Oxford. The cathedral also hosts visiting choirs from time to time during vacations.[citation needed]
Throughout its history, the cathedral choir has attracted many distinguished composers and organists – from its first director,John Taverner, appointed byCardinal Wolsey in 1526, toWilliam Walton in the twentieth century. In recent years, the choir have commissioned recorded works by contemporary composers such asJohn Tavener,William Mathias andHoward Goodall, also patron of Christ Church Music Society.[citation needed]
The choir, which broadcasts regularly, have many recordings to their credit and were the subject of theChannel 4 television documentaryHoward Goodall's Great Dates (2002). The documentary was nominated at the Montreux TV Festival in the arts programme category – and has since been seen internationally. The choir's collaboration with Goodall has also led to their singing his TV themes forMr. Bean andVicar of Dibley. They appeared inHoward Goodall's Big Bangs, broadcast in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 in March 2000.Treasures of Christ Church (2011) is an example of the choir's recording and debuted as the highest new entry in the UK Specialist Classical chart.[41] The disc featured on BBC Radio 3'sIn Tune on 26 September 2011 and on Radio 3'sBreakfast Show on 27 September that year.[citation needed]
Christ Church holds one of the most important private collections of drawings in the UK, including works byLeonardo da Vinci,Raphael andMichelangelo. The collection is composed of approximately 300 paintings and 2,000 drawings, a rotated selection of which are available to the public for viewing in the purpose-builtChrist Church Picture Gallery. Many of the works were bequeathed by a former member of the college,General John Guise (1682/3-1765), enabling the creation of the first public art gallery in Britain.[42][43][44]
Thecollege arms are those ofCardinal Wolsey and were granted to him by theCollege of Arms on 4 August 1525.[45] They are blazoned:Sable, on a cross engrailed argent, between four leopards' faces azure a lion passant gules; on a chief or between two Cornish choughs proper a rose gules barbed vert and seeded or. The lion refers toLeo X who created Wolsey a Cardinal.[46][47] The arms are depicted beneath a red cardinal'sgalero with fifteen tassels on either side, and sometimes in front of two crossed croziers.[citation needed]
There are also arms in use by the cathedral, which were confirmed in a visitation of 1574. They are emblazoned: "Between quarterly, 1st & 4th, France modern (azure three fleurs-de-lys or), 2nd & 3rd, England (gules in pale three lions passant guardant or), on a cross argent an open Bible proper edged and bound with seven clasps or, inscribed with the wordsIn principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum and imperially crowned or."[citation needed]
The collegepreprandial grace reads:
| Latin | English |
|---|---|
| Nōs miserī hominēs et egēnī, prō cibīs quōs nōbis ad corporis subsidium benignē es largītus, tibi, Deus omnipotēns, Pater cælestis, grātiās reverenter agimus; simul obsecrantēs, ut iīs sobriē, modestē atque grātē ūtāmur. Īnsuper petimus, ut cibum angelōrum, vērum panem cælestem, verbum Deī æternum, Dominum nostrum Iēsum Christum, nōbis impertiāris; utque illō mēns nostra pascātur et per carnem et sanguinem eius fovēāmur, alāmur, et corrōborēmur. Āmen.[48] | "We unhappy and unworthy men do give thee most reverent thanks, Almighty God, our heavenly Father, for the victuals which thou hast bestowed on us for the sustenance of the body, at the same time beseeching thee that we may use them soberly, modestly and gratefully. And above all we beseech thee to impart to us the food of angels, the true bread of heaven, the eternal Word of God, Jesus Christ our Lord, so that the mind of each of us may feed on him and that through his flesh and blood we may be sustained, nourished and strengthened. Amen." |
The first part of the grace is read by a scholar or exhibitioner beforeformal hall each evening, ending with the wordsPer Iēsum Christum Dominum nostrum ("Through Jesus Christ our Lord.") The remainder of the grace, replacingPer Iēsum Christum etc., is usually only read on special occasions.[citation needed]
There is also a long postprandial grace intended for use after meals, but this is rarely used. When High Table rises (by which time the Hall is largely empty), the senior member on High Table simply saysBenedictō benedīcātur ("Let the Blessed One be blessed", or "Let a blessing be given by the Blessed One"), instead of the college postprandial grace.
As well as rooms for accommodation, the buildings of Christ Church include the cathedral, one of the smallest in England, which also acts as the college chapel, a great hall, two libraries, two bars, and separatecommon rooms for dons, graduates and undergraduates. There are also gardens and a neighbouring sports ground and boat-house.[citation needed]
Accommodation is usually provided for all undergraduates, and for some graduates, although some accommodation is off-site. Accommodation is generally spacious with most rooms equipped with sinks and fridges. Many undergraduate rooms comprise 'sets' of bedrooms and living areas. Members are generally expected to dine in hall, where there are two sittings every evening, one informal and one formal (where gowns must be worn and Latin grace is read). The college offers subsidies on the costs of accommodation and dinners for UK and ROI students from families with lower household incomes.[49] Thebuttery next to the Hall serves drinks around dinner time. There is also a college bar (known as the Undercroft), as well as aJunior Common Room (JCR) and a Graduate Common Room (GCR), equivalent to theMiddle Common Room (MCR) in other colleges.[citation needed]
There is a college lending library that supplements the university libraries (many of which are non-lending). Law students have the additional facility of the Burn Law Library, named forEdward Burn.[50] Most undergraduate tutorials are carried out in the college, though for some specialist subjects undergraduates may be sent to tutors in other colleges.[citation needed]
Croquet is played in the Masters' Garden in the summer. The sports ground is mainly used for netball, cricket, tennis, rugby and football and includesChrist Church cricket ground. In recent years the Christ Church Netball Club, which competes on the inter-college level in both mixed and women's matches, has become known as a popular and inclusive sport. Rowing andpunting is carried out by the boat-house acrossChrist Church Meadow – theChrist Church Boat Club is traditionally strong at rowing, having been Head of the River more than all other colleges exceptOriel College. The college also owns its own punts which may be borrowed by students or dons.[citation needed]
The collegebeagle pack (Christ Church and Farley Hill Beagles), which was formerly one of several undergraduate packs in Oxford, is no longer formally connected with the college or the university but continues to be staffed and followed by some Oxford undergraduates.[citation needed]
"Midnight has come and the great Christ Church bell
And many a lesser bell sound through the room;
And it is All Souls' Night..."
— W B Yeats,All Souls' Night, Oxford (1920)
"The wind had dropped. There was even a glimpse of the moon riding behind the clouds. And now, a solemn and plangent token of Oxford's perpetuity, the first stroke of Great Tom sounded."
— Max Beerbohm, Chapter 21,Zuleika Dobson (1922)
"I must say my thoughts wandered, but I kept turning the pages and watching the light fade, which in Peckwater, my dear, is quite an experience – as darkness falls the stone seems positively to decay under one's eyes. I was reminded of some of those leprous façades in thevieux port at Marseille, until suddenly I was disturbed by such a bawling and caterwauling as you never heard, and there, down in the little piazza, I saw a mob of about twenty terrible young men, and do you know what they were chantingWe want Blanche. We want Blanche! in a kind of litany."
— Evelyn Waugh,Brideshead Revisited (1945)
"Those twins / Of learning that he [Wolsey] raised in you,
Ipswich and Oxford! one of which fell with him,
Unwilling to outlive the good that did it;
The other, though unfinish'd, yet so famous,
So excellent in art, and still so rising,That Christendom shall ever speak his virtue."
— William Shakespeare,Henry VIII (1613)
"By way of light entertainment, I should tell the Committee that it is well known that a match between an archer and a golfer can be fairly close. I spent many a happy evening in the centre ofPeckwater Quadrangle at Christ Church, with a bow and arrow, trying to put an arrow over the Kilcannon building into the Mercury Pond inTom Quad. On occasion, the golfer would win and, on occasion, I would win. Unfortunately, that had to stop when I put an arrow through the bowler hat of the head porter. Luckily, he was unhurt and bore me no ill will. From that time on he always sent me a Christmas card which was signed 'To Robin Hood from the Ancient Briton'"
— Lord Crawshaw,House of Lords,Hansard (Tuesday 8 July 1997)
"There is one oddity; Rudge. Determined to try for Oxford, Christ Church of all places! Might get intoLoughborough, in a bad year."
— Alan Bennett,The History Boys (2004)
" And once, in winter, on the causeway chill
Where home through flooded fields foot-travellers go,
Have I not pass'd thee on the wooden bridge,
Wrapt in thy cloak and battling with the snow,
And thou has climb'd the hill,
And gain'd the white brow of the Cumner range;
Turn'd once to watch, while thick the snowflakes fall,
The line of festal light in Christ-Church hall—Then sought thy straw in some sequester'd grange. "
— Matthew Arnold,The Scholar Gypsy (1853)
Also included in:Vaughan Williams'sAn Oxford Elegy (1947–49) andHilary Mantel'sWolf Hall trilogy (referred to by its previous name, Cardinal College).
Cardinal College
King Henry VIII's College
Christ Church
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Notable former students of the college have included politicians, scientists, philosophers, entertainers and academics. ThirteenBritish prime ministers have studied at the college including,Anthony Eden (Prime Minister 1955–1957),William Ewart Gladstone (1828–1831),Sir Robert Peel (1841–1846) andArchibald Primrose (1894–1895). Other former students includeCharles Abbot (Speaker of theHouse of Commons 1802–1817),Frederick Curzon (Conservative Party statesman 1951–),Nicholas Lyell (Attorney General 1992–1997),Nigel Lawson (Chancellor of the Exchequer 1983–1989),Quintin Hogg (Lord Chancellor 1979–1987) andWilliam Murray (Lord Chief Justice 1756–1788 andChancellor of the Exchequer 1757). From outside the UK, politicians from Canada (Ted Jolliffe), Pakistan (Zulfikar Ali Bhutto), Sri Lanka (S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike), Pakistan (Bilawal Bhutto Zardari) and the United States (Charles Cotesworth Pinckney) have attended the college.
Prominent philosophers includingJohn Locke,John Rawls,A. J. Ayer,Gilbert Ryle,Michael Dummett,John Searle andDaniel Dennett studied at Christ Church.
There are numerous former students in the fields of academia and theology, includingGeorge Kitchin (the firstChancellor of theUniversity of Durham 1908–1912 andDean of Durham Cathedral 1894–1912),John Charles Ryle (firstBishop of Liverpool 1880–1900),John Wesley (leader of theMethodist movement),Rowan Williams (Archbishop of Canterbury 2002–2012),Richard William Jelf (Principal ofKing's College London 1843–1868),Ronald Montagu Burrows (Principal ofKing's College London 1913–1920) andWilliam Stubbs (Bishop of Oxford 1889–1901 and historian).
Two Olympicrowing gold medallists studied at the college:Jonny Searle and Spanish Civil War volunteerLewis Clive.[51][52]
In the sciences,polymath andnatural philosopherRobert Hooke,developmental biologistJohn B. Gurdon (co-winner of the 2012Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine), physicianSir Archibald Edward Garrod, the Father of Modern MedicineSir William Osler, biochemistKenneth Callow, radio astronomerSir Martin Ryle, psychologistEdward de Bono and epidemiologistSir Richard Doll are all associated with the college.Albert Einstein was a learned research fellow.
In other fields,Cameron andTyler Winklevoss, twins associated with the founding ofFacebook, KingEdward VII (1841–1910),King of the United Kingdom andEmperor of India,King William II of theNetherlands,Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, entrepreneur and founder of PennsylvaniaWilliam Penn, broadcasterDavid Dimbleby, MPLouise Mensch, BBC composerHoward Goodall, actorRiz Ahmed, the writerLewis Carroll, poetW. H. Auden, and the former officer of armsHubert Chesshyre are other notable students to have previously studied at Christ Church.
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His work included both stained-glass windows for Christ Church in Oxford and the stained glass windows for Christ Church on Southgate Green.
As an undergraduate at Christ Church he attended the High Church services in the cathedral that is part of the college,...
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