St Anne's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. It has some 450 undergraduate and 200 graduate students and retains an original aim of allowing women of any financial background to study at Oxford. A recent count shows St Anne's accepting the highest proportion of female students (55 per cent) of any college. The college stands between Woodstock and Banbury roads, next to the University Parks. In April 2017, Helen King, a retired

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

Assistant Commissioner, took over as Principal from Tim Gardam. Former members include

Amanda Pritchard Amanda Kate Pritchard (born May 1976) is a British healthcare official and public policy analyst who has been the Chief Executive of NHS England since 1 August 2021. Pritchard previously served as chief operating officer of NHS England and as chi ...

, Danny Alexander,

Ruth Deech Ruth Lynn Deech, Baroness Deech, DBE (''née'' Fraenkel; born 29 April 1943) is a British academic, lawyer, bioethicist and politician, most noted for chairing the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), from 1994 to 2002, and as t ...

, Helen Fielding, William MacAskill,

Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British-German conductor. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rattle was principal ...

, Tina Brown, Mr Hudson, and

Victor Ubogu Victor Eriakpo Ubogu (born 8 September 1964) is a former Bath and England rugby union player. Arriving in the UK from Lagos, Nigeria in 1977, he attended West Buckland School in Devon he received the school's top award, the Fortescue Medal. ...

History

Society of Oxford Home-Students (1879–1942)

What is now St Anne's College began as part of the

Association for the Education of Women The Association for the Education of Women or Association for Promoting the Higher Education of Women in Oxford (AEW) was formed in 1878 to promote the education of women at the University of Oxford. It provided lectures and tutorials for stu ...

, the first institution in Oxford with that aim. It then became the Society of Oxford Home-Students. Unlike other women's associations, the Society had no fixed site, instead offering lodgings in houses spread across Oxford. This allowed students various financial backgrounds to study at Oxford, as the cost of accommodation in women's halls was often prohibitive. In the early 20th century, the college housed some students in hostels managed by Catholic and

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

nuns A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

. Springfield, St Mary was managed by Anglican nuns of the

Community of St Mary the Virgin The Community of St Mary the Virgin (CSMV) is an Anglican religious order based at Wantage in Oxfordshire, England. It was founded in 1848 by the vicar of Wantage, the Reverend William John Butler and is one of the oldest surviving religious commun ...

in houses in Banbury Road where they, and other hostels, "had to exercise control over their students according to the rules of the college". Other hostels were run by Catholic nuns: the Society of the Sacred Heart in

Norham Gardens __NOTOC__ Norham Gardens is a residential road in central North Oxford, England. It adjoins the north end of Parks Road near the junction with Banbury Road, directly opposite St Anne's College. From here it skirts the north side of the Oxford ...

, the Sisters of Notre Dame in Woodstock Road and the Society of the Holy Child Jesus at Cherwell Edge in St Cross Road. Springfield St Mary was advertised in 1985 in ''Country Life'' Magazine as being for sale. From 1898 till 1906, the Society of Home Students saw some its members in residence at Wychwood School, then situated at 77 Banbury Road. They were supervised by Miss Margaret Lee who in 1913, was appointed Tutor to the Oxford Home Students, holding this position until she retired in 1936. In 1910, the Society of Oxford Home-Students, with the other women's societies, was recognised by the university. In 1912, the society acquired its first tutors, in German, History and English Literature. In the 1920s, the principals of the Women's societies became the first women to receive degrees from the university. The society in the early 1930s still had no centralised site, but within a few years the current location was chosen and by 1937 construction of Hartland House was underway.

St Anne's Society (1942–1952)

In 1942, the Society of Oxford Home-Students was renamed the St Anne's Society and given its coat of arms by Eleanor Plumer (Principal, 1940–1953). The name St Anne's was chosen as historically, there was a chapel of

Saint Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...

at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin where, from the college's earliest days, the whole student body would gather for termly services.

St Anne's College (1952 onwards)

In 1952, the St Anne's Society acquired a royal charter as St Anne's College and in 1959 full college status along with the other women's colleges. The Principal at the time, Lady Ogilvie, pressed for a transition from many disparate dining rooms to a common building. This led to the construction of the dining hall completed in 1959 and visited by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

in 1960. Meanwhile student numbers grew to nearly 300, which called for more accommodation and led to the construction of the Wolfson and Rayne buildings in 1964 and 1968. In 1977, the decision was made to become coeducational, with the first male undergraduates matriculating in 1979. Since then, St Anne's has continued to use female words and pronouns, such as "alumnae" to refer to current and former students. The college explains this: "On 17 June 1979, in the nervous time when the first male Fellows had been elected, and the first male students admitted though they had not yet arrived, a note from the Dean to Governing Body asks hesitantly 'Would Governing Body wish "he" (or "he/she") to be substituted for "she" throughout the College Regulations?' Eventually the question was answered (or perhaps avoided) by a carefully worded statement that remains in the preamble to our Regulations: 'words importing the feminine gender shall include the masculine and vice versa, where the construction so permits and the Regulations do not otherwise expressly provide.'"

''The Ship''

The annual magazine for former college members is called ''The Ship''. When still the Society of Oxford Home-Students, the college had its first

common room A common room is a type of shared lounge, most often found in halls of residence or dormitories, at (for example) universities, colleges, military bases, hospitals, rest homes, hostels, and even minimum-security prisons. They are generally con ...

in Ship Street, central Oxford. ''The Ship'' started up in about 1910; by the college centenary in 1979 there had been 69 issues. It marked its centenary issue of 2010/2011 with anniversary content.

Location and buildings

Grounds

Bevington Road Rear, St Anne's College, University of Oxford

The college grounds are bounded by Woodstock Road to the west, Banbury Road to the east, and

Bevington Road Bevington Road is a residential road in central North Oxford, England. The road runs between Woodstock Road (opposite Observatory Street) to the west and Banbury Road to the east. Winchester Road leads north from halfway along Bevington Roa ...

to the north. These grounds house all of the college's administrative and academic buildings, undergraduate accommodation, as well as the hall, which is among the largest in Oxford. The College formerly owned a number of houses throughout Oxford used for undergraduate accommodation, some of which used to be boarding houses of the ''Society of Oxford Home-Students.'' Many of these properties were sold off to fund the building of the

Building, completed in 2005.

Accommodation

St Anne's can accommodate undergraduates on the college site for three years of study. Undergraduates at St Anne's are housed in 14

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

houses owned by the college and four purpose-built accommodation blocks. The college also supplies accommodation for some of its graduate students. All undergraduates pay the same amount for their rooms, and every student has access to a communal kitchen in their building.

Victorian houses

The college uses 1–10 Bevington Road, 58/60 Woodstock Road, and 39/41 Banbury Road (also known as "Above the Bar") as undergraduate accommodation, typically for freshers. The junior (undergraduate) post room is located in 10 Bevington Road, the college laundry in 58/60 Woodstock Road, and the college bar, including a pool room, in 39/41 Banbury Road. Five additional Victorian houses (27/29 and 37 Banbury Road and 48/50 Woodstock Road) hold teaching rooms, seminar rooms, music practice rooms, and college offices.

Rayne and Wolfson Buildings

Wolfson Building 2, St Anne's College, University of Oxford

The Rayne and Wolfson Buildings were built in 1964 and are Grade II Listed Buildings virtually identical in design. They house administrative offices on the ground floor and student rooms.

Claire Palley Building

The Claire Palley Building, completed in 1992 and named after

Claire Palley Claire Dorothea Taylor Palley, OBE (born 17 February 1931) is a South African academic and lawyer who specialises in constitutional and human rights law. She was the first woman to hold a Chair in Law at a United Kingdom university when she was ...

(Principal 1984–1991), was the first accommodation block to have en-suite rooms. It also houses the Mary Ogilvie Lecture Theatre.

Trenaman House

Trenaman House, built in 1995, holds student rooms and communal college facilities, including the gym, and since 2008, St Anne's Coffee Shop (STACS). It was named after Nancy Trenaman, sixth Principal of the college (1966–1984).

Ruth Deech Building

The

Building, named after the Principal in 1991–2004, was completed in 2005. The lower ground floor has the Tsuzuki lecture theatre, seminar rooms and dining facilities and a new

Porter's Lodge A porters' lodge or porter's lodge (colloquially, plodge) is a place near the entrance of a building where one or more porters can be found to respond to student enquiries as well as enquires from the public and direct them around the building ...

on the upper ground floor with 110 en-suite student rooms. One notable feature is a glass lift, the only part of the building to exceed the roof line. The building was awarded the 2007 David Steel sustainable building award by Oxford City Council.

Robert Saunders House

Robert Saunders House, built in 1996, provides 80 rooms for graduate students in Summertown. It was named after a former bursar of the college, who did much to improve its finances.

Eleanor Plumer House

Eleanor Plumer House (known until 2008 as 35 Banbury Road) is named after Eleanor Plumer (Principal 1940–1953). It houses the

Middle Common Room A common room is a group into which students and the academic body are organised in some universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland—particularly collegiate universities such as Oxford and Cambridge, as well as the University of Bristo ...

; facilities include a study area, computer room and kitchen. It also houses some graduate students. Hartland House St Anne's College entrance

Hartland House, designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, was the first purpose-built college building, finished in 1937 with another wing added in 1973. It houses the old library, the junior and senior common rooms and administrative offices. It features the college crest above the main entrance and engravings of beavers, the college mascot.

Dining Hall

The Dining Hall, built in 1959, is among the largest in Oxford with a capacity of 300. Three meals are served daily in hall apart from weekends, when only brunch is served. It is also used for college collections (internal college exams) and on occasion college 'bops' (costume parties).

Library

The college library has over 100,000 volumes, making it one of the largest in Oxford. It is split between the original library in Hartland House and the Tim Gardam building, which opened officially in 2017. St Annes College New Library

The original college library in Hartland House now houses the law, arts, and humanities collections ( Dewey Decimal shelfmarks 340–349 and 700–999). The new library and academic centre was named after Tim Gardam (principal 2004–2016) and completed in 2016. It is on the site of the former Founders' Gatehouse, which was built in 1966 and was the college lodge until 2005. It covers the area previously taken by the 54 Woodstock Road cottage. The centre provides various study and seminar spaces and 1,500 metres of bookshelves for the college's growing book collection. The plans by Fletcher Priest Architects were inspired by Oxford's historic buildings. The Tim Gardam Building also features two gardens; a roof garden overlooking the dining hall, and a sunken courtyard accessible through the basement.

Traditions

The college has relatively few traditions and is rare amongst Oxford colleges in not having a chapel, due to its secular outlook. Formal hall is typically held fortnightly. Gowns are not usually worn except for official university occasions such as matriculation and certain college feasts. The college mascot has been a

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

since 1913.

College grace

The college grace was composed by former classics tutor and founding fellow,

Margaret Hubbard Margaret Hubbard (16 June 1924 – 28 April 2011) was an Australian-born British classical scholar specialising in philology. Career Hubbard excelled during her school career at Adelaide High School, which she attended on receipt of a Government ...

. It involves the Principal reciting the Latin words ''Quas decet, (Deo) gratias agamus. Amen.'' (''"For what we have received, we give thanks (to God). Amen."'') The inclusion of ''Deo'' (to God) depends on whether the grace is religious or secular in nature.

Room ballot

The college selects accommodation using a room ballot, with the exception of the first years. Those entering their fourth year select their rooms on the first day, followed by third-year rooms on the second day, and second-year rooms on the third and final day. Students are allocated a number within their year denoting their position in the ballot. This allocation is based on the quality of their previous year's accommodation. Students then queue and rooms are allocated one by one. Rooms allocated are crossed off a large board listing all available rooms. There is then a period of one week after the ballot where students can mutually agree on swaps.

Sport and societies

The college has teams for all major sports and competes in inter-collegiate "Cuppers" tournaments. Fixtures are either played in the neighbouring University Parks, or in the college playing fields on Woodstock Road.

St Anne's College Boat Club St Anne's College Boat Club (SABC) is a rowing club for members of St Anne's College, Oxford. It is based on the Isis at Boathouse Island, Christ Church Meadow, Oxford, Oxford. History Originally the boat club was restricted to an allocated spa ...

(SABC) organises the college's involvement in inter-college rowing events, and the college boathouse, situated on the

River Isis "The Isis" () is an alternative name for the River Thames, used from its source in the Cotswolds until it is joined by the River Thame, Thame at Dorchester-on-Thames, Dorchester in Oxfordshire. It derives from the ancient name for the Thames, ...

in Christ Church Meadow is shared with St Hugh's and Wadham colleges. The college has a joint rugby team with St John's College, which won Cuppers in 2014. The women's football team, which is also joint with St John's, was victorious in Cuppers in 2020. Meanwhile, the St Anne's men's football team (known as the Mint Green Army) won the Hassan's Cup plate tournament in 2018.

Notable people

Former members

File:Amanda Pritchard.gif,

, first woman Chief Executive of

NHS England NHS England, officially the NHS Commissioning Board, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. It oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning side of the ...

File:Danny alexander hi.jpg, Sir Danny Alexander, former

Chief Secretary to the Treasury The chief secretary to the Treasury is a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom. The office is the second most senior in the Treasury, after the chancellor of the Exchequer. The office was created in 1961, to share the burden ...

File:Tina Brown at FT Spring Party crop.jpg, Tina Brown, editor of '' The Daily Beast'' and ex-editor of '' Vanity Fair'' and '' The New Yorker'' File:HF-purple-with-chair.jpg, Helen Fielding, creator of Bridget Jones File:Mr Hudson at Lovebox Weekender 2009 crop.jpg, Mr Hudson, rapper and R&B artist File:Penelope Lively.JPG, Penelope Lively, winner of the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

and Carnegie Medal File:Rattle BPH-Rittershaus2- Wikipedia.jpg, Sir

, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic File:Martha Kearney 2014.jpg, Martha Kearney, journalist and broadcaster File:National Poverty Hearing Polly Toynbee.jpg,

Polly Toynbee Mary Louisa "Polly" Toynbee (; born 27 December 1946) is a British journalist and writer. She has been a columnist for ''The Guardian'' newspaper since 1998. She is a social democrat and was a candidate for the Social Democratic Party in the 19 ...

, journalist and writer As a former women's college, St Anne's still refers to former students, female or male, as ''alumnae'' rather than ''alumni''. * Sir Danny Alexander (born 1972), Liberal Democrat politician *

Mary Applebey Mary Frances Applebey (14 July 1916 – 1 November 2012) was an English civil servant and mental health campaigner. She was an early director of what is now the charity Mind, but was then the National Association for Mental Health (NAMH). She was ...

(1916–2012), mental health campaigner and co-founder of

MIND The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...

* Karen Armstrong (born 1944), author. * Tina Brown (born 1953), creator of '' The Daily Beast'', former editor of '' Vanity Fair'' and '' The New Yorker'' *

Rosemary Cramp Dame Rosemary Jean Cramp, (born 6 May 1929) is a British archaeologist and academic specialising in the Anglo-Saxons. She was the first female professor appointed at Durham University and was Professor of Archaeology from 1971 to 1990. She ser ...

(born 1929), DBE, FBA, archaeologist * Helen Fielding (born 1958), novelist *

Jacob Fortune-Lloyd Jacob Fortune-Lloyd (born 18 January 1988) is an English actor. He has played the role of Francis Weston in the BBC series ''Wolf Hall'' (2015), Francesco Salviati in '' Medici'' (2018), and Townes in the Netflix chess period drama '' The Queen' ...

(born 1988), actor *

Miriam Gross Miriam Gross, Lady Owen is a literary editor and writer. She was the deputy literary editor of ''The Observer'' from 1969-81, the women's editor of ''The Observer'' from 1981-84, the arts editor of ''The Daily Telegraph'' from 1986-91, and the ...

(Lady Owen) (born 1938), Journalist, writer and editor * Fayza Haikal (born 1938), Egyptologist *" Mr Hudson" (born 1979), rapper and R&B artist * Martha Kearney (born 1957), journalist and broadcaster * Penelope Lively CBE, FRSL (born 1933), novelist and children's writer *

Melanie Phillips Melanie Phillips (born 4 June 1951) is a British journalist, author, and public commentator. She began her career writing for ''The Guardian'' and ''New Statesman''. During the 1990s, she came to identify with ideas more associated with the righ ...

(born 1951), journalist and author *

Sir Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British-German conductor. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rattle was principal ...

(born 1955), OM, CBE, conductor *

Mary Remnant Mary Teresa Elizabeth Remnant (13 January 1935 – 15 May 2020), was an English musician, scholar, musicologist and medievalist. She was a leading figure in the Early music revival in the United Kingdom. Background She was the only daughter of ...

(1935–2020), DSG, FSA, early music specialist and performer * John Robins (born 1982), comedian and radio presenter *

(born 1946), journalist and writer *

(born 1964), rugby union player *

Jill Paton Walsh Gillian Honorine Mary Herbert, Baroness Hemingford, (née Bliss; 29 April 1937 – 18 October 2020), known professionally as Jill Paton Walsh, was an English novelist and children's writer. She may be known best for her Booker Prize-nominated n ...

(1937–2020), CBE – novelist * Diana Wynne Jones (16 August 1934 – 26 March 2011), author of ''

Howl's Moving Castle ''Howl's Moving Castle'' is a fantasy novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones, first published in 1986 by Greenwillow Books of New York. It was a runner-up for the annual Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, and won the Phoenix Award twenty years ...

'' *

Devaki Jain Devaki Jain (born 1933) is an Indian economist and writer, who has worked mainly in the field of feminist economics. In 2006 she was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award from Government of India, for her contribution to ...

(born 1933), Indian economist and Padma Bhushan awardee

Academics

* William MacAskill (born 1987),

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and one of the originators of the

effective altruism Effective altruism is a philosophical and social movement that advocates "using evidence and reason to figure out how to benefit others as much as possible, and taking action on that basis". People who pursue the goals of effective altruism, c ...

movement *

Peter Ady Peter Honorine Ady (1914, Rangoon – 2004) was an Oxford economist. She was the daughter of Malcom H. Ady and Cecile Estelle Muriel DuBern. Life Ady first attended Oxford as an undergraduate at Lady Margaret Hall, later becoming a tutor and the ...

(1914–2004), economics *

Ruth Deech, Baroness Deech Ruth Lynn Deech, Baroness Deech, DBE ('' née'' Fraenkel; born 29 April 1943) is a British academic, lawyer, bioethicist and politician, most noted for chairing the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), from 1994 to 2002, and as ...

(born 1943), DBE, law *

Peter Donnelly Sir Peter James Donnelly (born 15 May 1959) is an Australian-British mathematician and Professor of Statistical Science at the University of Oxford, and the CEO of Genomics PLC. He is a specialist in applied probability and has made contrib ...

(born 1959), FRS, mathematics * Georg Gottlob (born 1956), FRS, computer science *

A. C. Grayling Anthony Clifford Grayling (; born 3 April 1949) is a British philosopher and author. He was born in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and spent most of his childhood there and in Nyasaland (now Malawi). In 2011 he founded and became the first Mast ...

(born 1949), CBE, FRSL, philosophy * Jenifer Hart (1914–2005), politics * Nancy Hubbard (born 1963), business studies * Tony Judt (1948–2010), FBA, historian * Iris Murdoch (1919–1999), DBE, literature * Gabriele Taylor (born 1927), philosophy

Gallery

File:37 Banbury Road, St Anne's College, University of Oxford.jpg, 37 Banbury Road, containing offices of fellows of the college File:Rayne Building, St Anne's College, University of Oxford.jpg, The Rayne Building viewed from the quadrangle File:StAnnesGatehouse.jpg, The Gatehouse, which was demolished in the 2014–15 academic year File:Trenaman House (rear), St Anne's College, University of Oxford.jpg, The rear of Trenaman House viewed from the Bevington Road garden File:Trenaman House (Upper), St Anne's College, University of Oxford.jpg, Trenaman House (Upper) containing St Anne's Coffee Shop (STACS) and some undergraduate accommodation File:Wolfson Building, St Anne's College, University of Oxford.jpg, Wolfson Building File:Hartland House, St Anne's College, University of Oxford.jpg, Hartland House in its parkland setting

References

External links

College official websiteSt Anne's MCR (Middle Common Room) WebsiteSt Anne's JCR (Junior Common Room) WebsiteSt Anne's JCR Alternative Prospectus

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Anne's College, Oxford Colleges of the University of Oxford Educational institutions established in 1879 Former women's universities and colleges in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures of the University of Oxford 1879 establishments in England Saint Anne