St Edmund Hall (sometimes known as The Hall or informally as Teddy Hall) is a
constituent college
A collegiate university is a university in which functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges. Historically, the first collegiate university was the University of Paris and its first college was the C ...
of the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university" and was the last surviving medieval
academic hall
Academic Hall was the original main building of the University of Missouri. It was dedicated in 1843 and destroyed by fire in 1892. Academic Hall's six Ionic columns, today known as The Columns, stand on Francis Quadrangle as the most recogniza ...
at the university.
The college is on
Queen's Lane
Queen's Lane is a historic street in central Oxford, England, named after Queen's College, to the south and west. St Edmund Hall, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located on the southern end of this street.
Location
At ...
and the
High Street
High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...
, in central Oxford. After more than seven centuries as a men-only college, it became coeducational in 1979.
As of 2019, the college had a financial endowment of more than £65 million.
Alumni of St Edmund Hall include diplomats
Robert Macaire
Robert Macaire is a fictional character, an unscrupulous swindler, who appears in a number of French plays, films, and other works of art. In French culture he represents an archetypal villain. He was principally the creation of an actor, Frédér ...
and
Mark Sedwill
Mark Philip Sedwill, Baron Sedwill, (born 21 October 1964) is a British diplomat and senior civil servant who served as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service to Prime Ministers Theresa May and Boris Johnson from 2018 to 2020. He ...
, and politicians
Richard Onslow, 1st Baron Onslow
Richard Onslow, 1st Baron Onslow PC (23 June 1654 – 5 December 1717), known as Sir Richard Onslow, 2nd Baronet from 1688 until 1716, was a British Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1679 to 1715. He was ...
,
Keir Starmer
Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras ...
and
Mel Stride
Melvyn John Stride (born 30 September 1961) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions since October 2022. He previously served in the May Government as Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster ...
. The elected Honorary Fellows:
Faith Wainright, MBE FREng (1980, Engineering) and the Hon Justice
Elizabeth Hollingworth
Elizabeth Hollingworth is a Trials Division justice at the Supreme Court of Victoria. She was appointed to the bench in June 2004, after a 15-year career as a lawyer beginning in 1989.
In June 2014, Hollingworth made an order banning any repo ...
(1984, BCL).
History
![St Peter-in-the-East](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/St_Peter-in-the-East.jpg)
Similar to the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
itself, the precise date of establishment of St Edmund Hall is not certain; it is usually estimated at 1236, before any other college was formally established, though the founder from whom the Hall takes its name,
St Edmund Saint Edmund may refer to:
* Saint Edmund the Martyr (d. 869), king of East Anglia who was venerated as a martyr saint soon after his death at the hands of Vikings
* Saint Edmund Arrowsmith (1585–1628), Jesuit, one of the Forty Martyrs of England ...
of
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Abingdon-on-Thames ( ), commonly known as Abingdon, is a historic market town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England, on the River Thames. Historically the county town of Berkshire, since 1974 Abingdon has been admin ...
, the first known Oxford
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
and the first Oxford-educated
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
, lived and taught on the college site as early as the 1190s. The name St Edmund Hall (''Aula Sancti Edmundi'') first appears in a 1317 rental agreement.
Before that, the house appeared as the ‘house of Cowley’ in rental agreements with the abbey. Thomas of Malsbury, the Vicar of Cowley, partially conveyed the site and its buildings to the abbey in 1270-71, having purchased it for eight pounds nine years prior. Cowley fully conveyed the property to the abbey in 1289-90 with an annuity of thirteen shillings and fourpence paid to himself and eight shillings for his niece.
During the thirteenth century, the university encouraged masters of the arts to rent properties to take in scholars as their tenants. The university preferred such arrangements over private lodgings, which it linked to loose living, poor discipline, public disorder and fighting. Moreover, university-approved accommodation run by approved principals, gave the university more oversight. Principals leased the halls annually and had to present themselves in front of the university's chancellor in St Mary's church yearly and guarantee that their hall would pay its rent. Halls whose principals undertook this formality earned recognition as academic halls.
John de Cornuba leased the Hall from Osney Abbey, a large Augustinian institution in the neighbouring town of Osney, for thirty-five shillings annually.
The Abbey's rent collections varied from fifteen shillings for small institutions to four pounds for larger institutions. Judging by the Hall's annual rent sum, St Edmund's was a small to medium-sized academic hall at the time. However, by 1324-5 Osney Abbey had raised the Hall's rent to forty-six shillings and eight pence while rents for other student hall's in the city had fallen. The rent increase indicates that the site expanded after 1318. Letters sent to Oseney showed that the abbey gained two additional plots of land and buildings adjacent to the Hall and leased it to St Edmund Hall. The acquisition increased the Hall's capacity and also gave it access to the well which forms the centrepiece of the
quadrangle.
St Edmund Hall began as one of Oxford's ancient Aularian houses, the medieval halls that laid the University's foundation, preceding the creation of the first colleges. As the only surviving medieval hall, its members are known as ''Aularians''.
Lollardism
The college has a history of independent thought, which brought it into frequent conflict with both Church and State. During the late 14th and early 15th centuries, it was a bastion of
John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of O ...
's supporters, pejoratively referred to as Lollards.
This group of reformists challenged Papal supremacy, condemning practices such as Clerical celibacy, offerings to effigies,
confession
A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...
, and pilgrimage. They also believed that
transubstantiation
Transubstantiation (Latin: ''transubstantiatio''; Greek: μετουσίωσις ''metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and of th ...
was tantamount to necromancy and felt that the Church's pursuit of arts and crafts was wasteful. However, it was their early
Bible translations
The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. all of the Bible has been translated into 724 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,617 languages, and ...
and belief that everyone should have access to scriptures which they were primarily known for. Ultimately, Lollardism would assimilate with Protestantism in the 1500s culminating in King Henry VIII's
English Reformation
The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...
.
William Taylor
The Hall's reformist activities caught the attention of Archbishop
Thomas Arundel
Thomas Arundel (1353 – 19 February 1414) was an English clergyman who served as Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of York during the reign of Richard II, as well as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1397 and from 1399 until his death, an outspoken o ...
who opposed Lollardism. Arundel witnessed a sermon given by Principal William Taylor at St Paul's Cross in 1406 or 1407 and summoned him. However, Taylor failed to appear and was subsequently excommunicated for contumacy. Following his excommunication, Taylor embarked on a career as a Lollard preacher.
Taylor continued to preach whilst excommunicated. In 1419/20 Archbishop Chichele absolved Taylor after he confessed to preaching whilst excommunicated. However, he was arrested soon thereafter for espousing unorthodox opinions in Bristol's Holy Trinity Church.
Subsequently, Taylor was declared a relapsed heretic, handed over to the secular courts and burnt at the stake.
Peter Payne
Taylor's successor Peter Payne, also a Lollard, continued supporting Wyclif's opinions. It is believed that Payne was partly switched on to Lolladism by
John Purvey
John Purvey (c. 1354 – c. 1414) was an English theologian, reformer, and disciple of John Wycliffe. He was born around 1354 in Lathbury, near Newport Pagnell in the county of Buckinghamshire, England. He was a great scholar, permitted to enter ...
, one of Wycliffe's original supporters. Purvey advocated for
vernacular translations of the Bible, and compelled Payne to defend Wycliffs translations of the scriptures. Payne drew hostility from Oxford's Friars after allegedly purloining the University's common seal and using it to seal a letter sent to the ecclesiastical reformer
Jan Hus
Jan Hus (; ; 1370 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and the inspir ...
in Prague. His letter claimed that Oxford and all of England barring the Friars shared the same views that Hus's supporters (the Hussites) shared in Prague. The letter also commended Wyclif's life and teachings and because he sealed it with the University's seal the Hussites accepted it as genuine.
Arundel deemed the college's activities dangerous enough to warrant an intervention and suppression. Arundel began by banning Oxford's schools from using Wycliffe's texts unless approved by a committee and ordered that all of Oxford's principals make monthly inquiries to make sure their scholars' views were orthodox. Next, he ordered each committee to go through Wyclif's writings and draw up a list of errors and heresys which he presented to the King. The King wrote to the university ordering that anyone holding reformist opinions be placed in prison.
Peter Payne fled the country left Oxford in 1412. Little is known of Payne after his time at St Edmund's but it is believed he died in Prague as a veteran Hussite.
Seventeenth century onwards
In the late 17th and 18th centuries, St Edmund Hall incurred the wrath of the Crown for fostering
non-jurors
The Nonjuring schism refers to a split in the established churches of England, Scotland and Ireland, following the deposition and exile of James II and VII in the 1688 Glorious Revolution. As a condition of office, clergy were required to swear ...
, men who remained loyal to the
Jacobite succession
The Jacobite succession is the line through which Jacobites believed that the crowns of England, Scotland, and Ireland should have descended, applying primogeniture, since the deposition of James II and VII in 1688 and his death in 1701. It is ...
of the
House of Stuart
The House of Stuart, originally spelt Stewart, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland and later Great Britain. The family name comes from the office of High Steward of Scotland, which had been held by the family progenitor Walter fi ...
and who refused to take the oath to their successors after 1688, whom they regarded as having usurped the
British throne
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...
.
In 1877, Prime Minister
Benjamin Disraeli
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...
appointed commissioners to consider and implement reform of the university and its colleges and halls. The commissioners concluded that the four remaining medieval halls were not viable and should merge with colleges on the death or resignation of the incumbent principals. In 1881, the commissioners issued University Statutes which provided for a partial merger of St Edmund with Queen's and for the other halls to merge with colleges.
In 1903, only St Edmund Hall remained. Principal
Edward Moore wished to retire and become a resident canon in
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...
.
Queen's College proposed an amended statute for complete rather than partial merger, which was rejected by the Congregation. In 1912 a statute was passed preserving the independence of the hall, which enabled Moore to retire.
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 ...
approved St Edmund Hall's charter of incorporation as a full college of the University of Oxford in 1957, although it deliberately retained its ancient title of "Hall".
The Duke of Edinburgh presented the royal charter to the college in June 1958.
In 1978, women were first admitted as members of the Hall, with the first
matriculation
Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination.
Australia
In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...
s of women in 1979.
In 2015, the college celebrated the matriculation of its 3000th female student with events and exhibitions, including the display of portraits of notable women who had taught, studied or worked at the Hall in the Dining Hall, a noticeable change from the styles of portraits in most colleges. Between 2015 and 2017, the proportion of UK undergraduates admitted to St Edmund Hall who were women was 42.3%.
Buildings and grounds
St Edmund Hall is located in central Oxford, on the north side of the
High Street
High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...
, off Queen's Lane. It borders New College to the North and the Carrodus Quad of The Queen's College to the south. The front
quadrangle houses the
porters' 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 ...
, the Old Dining Hall, built in the 1650s, the college bar (the
buttery), the chapel, the Old Library, offices and accommodation for students and Fellows.
Entrance
![St Edmund Hall Entrance 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/St_Edmund_Hall_Entrance_2.jpg)
An engraving of the college coat of arms is found above the entrance to the college on Queen's Lane. As seen in this image, the coat of arms sits above the following Latin dedication "''sanctus edmundus huius aulae lux''", or "''St Edmund, light of this Hall''".
It is a very common practice within the University to use
chronogram
A chronogram is a sentence or inscription in which specific letters, interpreted as numerals (such as Roman numerals), stand for a particular date when rearranged. The word, meaning "time writing", derives from the Greek words ''chronos'' (Ï‡Ï ...
s for dedications. When transcribed into Latin, they are written in such a way that an important date, usually that of a foundation or the dedication itself, is embedded in the text in
Roman numerals
Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...
.
In the above dedication, the text is rendered as
sanCtVs edMVndVs hVIVs aVLae LVX
and, in this case, adding the numerals gives:
C + V + M + V + V + V + I + V + V + L + L + V + X = 1246
(For this reading one must disregard the usual "subtractive" convention — according to which, for example, "IV" would be 4, not 6.) The year 1246 is the date of the canonisation of
St Edmund of Abingdon
Edmund of Abingdon (also known as Edmund Rich, St Edmund of Canterbury, Edmund of Pontigny, French: St Edme; c. 11741240) was an English-born prelate who served as Archbishop of Canterbury. He became a respected lecturer in mathematics, di ...
.
Well
![St Edmund Hall Well](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/St_Edmund_Hall_Well.jpg)
In the centre of the quadrangle is a medieval well, which was uncovered in 1926 during the construction of a new lecture room and accommodation. This well is believed to be the original from which St Edmund himself drew water. A new wellhead was added, with the inscription "haurietis aquas in gaudio de fontibus salvatoris," Latin for "with joy, draw water from the wells of salvation." These words, from Isaiah 12:3, are believed to be those spoken by St Edmund on his deathbed at Salisbury. A metal grate was added to the well to prevent injuries, but water can still be seen in the well at a depth of about 9 feet. Plans to add a wooden frame and bucket were scrapped to maintain the overall appearance of the quad.
Chapel
The east side of the Front Quad contains the chapel. The chapel contains a stained glass window which is one of the earliest works by the artists
Sir Edward Burne-Jones
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, J ...
and
William Morris
William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...
, and a painting above the altar named ''Supper at Emmaus'', by
Ceri Richards
Ceri Giraldus Richards (6 June 1903 – 9 November 1971) was a Welsh painter, print-maker and maker of reliefs.
Biography
Richards was born in 1903 in the village of Dunvant, near Swansea, the son of Thomas Coslett Richards and Sarah Ri ...
. Often described as a 'marmite painting' due to its anachronous style within the chapel, which dates to the late 17th century, the painting commemorates the granting of the college's Royal Charter. The organ was built by Wood of Huddersfield in the 1980s. The St Edmund Hall Chapel Choir consists of eight choral scholars, two organ scholars and many other non-auditioning singers. The choir goes on two annual tours, including trips to Wells Cathedral in 2017,
Pontigny
Pontigny () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France.
Sight
Its principal distinction is as the home of Pontigny Abbey.
See also
*Communes of the Yonne department
The following is a list of th ...
, France, the burial place of St Edmund, in 2016 and
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
, Poland in 2015.
Old Library
Above the chapel is the Old Library. It was the last among Oxford colleges to chain its valuable books, but the first to have shelves against the walls. The Old Library is no longer the main library of the Hall, but is used for events and for research.
Library
![St Edmund bronze](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/St_Edmund_bronze.jpg)
The college library, the
deconsecrated
Deconsecration, also called secularization, is the act of removing a religious blessing from something that had been previously consecrated by a minister or priest of that religion. The practice is usually performed on churches or synagogues to b ...
12th-century church of
St Peter-in-the-East
St Peter-in-the-East is a 12th-century church on Queen's Lane, north of the High Street in central Oxford, England. It is now deconsecrated and houses the college library of St Edmund Hall. The churchyard to the north is laid out as a garden an ...
, was converted in the 1970s, and includes the 14th century tower, which houses a
tutor's room at the top. The oldest part of the library still standing is the crypt below the church, which dates from the 1130s. The library is situated in the original churchyard of St Peter-in-the-East. 40,000 volumes are housed within it to cater to the wide variety of courses offered at the Hall. While many of the graves have had their contents disinterred, several gravestones remain including one belonging to
James Sadler, the first English aeronaut, and another which states the occupant died upon February 31. The garden contains a seated bronze sculpture of St Edmund as an impoverished student.
Modern buildings
In 1934, the Oxford-based architect
Fielding Dodd completed the south side of the college's quadrangle, marking the 700th anniversary of
St Edmund Saint Edmund may refer to:
* Saint Edmund the Martyr (d. 869), king of East Anglia who was venerated as a martyr saint soon after his death at the hands of Vikings
* Saint Edmund Arrowsmith (1585–1628), Jesuit, one of the Forty Martyrs of England ...
's consecration as the
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
. In 1965–9, Kenneth Stevens and Partners, inheritors of Dodd's architectural practice, worked on a large programme of new building at the college, including a new dining hall, common rooms, teaching facilities, and undergraduate accommodation. These are at the rear of the main site in the Kelly, Emden, Besse, and Whitehall buildings. All first-year undergraduate students are guaranteed accommodation on the main site and many return for their third year after living out, usually in East Oxford, for the duration of their second year. The Wolfson Hall, the 20th-century dining hall, seats approximately 230 people and is used by students on a daily basis for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Annexes
The college also owns annexes at
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 ...
, on Dawson Street and on Iffley Road.
The Norham Gardens annexe includes the Graduate Centre, a complex consisting of several large Victorian villas. This site was for many years the home of
St Stephen's House, Oxford
St Stephen's House is an Anglican theological college and one of five permanent private halls of the University of Oxford, England. It will cease to be a permanent private hall in 2023.
The college has a very small proportion of undergraduate s ...
, before that institution moved to Iffley Road in 1980. The Norham Gardens annexe has the capacity to house most first-year graduate students and has its own common room, IT facilities, gardens and gym. In addition to student rooms, the Graduate Centre also has a quantity of faculty housing. The Dawson Street and Iffley Road annexes host undergraduates who do not live on the main site in pleasant en-suite, self-catering rooms.
Student life
As of 2017, the college has roughly 410 undergraduate, 300 graduate students and 75 Fellows, organised into three
common rooms.
The Junior Common Room (JCR), for undergraduates, and Middle Common Room (MCR), for postgraduates, both organise regular events, including a Freshers' week programme, dinners and film nights. The college is reputed for the strength of its 'Hall Spirit' with the semi-finals and finals of sports competitions regularly attended by in excess of 70 supporters.
Creative writing
The college has a weekly creative writing workshop, a termly poetry reading series, an online writers' forum and ''The St Edmund Hall Gallery,'' the annual student arts and literary magazine.
The college runs an annual journalism competition for Oxford University students, in memory of alumnus and promising young journalist Philip Geddes, who died in the IRA bombing of Harrods in 1983. The college also hosts an annual lecture in his name.
Drama
St Edmund Hall has a lively drama society, the John Oldham Society, which worked in Cameroon in 2013 on a community drama project. In 2017-18 the College's entry into Drama Cuppers, the satirical 'Oswald French', written and starring Hugh Shepherd-Cross, reached the final round, and two students directed and produced a play called God of Carnage, which sold out its entire run at the Burton Taylor Studio.
[College Magazine: https://www.seh.ox.ac.uk/asset/SEH-Magazine-2018.pdf] In 2019-20 the John Oldham Society staged a production of The Importance of Being Earnest. The production sold out and was very well received, with the profits being donated to Stonewall.
Music
The College has one of the largest non-auditioning College Choirs in Oxford, which is anchored by two Organ Scholars and eight Choral Scholars, under the direction of
James Whitbourn
James Whitbourn (born 1963) is a British composer and conductor.
Biography
James Whitbourn was born in Kent and educated at Skinners' School before winning a scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he gained his first two degrees. Hi ...
, the Director of Music. The choir performs an evensong every Sunday and on special occasions, including the Feast Day of St Edmund and the popular 'Carols in the Quad' event at Christmas. The Choir take part in an annual exchange with Fitzwillam College, Cambridge, a UK residential (previous destinations have included Wells and Worcester Cathedrals), and visit Pontigny, France on tour each year to perform.
During Hilary term 2018 several events were held, including the Intercollegiate Evensong at the University Church; the joint service with the Hall's sister college, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge; and the joint Ash Wednesday service with University College. The term ended with an exploration of Lenten music through Buxtehude's extraordinary cycle of cantatas: Membra Jesu Nostri. The Choir was joined by members of the world-class period instrument ensemble Instruments of Time & Truth for a powerful performance of the first three cantatas in the cycle.
Sport
St Edmund Hall participates in a large number of sports including rugby, football, rowing, tennis, cricket, mixed lacrosse, netball, hockey, swimming, and basketball, among others. Since becoming a college in 1957, the Men's Rugby Union team has won over half the
Cuppers
Cuppers are intercollegiate sporting competitions at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The term comes from the word "cup" and is an example of the Oxford "-er". Each sport holds only one Cuppers competition each year, which is open to all ...
Tournaments it has ever entered (33 wins from 62 attempts). As a part of a team consisting of several colleges, Teddy Hall won women's rugby Cuppers in 2015–2016. In 2016–2017, St Edmund Hall won men's football and cricket Cuppers and its women's first boat and men's second boat won blades in
Bumps
A bumps race is a form of rowing (sport), rowing race in which a number of boats chase each other in single file, each crew attempting to catch and ‘bump’ the boat in front without being caught by the boat behind.
The form is mainly used i ...
. In 2017-2018 the College recorded victories in Men's Basketball (by 74-49 in the final), Swimming (for the third consecutive year), Men's Rugby, Women's Rugby (joint with Mansfield and Pembroke), Rounders (after an unbeaten season), and Pool.
[SEH Magazine 2018](_blank)
/ref> Men's Rugby was won 20-17 over St Peter's College. Cricket Cuppers was almost retained. Finals were also reached by the Men's 2nd XI, the Mixed Hockey team, the Tennis Club, and the 2nd VII went unbeaten in their netball league. Strong performances are also consistently recorded in men's and women's hockey, badminton and canoe polo.
The St Edmund Hall Boat Club
St Edmund Hall Boat Club (commonly abbreviated to SEHBC) is a rowing club for members of St Edmund Hall, Oxford. It is based in its own boathouse on the Isis.
History
The early days
According to one of the many blades in the boathouse, SEHB ...
held the men's headship in Summer Eights
Eights Week, also known as Summer Eights, is a four-day regatta of bumps races which constitutes the University of Oxford's main intercollegiate rowing event of the year. The regatta takes place in May of each year, from the Wednesday to the ...
five times between 1959 and 1965 and women's headship from 2006 to 2009. SEHBC had success at the Henley Royal Regatta during its era of dominance in Oxford rowing in the 1960s.
* In 1958 an SEH coxless IV were the losing finalists in the Ladies' Challenge Plate, losing to Keble by 3 lengths.
* In 1959 a joint SEH/Lincoln College VIII won the Stewards' Challenge Cup, beating GS Moto Guzzi of Italy easily.
* In 1960 another joint SEH/Lincoln College VIII were the losing finalists in the Stewards' Challenge Cup, being beaten by Barn Cottage BC by 4 lengths.
* In 1961 an SEH coxless IV won the Visitors' Challenge Cup, beating St Catherine's College, Cambridge by 1½ lengths.
* In 1963 the 1st VIII were the losing finalists in the Ladies' Challenge Plate, losing to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst by ½ length.
* In 1965, SEHBC had two victories; the 1st VIII won The Ladies' Challenge Plate, beating Jesus College, Cambridge by ¾ length, and an SEHBC coxless IV won the Visitors' Challenge Cup, beating Fitzwilliam House, Cambridge by 2 lengths.
The college celebrates the students’ successes in sports, arts and other extra-curricular activities at the annual Achievements Dinner. Cuppers winning teams are also rewarded with their photograph in the college bar, the walls of which are now crammed with teams dating from the late nineteenth century to the present day. The college also awards the Luddington Prize to undergraduate students who manage to achieve both a First Class degree in finals and a university Blue.
Outreach
The College has a very active outreach and access programme, employing two full-time staff and supported by a team of over 30 volunteer Student Ambassadors. Working with schools in the assigned link areas, including Leicestershire, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and Peterborough, the College hosts visits from school groups and was one of the first colleges to take student ambassadors on an access roadshow. This saw four students and the Schools Liaison Officer visit nine schools in 4 days in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in 2016 and continues to take place annually. The College since has expanded its provision to include a second roadshow in collaboration with Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...
, visiting schools and colleges in Leicestershire, which first took place in November 2018.
Formal Hall and college graces
The usual grace given before Formal Hall
Formal hall or formal meal is a meal held at some of the oldest universities in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland (as well as some other Commonwealth countries) at which students usually dress in formal attire and often gowns to d ...
, as said by the fellow presiding at the dinner, is:
The post cibum grace, given following pudding, is a slight variant on the above:
To which the assembly responds ''Amen''. More extended (or sung) forms of the grace are sometimes given but these are limited to special occasions, such as the Feast of St Edmund, a formal held each year to commemorate the namesake of the hall.
The traditional college toast is occasionally also said at dinners, and is simply "Floreat Aula", Latin for "May the Hall Flourish".
People associated with the college
Notable alumni
File:Richardonslow.jpg, alt=, Richard Onslow, 1st Baron Onslow
Richard Onslow, 1st Baron Onslow PC (23 June 1654 – 5 December 1717), known as Sir Richard Onslow, 2nd Baronet from 1688 until 1716, was a British Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1679 to 1715. He was ...
File:John Kettlewell - Parr frontispiece.jpg, alt=, John Kettlewell
John Kettlewell (10 March 1653 – 12 April 1695) was an English clergyman, nonjuror and devotional writer. He is now known for his arguments against William Sherlock, who had justified the change of monarch of 1688–89 and his own switch of sid ...
File:Thomas Hearne.jpg, alt=, Thomas Herne
Thomas Herne (died 1722) was an English academic and lay participant in religious controversy.
Life
A native of Suffolk, he was admitted as a pensioner at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, on 29 October 1711. In the following year he was elected ...
File:Larry Pressler.jpg, Larry Pressler
Larry Lee Pressler (born March 29, 1942) is an American lawyer and politician from South Dakota who served in the United States House of Representatives (1975–1979) and United States Senate (1979–1997) as a Republican. He remained active in p ...
File:Terry Jones.jpg, Terry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team.
After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...
File:Emma Kennedy, As It Occurs To Me, Leicester Square Theatre 20 Jun 2011 crop.jpg, Emma Kennedy
Emma Kennedy (born Elizabeth Emma Williams on 28 May 1967) is an English actress, lawyer, comedian, and travel writer, comedian, television presenter and author.
Early life and education
The daughter of teachers,
File:StewartLee.jpg, Stewart Lee
Stewart Graham Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English comedian, screenwriter, and television director. His stand-up routine is characterised by repetition, internal reference, deadpan delivery, and consistent breaking of the fourth wall.
Lee b ...
File:Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Inauguration RTVM (Enhanced).png, Bongbong Marcos
Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. ( , , ; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials PBBM or BBM, is a Filipino politician who is the 17th and current president of the Philippines. He previously served as a senat ...
(special diploma)
File:Al Murray.jpg, Al Murray
Alastair James Hay Murray (born 10 May 1968) is an English comedian, actor, musician and writer from Hammersmith. In 2003, he was listed in ''The Observer'' as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy, and in 2007 he was voted the 16th gr ...
File:Official portrait of Keir Starmer crop 2.jpg, Keir Starmer KC
File:Michael Nazir-Ali.jpg, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali
Michael James Nazir-Ali ( ur, ; born 19 August 1949) is a Pakistani-born British Roman Catholic priest and former Anglican bishop who served as the 106th Bishop of Rochester from 1994 to 2009 and, before that, as Bishop of Raiwind in Pakistan. ...
File:Kayleigh McEnany (50042296968) (cropped).jpg, Kayleigh McEnany
Kayleigh McEnany (; born April 18, 1988) is an American conservative political commentator and author who served the administration of Donald Trump as the 33rd White House press secretary from April 2020 to January 2021.
Early in the 2016 Re ...
.
File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Mel Stride MP crop 2.jpg, alt=, Mel Stride MP
File:Mark Sedwill (cropped).jpg, alt=, Mark Sedwill
Mark Philip Sedwill, Baron Sedwill, (born 21 October 1964) is a British diplomat and senior civil servant who served as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service to Prime Ministers Theresa May and Boris Johnson from 2018 to 2020. He ...
File:Week of Women (31015246296).jpg, Samira Ahmed
Samira Ahmed (born 15 June 1968) is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster at the BBC, where she has presented Radio 3's ''Night Waves'' and Radio 4's '' PM'', ''The World Tonight'', ''Sunday'' and '' Front Row'' and has presented the ...
Other notable figures
* St Edmund of Abingdon
Edmund of Abingdon (also known as Edmund Rich, St Edmund of Canterbury, Edmund of Pontigny, French: St Edme; c. 11741240) was an English-born prelate who served as Archbishop of Canterbury. He became a respected lecturer in mathematics, di ...
* Jeremy Paxman
Jeremy Dickson Paxman (born 11 May 1950) is an English broadcaster, journalist, author, and television presenter. Born in Leeds, Paxman was educated at Malvern College and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he edited the undergraduate ne ...
, a Fellow of the College by Special Election.
Principals
* 1405–1406 William Taylor, theologian, priest, excommunicated
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
and executed as a Lollard
Lollardy, also known as Lollardism or the Lollard movement, was a proto-Protestant Christian religious movement that existed from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholic ...
* 1410–1414 Peter Payne Peter Payne ( 1380 – c. 1455) was an English theologian, diplomat, Lollard and Taborite. The son of a Frenchman by an English wife, he was born at Hough-on-the-Hill near Grantham.
He was educated in Oxford, where he adopted Lollard opinions, and ...
, theologian, diplomat, Lollard
Lollardy, also known as Lollardism or the Lollard movement, was a proto-Protestant Christian religious movement that existed from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholic ...
and Taborite
The Taborites ( cs, Táborité, cs, singular Táborita), known by their enemies as the Picards, were a faction within the Hussite movement in the medieval Lands of the Bohemian Crown.
Although most of the Taborites were of rural origin, they ...
* 1565– Thomas Lancaster
Thomas Lancaster (died 1583) was an English Protestant clergyman, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh from 1568.
Life
He was perhaps a native of Cumberland, and was probably educated at Oxford. On 11 July 1550 he was consecrated Bishop of Ki ...
, Protestant clergyman, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh
The Anglican Archbishop of Armagh is the ecclesiastical head of the Church of Ireland, bearing the title Primate of All Ireland, the metropolitan of the Province of Armagh and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Armagh.
* 1610–1631 John Rawlinson, clergyman
* 1658–1676 Thomas Tully
Thomas Tully (1620–1676) was an Anglican cleric.
Life
The son of George Tully of Carlisle, Cumbria, he was born in St Mary's parish there on 22 July 1620. He was educated in the parish free school under John Winter, and afterwards at Barton Kir ...
* 1685–1707 John Mill, theologian
* 1751–1760 George Fothergill
* 1722–1740 Henry Felton
Henry Felton D.D. (1679–1740) was an English clergyman and academic.
Life
Felton was born in the London parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields on 3 February 1679. His earliest education was at Cheney's School in Buckinghamshire; he moved to Westmin ...
, clergyman and academic
* 1740–1751 Thomas Shaw
* 1864–1903 Edward Moore
* 1913–1920 Henry Williams Henry Williams may refer to:
Politicians
*Henry Williams (activist) (born 2000), chief of staff of the Mike Gravel 2020 presidential campaign
*Henry Williams (MP for Northamptonshire) (died 1558), Member of Parliament (MP) for Northamptonshire ( ...
, Bishop of Carlisle
The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York.
The diocese covers the county of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District. The see is in the city of Car ...
(1920–1946)
* 1914–1918 Leonard Hodgson
Leonard Hodgson (24 October 1889 in Fulham, London – 15 July 1969 in Leamington Spa) was an Anglican priest, philosopher, theologian, historian of the early Church and Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford from 1944 to 1958. ...
(Vice-Principal)
* 1920–1928 G.B. Allen
* 1928 George B. Cronshaw George Bernard Cronshaw (1872–1928) was a Chaplain, Fellow and Bursar of The Queen's College Oxford University and later Principal of St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He was well known for his charitable works outside of university life holding gover ...
* 1929–1951 Alfred Brotherston Emden
Alfred Brotherston Emden (1888–1979) was an Oxford University historian and Principal of St Edmund Hall from 1929 to 1951. He published widely on matters concerning St Edmund Hall and the medieval church. His generous gifts, and lifelong asso ...
* 1951–1979 J.N.D. Kelly, clergyman
* 1979–1982 Sir Ieuan Maddock
* 1982–1996 J C B Gosling
* 1996–1998 Sir Stephen Tumim
Sir Stephen Tumim (15 August 1930 – 8 December 2003) was an English judge, and was Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons from 1987 to 1995.
Tumim was the son of a barrister, and was educated at St Edward's School, Oxford and Worcester Colle ...
* 1999–2009 Michael Mingos
David Michael Patrick Mingos, FRS (born 6 August 1944) is a British chemist and academic. He was Principal of St Edmund Hall, Oxford from 1999 to 2009, and Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Oxford.
Education
Mingos attended ...
, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry
* 2009–2018 Keith Gull
Professor Keith Gull (born 29 May 1948) is a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow and Professor of Molecular microbiology at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford. He was the principal of St Edmund Hall, Oxford fro ...
, FRS
* 2018–present Kathy Willis
Katherine Jane Willis, Baroness Willis of Summertown, (born 16 January 1964) is a British biologist, academic and life peer, who studies the relationship between long-term ecosystem dynamics and environmental change. She is Professor of Biodive ...
Fellows
Gallery
File:Old library St Edmund Hall.JPG, Rear of the buildings on the east side of the Front Quad as seen from the Wolfson Dining Hall
File:St Edmund Hall gate.JPG, Front gate
File:St Edmund Hall, Oxford (Pic 5).jpg, College library
File:St Edmund Hall in Queens Lane - geograph.org.uk - 1420217.jpg, St Edmund Hall in Queens Lane
References
;Books
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External links
St Edmund Hall
– official website
St Edmund Hall JCR
website
St Edmund Hall MCR
website
St Edmund Hall Alternative Prospectus
website
Virtual tour
of St Edmund Hall
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Edmund Hall, Oxford
Colleges of the University of Oxford
Grade I listed buildings in Oxford
Grade I listed educational buildings
Educational institutions established in the 13th century
13th-century establishments in England
Buildings and structures of the University of Oxford