St Peter's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is located in New Inn Hall Street, Oxford, United Kingdom. It occupies the site of two of the university's medieval halls, dating back to at least the 14th century. The modern college was founded by

Francis James Chavasse Francis James Chavasse (27 September 1846 – 11 March 1928) was an Anglican priest and bishop and father of Captain Noel Chavasse. After serving in parishes in Preston, London, and Oxford, for eleven years from 1889 he was principal of the evan ...

, former Bishop of Liverpool, opened as St Peter's Hall in 1929, and achieved full collegiate status as St Peter's College in 1961. Founded as a men's college, it has been coeducational since 1979. As of 2019, the college had an estimated

financial endowment A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are o ...

of £49.6 million.

History

Medieval halls

Although founded in its current form in the 20th century, St Peter's occupies a central Oxford location on the site of two of the university's medieval halls. The first Master of St Peter's called the acquisition of the site "a chance of ages". The site was originally the location of Trilleck's Inn, later known as New Inn Hall, and Rose Hall. Trillecks' Inn was founded in the 14th century by Bishop Trilleck and, as New Inn Hall, merged into Balliol College in 1887. Rose Hall was given to New College by William of Wykeham. New College finally sold the site to the rector of St Peter-le-Bailey in 1859 and 1868 as a site for a new church, now the college chapel.

St Peter's Hall

The history of the college in its present form began in 1923 when

, former Bishop of Liverpool, returned to Oxford. He 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, could obtain an Oxford education. After Francis James died in 1928, his son Christopher Chavasse launched a memorial appeal in his father's name to fund the project, raising £150,000 from donors including Ella Rowcroft to convert and build new buildings on the site. St Peter's was licensed by the university as a hostel that year and opened with 13 residents. The following year, 1929, it was recognised as a permanent private hall and grew to 40 students. A later significant benefactor was William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, who would also found

Nuffield College Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer co ...

. During the Second World War, St Peter's Hall became home to evacuated students from Westfield College, a women's college of the University of London, and its students were boarded out to other colleges.

St Peter's College

In 1947, St Peter's was reclassified as a 'new foundation', and was finally recognised as a full college in 1961 with the granting of a royal charter. In 1979, St Peter's started admitting women and became co-educational.

Buildings

St Peter's has a 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 student accommodation.

Linton Quad

Linton House, a Georgian rectory dating from 1797, stands on the east side of Linton Quad along New Inn Hall Street. It was originally built as the offices for the Oxford Canal Company and called Wyaston House. It was bought in 1878 by Canon Henry Linton who converted it to a

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...

for the

Church of St Peter-le-Bailey The Church of St Peter-le-Bailey is a church on New Inn Hall Street in central Oxford, England. It was formerly next to Bonn Square, which was originally the churchyard. Now it is located halfway up New Inn Hall Street to the north. Several chur ...

. Now known as Linton House, it serves as the porter's lodge (the entrance to the college) and is also home to the college library. On the south side of the quad stands the college chapel, the

. Built in 1874 and incorporating some of the stone of an earlier church, it is the third church of that name on or close to the site since the 12th century. Memorials to members of the Chavasse family in the chapel include Captain Noel Chavasse's original grave cross, a large bas-relief of Bishop Francis Chavasse at prayer and the Chavasse memorial window. The quad also includes the Latner building.

Hannington Quad

St Peters College Oxford Hannington Hall 1

In the Hannington Quad stands Hannington Hall. It dates from 1832 and is the only surviving part of New Inn Hall. The building was originally commissioned by John Cramer, principal of New Inn Hall, as student accommodation and was designed by architect Thomas Greenshields. When New Inn Hall was absorbed by Balliol in 1887 and most of New Inn Hall's buildings were demolished to make room for the Central Girls School building (now part of St Peter's Chavasse Quad), the Cramer building survived. It was bought by Reverend Talbot Rice, rector of St-Peter-le-Bailey, in 1897 and renamed after the Victorian missionary Bishop James Hannington. After the founding of St Peter's it was remodelled to function as the dining hall. The quad was formed by the construction of an accommodation block designed by Sir Herbert Baker and

Fielding Dodd Ronald ''Fielding'' Dodd ARIBA (c.1890–1958) was a Scottish architect, later based in England. He was an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects. R. Fielding Dodd served as a Second Lieutenant in the British Army's Machine Gu ...

behind the older buildings.

Chavasse Quad

New Inn Hall Street Schools - line drawing by Leonard Stokes

The Central Girls' School to the South of the original site of the college was designed by Leonard Stokes and completed in 1901. It was converted into the college's Chavasse Building between 1984 and 1986 and provides living accommodation for students and seminar rooms. In 2018 the new Hubert Perrodo Building was completed offering further on-site accommodation and conference spaces. 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 ...

(MCR) for postgraduates, and a music room are also located in the Pastry School in the quad's southwest corner.

Mulberry Quad

The Mulberry Quad lies to the northwest of the Linton and provides for the direct access to the JCR. The Morris Building, currently student accommodation, was given by Lord Nuffield in memory of his mother, Emily Morris. The Matthews block houses the JCR as well as the student-run bar. The Dorfman Centre lies in the northwest corner of the quad. Mulberry Quad also provides access to Bulwarks Lane.

Canal House

Canal House, the master's lodge, dates from the early 19th century.

Annexes

St Peter's also has a few off-site accommodation blocks for students, a few minutes away from the main college site.

St Thomas' Street Park End Street is a street in central Oxford, England, to the west of the centre of the city, close to the railway station at its western end. Location To the east, New Road links Park End Street to central Oxford. To the west, Frideswide ...

and St George's Gate house undergraduates, while Paradise Street (which was officially opened in June 2008) houses postgraduates and fourth-year undergraduates.

Student life

The student-run Junior Common Room organises a wide variety of social events throughout the academic year, ranging from formal events to celebrate such things as Burns Night (complete with haggis and poetry) to creatively themed parties that run into the early hours of the morning. The college is one of the few to feature its own student-edited arts magazine, ''Misc'', which is published termly. The college also has a student-run college bar, which serves the Cross Keys cocktail.

Sports

The college has sports teams competing in rowing, cricket, football, hockey, rugby, and pool. It shares with Exeter and Hertford Colleges a sports field which has two cricket pitches and pavilions, two rugby and football pitches, a hockey pitch, tennis courts and a squash court. The college boat club, St Peter's College Boat Club, competes regularly. The club shares a boathouse with Somerville College Boat Club, University College Boat Club and Wolfson College Boat Club.

Locomotive

Taking the original name of the college, GWR 6959 Class steam locomotive no. 7900 was built in 1949 for British Railways and named "Saint Peter's Hall" (no abbreviation). One of the brass nameplates from the now-scrapped locomotive survives in the college.

People associated with the college

Masters

* Christopher Maude Chavasse (1929–1940) *

Julian Thornton-Duesbery Julian Percy Thornton-Duesbery (7 September 1902 – 1 April 1985) was a British Church of England priest and academic. He was Master of St Peter's Hall, Oxford (later known as St Peter's College) from 1940 to 1944, and from 1955 to 1968. He also ...

(1940–1944 and 1955–1968) *

Robert Wilmot Howard Robert Wilmot Howard (16 September 1887 – 23 November 1960) was a British Church of England priest and academic, who was Master of St Peter's Hall, Oxford (later known as St Peter's College) from 1945 to 1955. Biography Howard was the son of ...

(1945–1955) *

Alec Cairncross Sir Alexander Kirkland Cairncross (11 February 1911 – 21 October 1998) was a British economist. He was the brother of the spy John Cairncross and father of journalist Frances Cairncross and public health engineer and epidemiologist Sandy Cairn ...

(1969–1978) * Gerald Aylmer (1979–1991) * John Barron (1991–2003) *

Bernard Silverman Sir Bernard Walter Silverman, (born 22 February 1952) is a British statistician and former Anglican clergyman. He was Master of St Peter's College, Oxford, from 1 October 2003 to 31 December 2009. He is a member of the Statistics Department a ...

(2003–2009) * Mark Damazer (2010–2019) *

Judith Buchanan Judith Ruth Buchanan (born 1967) is a British academic specialising in Early Modern literature and film studies. Since October 2019, she has been Master of St Peter's College, Oxford. Biography Buchanan undertook postgraduate research in early M ...

(from October 2019)

Fellows

Notable alumni

File:Ken Loach.jpg, Ken Loach, English film and television director File:David Davies at Nations & Regions Media Conference.jpg, David Davies, former executive director of The Football Association File:Hugh fearnley whittingstall.jpg, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, celebrity chef and television personality File:Mark Carney World Economic Forum 2013 (3).jpg, Mark Carney, former Governor of the Bank of England File:Paul Condon, Baron Condon, May 2009.jpg,

Lord Condon Paul Leslie Condon, Baron Condon, (born 10 March 1947) is a British retired police officer. He was the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police from 1993 to 2000. Education Condon read Jurisprudence at St Peter's College, Oxford and was made a ...

, former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police File:Hugh Dancy at the 36th Toronto International Film Festival, September 2011 (02).jpg, Hugh Dancy, actor and model File:Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Nicholas Houghton GCB, CBE, ADC Gen. MOD 45155682.jpg, Nick Houghton, former Chief of Joint Operations,

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File:F Perrodo.jpg, François Perrodo, entrepreneur and president of the energy company

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File:Spiker albert.jpg, Carl Albert, former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives * Edward Akufo-Addo, 2nd President of Ghana * Guy Arnold, explorer, traveller, political commentator, Africa expert and writer * Wilbert Awdry, creator of Thomas the Tank Engine * Simon Beaufoy, writer of the screenplay for the films '' The Full Monty'' and '' Slumdog Millionaire'' * Graham Bell, Canadian academic, writer and evolutionary biologist * Michael Blomquist, American rower and former world champion *

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and member of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains *

E. A. Boateng Ernest Amano Boateng was a Ghanaian academic and public servant. He was an emeritus professor of geography who taught at the University of Ghana. He was the first vice chancellor of the University of Cape Coast and the first chairman of the then ...

, Ghanaian academic, first vice chancellor of the University of Cape Coast * Mike Carey, author * Mark Carney, former Governor of the Bank of England * Kenneth Chan Ka-lok, member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council *

Alwyn Collinson @RealTimeWWII is a Twitter feed describing the events of World War II, created by British historian and Oxford graduate Alwyn Collinson (born 1987). Collinson began the feed in late August 2011, to coincide with the start of World War II with t ...

, founder of the RealTimeWWII project * Paul Condon, Baron Condon, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police from 1993 to 2000 * Gordon Corera, BBC security correspondent * Peter Dale, poet * Jamie Dalrymple, Middlesex, Glamorgan and England cricketer * Hugh Dancy, actor * David Davies, football administrator *

Jack Dormand John Donkin Dormand, Baron Dormand of Easington (27 August 1919 – 18 December 2003) was a British educationist and Labour Party politician from the coal mining area of Easington in County Durham, in the north-east of England. He was Memb ...

, later Baron Dormand of Easington, Labour MP for Easington, 1970–87 *

Modjaben Dowuona Modjaben Dowuona was a Ghanaian educationist and public servant. He was the first Registrar of the University of Ghana, and also served as Ghana's Commissioner of Education ( Minister) from 1966 to 1969. Early life and education Dowuona was ...

, first Registrar of the University of Ghana; Minister for Education (1966–1969) * David Eastwood, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham * Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, chef and TV presenter *

Paul S. Fiddes Paul Stuart Fiddes (born 30 April 1947) is an English Baptist theologian and novelist. Fiddes is Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology in the University of Oxford, Principal Emeritus and Senior Research Fellow of Regent's Park College, ...

, former principal of Regent's Park College, Oxford *

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, BBC Washington correspondent * Robert Gavron, Baron Gavron, chairman of the Guardian Media Group and trustee of the Scott Trust * Geordie Greig, editor of ''

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'' * Robert Hanson, financier * Afua Hirsch, author * Andy Hornby, chief executive of Coral, former chief executive of HBOS * General Sir Nicholas Houghton, Chief of the Defence Staff *

Rex Masterman Hunt Sir Rex Masterman Hunt, (29 June 1926 – 11 November 2012) was a British Government diplomat and colonial administrator. He was Governor, Commander-in-Chief, and Vice Admiral of the Falkland Islands (and concurrently High Commissioner of t ...

, Governor of the Falkland Islands * Martin Ivens, editor of '' The Sunday Times'' *

Kurt Jackson __NOTOC__ Kurt Jackson (born 21 September 1961) is a British painter whose large canvases reflect a concern with natural history, ecology and environmental issues. Born in Blandford, Dorset, the son of two painters, he developed an early int ...

, painter *

Libby Lane Elizabeth Jane Holden Lane (born 8 December 1966) is a British Anglican bishop and Lord Spiritual. Since February 2019, she has served as Bishop of Derby in the Church of England, the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Derby. From January 2015 t ...

, Bishop of Derby, first woman consecrated a bishop in the Church of England, and current

Visitor A visitor, in English and Welsh law and history, is an overseer of an autonomous ecclesiastical or eleemosynary institution, often a charitable institution set up for the perpetual distribution of the founder's alms and bounty, who can interve ...

of the college * Helen Lewis, '' New Statesman'' deputy editor * Ken Loach, film and television director *

Richard Lloyd Parry Richard Lloyd Parry (born 1969) is a British foreign correspondent and writer. He is the Asia Editor of ''The Times'' of London, based in Tokyo, and is the author of the non-fiction books ''In the Time of Madness'', ''People Who Eat Darkness: T ...

, Asia editor for '' The Times'' of London *

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, former archbishop of New Zealand * François Perrodo, president of the energy business

* John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford (2007–2014) * Paul Reeves, former archbishop of New Zealand and

Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand ( mi, te kāwana tianara o Aotearoa) is the viceregal representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and li ...

* Gareth Russell, author *

Dominic Shellard Dominic Shellard is a British academic who has served as Head of the School of English and Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sheffield and Vice-Chancellor of De Montfort University. A former Rotherham Councillor, he is a recipient of the M ...

, vice-chancellor of De Montfort University * Mark Stanhope, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff *

Christopher Tambling Christopher Tambling (13 May 1964 – 3 October 2015) was a British composer, organist and choirmaster. From 1997 to 2015 he was Director of Music at Downside School and organist and Choirmaster of the Schola Cantorum at Downside Abbey, leading ...

(1964–2015), composer, organist and choirmaster *

Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck Prince ''Dasho'' Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck (born 16 July 1984) is a Bhutanese prince. Born as the second son of the King of Bhutan Jigme Singye Wangchuck, he was the heir presumptive to the throne of Bhutan until 5 February 2016, when his nephew Ji ...

, former heir to the throne of Bhutan * George Whipple III, American lawyer and society reporter * William Wickham (1831–1897), alumnus of New Inn Hall and MP for Petersfield * Daniel Woolf, historian; principal and vice-chancellor (2009–2019) of Queen's University, Canada * Ben Wright, BBC political correspondent

References

External links

St Peter's College
– official website
St Peter's College Middle Common Room
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter's College, Oxford Colleges of the University of Oxford Educational institutions established in 1929 Buildings and structures of the University of Oxford 1929 establishments in England