The Night Climbers of Oxford is a

secret society A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

, dedicated to nocturnally scaling college and town buildings in

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 ...

, England. The society is noted for its

political activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

, controversial acts, feats of

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done fo ...

and

parkour Parkour () is an athletic training discipline or sport in which practitioners (called ''traceurs'') attempt to get from point A to point B in the fastest and most efficient way possible, without assisting equipment and often while performing a ...

, as well as

urban exploration Urban exploration (often shortened as UE, urbex and sometimes known as roof and tunnel hacking) is the exploration of manmade structures, usually abandoned ruins or hidden components of the manmade environment. Photography and historical inter ...

. The society was likely inspired by their Cambridge counterparts,

The Night Climbers of Cambridge ''The Night Climbers of Cambridge'' is a book, written under the pseudonym "Whipplesnaith", about nocturnal climbing on the colleges and town buildings of Cambridge, England, in the 1930s. The book remains popular among Cambridge University stud ...

. Activities conducted by the society are forbidden by the University authorities, meaning that acts are completed under the cover of darkness, to avoid detection. A Night Climber of Oxford

History

The founding date of the Night Climbing society remains unknown, although acts of nocturnal climbing in Oxford are reported to date back to the 1930s, with members of the

Alpine Club The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as: :"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of which ...

and

Oxford University Mountaineering Club The Oxford University Mountaineering Club (OUMC) was founded in 1909 by Arnold Lunn, then a Balliol undergraduate; he did not earn a degree. History The club has taken a significant part in the development of mountaineering in the United Kingdo ...

being some of the first to venture on to the University rooftops. The historian and climber David Cox, is widely regarded as one of the first night climbers to have scaled the

Radcliffe Camera The Radcliffe Camera (colloquially known as the "Rad Cam" or "The Camera"; from Latin , meaning 'room') is a building of the University of Oxford, England, designed by James Gibbs in neo-classical style and built in 1737–49 to house the Radcl ...

and the

Codrington Library All Souls College Library, known until 2020 as the Codrington Library, is an academic library in the city of Oxford, England. It is the library of All Souls College, a graduate constituent college of the University of Oxford. The library in its ...

, during the early 1930s. Upon his second ascent of the Radcliffe Camera, he was accompanied by fellow climber Nully Kretschmer. As an

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

, Cox stole the weather vane from the Christopher Wren Sundial, located in

All Souls College All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

. Upon being elected a fellow, he climbed back up and replaced it, with its absence unnoticed.

Tom Tower Tom Tower is a bell tower in Oxford, England, named after its bell, Great Tom. It is over Tom Gate, on St Aldates, the main entrance of Christ Church, Oxford, which leads into Tom Quad. This square tower with an octagonal lantern and facett ...

located at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

is also reported to have first been scaled in the 1940s by undergraduate students. David_Cox

Hamish Nicol, a mountaineer, participated in acts of night climbing. After completing his National Service from 1947-49 when he was commissioned in the Royal Artillery, he attended

Balliol College, Oxford 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 f ...

, where he switched from Geology to Medicine. During his studies in Oxford, Nicol placed a white bow tie on top of the Radcliffe Camera to celebrate the

Coronation of Elizabeth II The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...

. Despite Oxford hosting similar architecture to that of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, night climbing activities remained sporadic in nature throughout the 1960s and 1970s. This was likely due to the combination of Oxford University Mountaineering Club senior members and Presidents, discouraging acts of night climbing. Additionally the brick work within Oxford is supposedly renowned for its fragile and soft nature, making climbs on listed or College buildings dangerous. For these reasons, no formal society dedicated to Night Climbing is thought to have gained any traction or structure during the late 20th century. Whilst an undergraduate at St Catherine's College from 2005 - 2008,

Katherine Rundell Katherine Rundell (born 1987) is an English author and academic. She is the author of ''Rooftoppers'', which in 2015 won both the overall Waterstones Children's Book Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award for Best Story, and was short-listed for t ...

developed an interest in night climbing and began to explore the rooftops, inspired by the 1937 book ''

'' according to her diary. Rundell would later publish the book ''Rooftoppers'', which followed the adventures of Sophie, a girl orphaned in a shipwreck on her first birthday. Sophie later attempts to find her mother, who she is convinced survived the disaster, whilst also taking to the rooftops of Paris in order to thwart officials trying to send her to a British orphanage. The early 21st Century has seen an increase in the number of night-climbing activities based in Oxford. From 2016 to 2020, a group of nocturnal climbers began posting images to anonymous confession

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

pages such as Oxfess, detailing climbs conducted at The Radcliffe Camera, Christ Church, Corpus Christi College, Pembroke College,

Westgate Westgate or West Gate may refer to: Companies * Westgate Resorts, a real estate company and timeshare company * Westgate Department Stores, the department store division of Anglia Regional Co-operative Society in the United Kingdom Events * Westg ...

Cornmarket Street Cornmarket Street (colloquially referred to as Cornmarket or historically The Corn) is a major shopping street and pedestrian precinct in Oxford, England that runs north to south between Magdalen Street and Carfax Tower. To the east is the Gold ...

, and several other high-profile locations. Each public post contained content of a political or philosophical nature, with advice given sometimes in the form of an 'agony aunt'. The local media dubbed the group "The Night Climbers of Oxford", for their identities remained unknown. Despite some backlash, the public showed support for the group and their controversial acts. As a result they quickly became part of Oxford's urban and night-life culture. The modern incarnation is thought to be a mixed gender society, unlike their Cambridge counterparts. It is not exclusive to members of Oxford University, and consists of those who are physically talented in sports such as

Rock Climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

and

Parkour Parkour () is an athletic training discipline or sport in which practitioners (called ''traceurs'') attempt to get from point A to point B in the fastest and most efficient way possible, without assisting equipment and often while performing a ...

Political activism

During May 2018,

traffic cone Traffic cones, also called pylons, witches' hats, road cones, highway cones, safety cones, channelizing devices, construction cones, or just cones, are usually cone-shaped markers that are placed on roads or footpaths to temporarily redirect traf ...

s began to litter the exterior walls of the

. The Night Climbers of Oxford claimed responsibility through anonymous Oxfess Facebook submissions. The Traffic Cones were detailed with humorous content, supposedly designed to put students in a 'light-hearted' frame of mind. During Oxford's

pride week LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to sh ...

the traffic cones were decorated with

Rainbow flag A rainbow flag is a multicolored flag consisting of the colors of the rainbow. The designs differ, but many of the colors are based on the spectral colors of the visible light spectrum. The LGBT flag introduced in 1978 is the most recognized u ...

s, showing the secret society's clear support for the movement. Other key political issues that are often pursued by the Night Climbers is that of inequality, elitism, and the homeless epidemic in Oxford.

Trespassing and controversy

In April 2017,

Merton Street Merton Street is a historic and picturesque cobbled street in central Oxford, England. ...

was shut and fire tenders were called after several Corpus Christi College students climbed onto the roof, following a ' Bop'. All but one all of the students escaped from the

porters Porters may refer to: * Porters, Virginia, an unincorporated community in Virginia, United States * Porters, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community in Wisconsin, United States * Porters Ski Area, a ski resort in New Zealand * ''Porters'' (TV series ...

, while one had to be rescued by the fire service. Eyewitness reports indicate the students crawled along a first-floor gutter in order to reach the slate roof of the main

Quad Quad as a word or prefix usually means 'four'. It may refer to: Government * Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States * Quadrilateral group, an informal group which inc ...

. It is unclear how the students reached the gutter, but they were quickly spotted by porters and a Junior Dean. Upon speaking with the '' Cherwell'' student newspaper, David Bray, Fire Protection and Business Safety Manager for

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service The Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is the fire service serving the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is predominantly an on-call fire service, although also has whole-time support. Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters is in Kidlington, Ox ...

, released a statement saying: "They had placed themselves at great danger, considering that they were over four storeys above street level, and the slightest slip may have had disastrous consequences, which could have, at best, involved life-changing injuries." In an email to JCR members, seen by ''Cherwell'', the

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of Corpus Christi, Dr David Russell, described climbing on college buildings as “extraordinarily dangerous”, noting the “seriousness” of the ban on climbing and concluding that the ground was "unforgiving.” In January 2017, Christ Church students were issued with a safety warning after roof alarms were triggered by a night- climbing incident. The Night Climbers of Oxford confirmed to the Cherwell student newspaper, that two of their members had scaled Christ Church within the same time frame, coinciding with the incident. Professor Geraldine Johnson, the college’s junior censor, warned students to “make sure you don’t let anyone use your windows to access either the scaffolding or roof areas of the College.” The Night Climbers informed Cherwell that Christ Church was the easiest college to "both climb and infiltrate", due to the many obscure entrances on the grounds. College authorities expressed their concerns, highlighting the dangers of climbing on college buildings, despite not condemning the act of night climbing itself.

Popular culture

In more recent years, guides, books, plays and films have depicted the night-climbing/roof-climbing culture within Oxford. They are as follows: In 2007, Stephen Massicotte and R. H. Thomson printed the book ''The Oxford Roof Climber's Rebellion''. This book inventively expands on the friendship between

T. E. Lawrence Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...

and

Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was a British poet, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celtic ...

, suffering from the aftermath of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and foreseeing the dawning of new ones. This prompts the Oxford Night Climbers to lay siege to the university and town buildings, placing an Arabian flag on a roof at Oxford. The film was later converted into a

theatrical production A theatrical production is any work of theatre, such as a staged play, musical, comedy or drama produced from a written book or script. Theatrical productions also extend to other performance designations such as Dramatic and Nondramatic theatre, a ...

, produced by the Urban Stages company.Massicotte, S. (2007). ''The Oxford Roof Climber's Rebellion''. 1st ed. 259 West 30th Street, New York, N.Y.: Urban Stages, pp.1-10. In 2014, ''

The Riot Club ''The Riot Club'' is a 2014 British thriller drama film directed by Lone Scherfig and written by Laura Wade, based on Wade's 2010 play ''Posh''. The film stars Sam Claflin, Max Irons and Douglas Booth. It is set among the Riot Club, a fictional ...

'' depicts students scaling the town buildings surrounding the High Street. Directed by

Lone Scherfig Lone Scherfig (; born 2 May 1959) is a Denmark, Danish film director and screenwriter who has been involved with the Dogme 95 film movement and who has been widely critically acclaimed for several of her movies, including the Oscar-nominated film ...

and written by

Laura Wade Laura Wade is an English playwright. Early life Wade was born in Bedford, Bedfordshire. She grew up in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, where her father worked for a computer company. After completing her secondary education at Lady Manners School i ...

, the film is set amongst the privileged elite of Oxford University, following the story of Miles (

Max Irons Maximilian Paul Diarmuid Irons (born 17 October 1985) is an English-Irish actor and model. He is known for his roles in films such as ''Red Riding Hood'' (2011), '' The White Queen'' (2013), '' The Host'' (2013), '' Woman in Gold'' (2014), ''Th ...

) and Alistair (

Sam Claflin Samuel George Claflin (born 27 June 1986) is an English actor. After graduating from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 2009, he began his acting career on television and had his first film role as Philip Swift in '' Pirates of t ...

), two first-year students determined to join the infamous Riot Club. The Riot Club is described as a veiled version of the real-life

Bullingdon Club The Bullingdon Club is a private all-male dining club for Oxford University students. It is known for its wealthy members, grand banquets, and bad behaviour, including vandalism of restaurants and students' rooms. The club is known to select it ...

References

External links