St Peter's College is one of the

constituent colleges 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 ...

and is located in

New Inn Hall Street New Inn Hall Street is a street in central Oxford, England, and is one of Oxford's oldest streets. It is a shopping street running north–south parallel and to the west of Cornmarket Street, with George Street to the north and Bonn Square at ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, 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, former

Bishop of Liverpool The Bishop of Liverpool is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Liverpool in the Province of York.''Crockford's Clerical Directory'', 100th edition, (2007), Church House Publishing. . The diocese stretches from Southport in the n ...

, 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 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 New Inn Hall was one of the earliest medieval halls of the University of Oxford. It was located in New Inn Hall Street, Oxford. History Trilleck's Inn The original building on the site was Trilleck's Inn, a medieval hall or hostel for stu ...

, and Rose Hall. Trillecks' Inn was founded in the 14th century by Bishop Trilleck and, as New Inn Hall, merged into

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

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 Francis James Chavasse, former

, 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 Christopher Maude Chavasse, (9 November 1884 – 10 March 1962) was a British athlete, soldier and religious leader from the Chavasse family. He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, served in the First World War and was later the B ...

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 A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

as a hostel that year and opened with 13 residents. The following year, 1929, it was recognised as a

permanent private hall A permanent private hall (PPH) in the University of Oxford is an educational institution within the university. There are five permanent private halls at Oxford, four of which admit undergraduates. They were founded by different Christian denomina ...

and grew to 40 students. A later significant benefactor was

William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield William Richard Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, (10 October 1877 – 22 August 1963) was an English motor manufacturer and philanthropist. He was the founder of Morris Motors Limited and is remembered as the founder of the Nuffield Foundation, ...

, who would also found Nuffield College. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, St Peter's Hall became home to evacuated students from

Westfield College Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...

, a

women's college Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...

of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, 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 A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but s ...

. In 1979, St Peter's started admitting women and became

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

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 Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

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 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 The Chavasse family in the West Midlands is a British family of Catholic origin. When Claude Chavasse came from the borders of France and Savoy, he settled in Burford, Oxfordshire. His entry in the Burial Register there (April 1734) states: Claud ...

in the chapel include Captain

Noel Chavasse Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, (9 November 1884 – 4 August 1917) was a British medical doctor, Olympic athlete, and British Army officer from the Chavasse family. He is one of only three people to be awarded a Victoria Cross twice. The Battl ...

's original grave cross, a large

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

of Bishop

Francis 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 evang ...

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 James Hannington (3 September 1847 – 29 October 1885) was an English Anglican missionary and martyr. He was the first Anglican bishop of East Africa. Early life Hannington was born on 3 September 1847 at Hurstpierpoint in Sussex, England, ...

. 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 Sir Herbert Baker (9 June 1862 – 4 February 1946) was an English architect remembered as the dominant force in South African architecture for two decades, and a major designer of some of New Delhi's most notable government structures. He wa ...

and Fielding Dodd 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 Leonard Aloysius Scott Stokes (1858 – 25 December 1925) was an English architect and artist. Leonard Stokes was born in Southport (then in Lancashire) in 1858 the son of Scott Nasmyth Stokes, a school inspector. He trained in London and tra ...

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 (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 William Richard Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, (10 October 1877 – 22 August 1963) was an English motor manufacturer and philanthropist. He was the founder of Morris Motors Limited and is remembered as the founder of the Nuffield Foundation, ...

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 and St George's Gate house undergraduates, while

Paradise Street Paradise Street is a short street in the core area of Birmingham City Centre, in England. Paradise Street runs roughly from Victoria Square to Suffolk Street and Broad Street. The street existed in 1796 when a congregation gathered at a meeti ...

(which was officially opened in June 2008) houses postgraduates and fourth-year undergraduates.

Student life

The student-run

Junior 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 Bristol ...

organises a wide variety of social events throughout the academic year, ranging from formal events to celebrate such things as

Burns Night A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), the author of many Scots poems. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January, known as Burns Night ( sc ...

(complete with

haggis Haggis ( gd, taigeis) is a savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver, and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and cooked while traditionally encased in the animal's stomach though n ...

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 St Peter's College Boat Club (SPCBC) is the rowing club for members of St Peter's College, Oxford. Founded in 1929, it is now based in the University College Boathouse on the southern bank of The Isis (River Thames). The Boat Club competes in To ...

, competes regularly. The club shares a boathouse with

Somerville College Boat Club Somerville College Boat Club (SCBC) is the rowing club of Somerville College, Oxford. The club was formed in 1921 as one of the first women's clubs on the Isis, however was unable to compete in bumps until 1969. The women's team has won the title ...

, University College Boat Club and Wolfson College Boat Club.

Locomotive

Taking the original name of the college,

GWR 6959 Class The Great Western Railway (GWR) 6959 or Modified Hall Class is a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive. They were a development by Frederick Hawksworth of Charles Collett's earlier Hall Class named after English and Welsh country houses. Backgroun ...

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 Christopher Maude Chavasse, (9 November 1884 – 10 March 1962) was a British athlete, soldier and religious leader from the Chavasse family. He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, served in the First World War and was later the Bi ...

(1929–1940) * Julian Thornton-Duesbery (1940–1944 and 1955–1968) * Robert Wilmot Howard (1945–1955) * Alec Cairncross (1969–1978) *

Gerald Aylmer Gerald Edward Aylmer, (30 April 1926, Greete, Shropshire – 17 December 2000, Oxford) was an English historian of 17th century England. Gerald Aylmer was the only child of Edward Arthur Aylmer, from an Anglo-Irish naval family, and Phoebe ...

(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 Mark David Damazer, CBE (born 15 April 1955), is a former Master of St Peter's College, Oxford, and a former controller of BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 7 in the United Kingdom. Early life and education Damazer was born on 15 April 1955. He is th ...

(2010–2019) * Judith Buchanan (from October 2019)

Fellows

Notable alumni

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, 2nd

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, writer of the screenplay for the films ''

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'' * Graham Bell, Canadian academic, writer and evolutionary biologist *

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