Worcester 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 ...
in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of
Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet
Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (bap. 1648 – 8 June 1701) was an English philanthropist who was the benefactor of Worcester College, Oxford and Bromsgrove School.
Biography
He was the eldest son of Sir William Cookes, 1st Baronet, of Norgrov ...
(1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was adopted by the College. Its predecessor,
Gloucester College
Gloucester College, Oxford, was a Benedictine institution of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, from the late 13th century until the Dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century. It was never a typical college of the Universit ...
, had been an institution of learning on the same site since the late 13th century until the
Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. Founded as a men's college, Worcester has been coeducational since 1979. The Provost is
David Isaac, CBE who took office on 1 July 2021
, Worcester College had a
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 £41.9 million.
Notable alumni of the college include the media mogul
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
, television producer and screenwriter
Russell T Davies
Stephen Russell Davies (born 27 April 1963), better known as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer whose works include '' Queer as Folk'', '' The Second Coming'', ''Casanova'', the 2005 revival of the BBC One scie ...
, US Supreme Court justice
Elena Kagan
Elena Kagan ( ; born April 28, 1960) is an American lawyer who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 10, 2010, and has served since August 7, 2010. Kagan ...
, Fields Medalist
Simon Donaldson
Sir Simon Kirwan Donaldson (born 20 August 1957) is an English mathematician known for his work on the topology of smooth (differentiable) four-dimensional manifolds, Donaldson–Thomas theory, and his contributions to Kähler geometry. He i ...
, and novelist
Richard Adams
Richard George Adams (9 May 1920 – 24 December 2016) was an English novelist and writer of the books ''Watership Down'', ''Maia'', ''Shardik'' and ''The Plague Dogs''. He studied modern history at university before serving in the British Army ...
.
Buildings and grounds
The buildings are diverse, especially in the main
quadrangle: looking down into the main quadrangle from the entrance through the main building, to the right is an imposing eighteenth century building in the
neo-classical style
Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...
; and to the left a row of
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
buildings known as "the cottages", which are among the oldest residential 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 ...
. These cottages are the most substantial surviving part of
Gloucester College
Gloucester College, Oxford, was a Benedictine institution of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, from the late 13th century until the Dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century. It was never a typical college of the Universit ...
, Worcester's predecessor on the same site: this was a college for
Benedictine monks
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict ( la, Ordo Sancti Benedicti, abbreviated as OSB), are a Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), religious order of the Catholic Church following the Rule of Saint Benedic ...
, founded in 1283 and dissolved with the
Dissolution of the Monasteries in about 1539.
![UK-2014-Oxford-Worcester College 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/UK-2014-Oxford-Worcester_College_01.jpg)
After a lapse of 20 years, the buildings of the old Gloucester College were used in the foundation of an
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 ...
, ''
Gloucester Hall
Gloucester College, Oxford, was a Benedictine institution of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, from the late 13th century until the Dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century. It was never a typical college of the Universit ...
'', in around 1560. The penultimate principal,
Benjamin Woodroffe
Benjamin Woodroffe (1638–1711) was an English cleric and college head.
Life
The son of the Rev. Timothy Woodroffe, he was born in Canditch Street, St. Mary Magdalen parish, Oxford, in April 1638. He was educated at Westminster School, and was ...
, attempted to establish there a '
Greek College' for
Greek Orthodox
The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...
students to come to Oxford, part of a scheme to make ecumenical links with the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
. This was a going concern from 1699 to 1705, although only 15 Greeks are recorded as members.
In 1714, thanks to a fortunate benefaction from a Worcestershire baronet,
Sir
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...
Thomas Cookes
Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (bap. 1648 – 8 June 1701) was an English philanthropist who was the benefactor of Worcester College, Oxford and Bromsgrove School.
Biography
He was the eldest son of Sir William Cookes, 1st Baronet, of Norgr ...
, Gloucester Hall was transformed into Worcester College. Even then, there were only sufficient funds to rebuild the Chapel, Hall and Library and the north side of the Front Quad, known as the Terrace. The designs were by Dr.
George Clarke
George Clarke (7 May 1661 – 22 October 1736), of All Souls, Oxford, was an English architect, print collector and Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1702 and 1736.
Life
The son of Sir William Clarke ...
, who had consulted
Nicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor (probably 1661 – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principa ...
.
In 1736, Clarke generously left to the College his great collection of books and manuscripts. These included the papers of his father
William Clarke (which are of crucial importance for the history of England during the period of the
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
and
Protectorate
A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over m ...
) and a large proportion of the surviving drawings of
Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings.
As the most notable archit ...
.
![WorcesterCollegeTHShepherdEarly19thc edited](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/WorcesterCollegeTHShepherdEarly19thc_edited.jpg)
Owing to lack of funds, Worcester's eighteenth-century building programme proceeded by fits and starts. The west end of the Terrace and the Provost's Lodgings were added in 1773–1776 (architect:
Henry Keene). The medieval cottages were to have been replaced by a further classical range, but survived because money for this purpose was never available; the Hall and Chapel, by
James Wyatt
James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806.
Early life
W ...
, were not completed until the 1770s.
The Chapel
The College Chapel was built in the 18th century. Dr George Clarke, Henry Keene and James Wyatt were responsible for different stages of its lengthy construction (1720–1791), owing to shortage of funds. The interior columns and pilasters, the dome and the delicate foliage plastering are all Wyatt's work. His classical interior was insufficiently emphatic for the tastes of militant Victorian churchmen, and between 1864 and 1866 the chapel was redecorated by
William Burges
William Burges (; 2 December 1827 – 20 April 1881) was an English architect and designer. Among the greatest of the Victorian art-architects, he sought in his work to escape from both nineteenth-century industrialisation and the Neoc ...
. It is highly unusual and decorative; being predominantly pink, the pews are decorated with carved animals, including kangaroos and whales, and the walls are riotously colourful, and include frescoes of dodos and peacocks. Its
stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
windows were to have been designed by
John Everett Millais
Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...
, but Burges rejected his designs and entrusted the work to
Henry Holiday
Henry Holiday (17 June 183915 April 1927) was a British historical genre and landscape painter, stained-glass designer, illustrator, and sculptor. He is part of the Pre-Raphaelite school of art.
Life Early years and training
Holiday was born ...
. Oscar Wilde said of the Chapel, "As a piece of simple decorative and beautiful art it is perfect, and the windows very artistic."
The Chapel Choirs
Worcester is unique among the Oxford colleges in that it has not one, but two chapel choirs of equal status, which share out the weekly services between them. There is a mixed-voice choir constituted of auditioned choral scholars and volunteers, which sings twice a week: weekly on Thursday and on alternating Sunday and Monday evenings. The Boys' Choir consists of trebles from
Christ Church Cathedral School
Christ Church Cathedral School is an independent preparatory school for boys in Oxford, England. It is one of three choral foundation schools in the city and educates choristers of Christ Church Cathedral, and the Chapels of Worcester College ...
and alto, tenor and bass choral scholars. This choir also sings twice weekly; on Sunday and Tuesday evenings. These choirs are run on a day-to-day basis by Worcester’s three Organ Scholars alongside the Director of Music.
The Hall
William Burges was commissioned to redecorate the Hall, but was forced to curtail his elaborate designs by a lack of funds. A reduced scheme was completed in 1877 but was substantially altered in the early-twentieth century, and in 1966 Wyatt's designs were restored using his original drawings (preserved in the College Library), under the direction of architect Emil Godfrey. The Hall was refurbished and redecorated in 2018.
Modern buildings
In more recent years, several new residential blocks for undergraduates and graduates have been added, thanks in part to a series of generous benefactions. The latest of these include the Earl Building, Sainsbury Building (which won the Civic Trust Award in 1984), Linbury Building, Canal Building, Ruskin Lane Building (for undergraduates), the Franks Building (for graduates), and the
Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre, which won numerous architectural awards and was shortlisted for the 2018
Stirling Prize
The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The S ...
.
The Canal Building sits next to the north entrance to the college and, as the name suggests, beside the
Oxford Canal
The Oxford Canal is a narrowboat canal in central England linking the City of Oxford with the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury (just north of Coventry and south of Bedworth) via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to the River Thame ...
. It houses 50 students in large en-suite single rooms. The accommodation is usually reserved for third and fourth year undergraduates.
The Gardens
![Oxford - Worcester College - playing field trees](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Oxford_-_Worcester_College_-_playing_field_trees.jpg)
Although Worcester is near the centre of Oxford today, it was on the edge of the city in the eighteenth century. This has proved a benefit in the long run, since it has allowed the college to retain very extensive gardens and contiguous
playing fields
A pitch or a sports ground is an outdoor playing area for various sports. The term ''pitch'' is most commonly used in British English, while the comparable term in American and Canadian English is playing field or sports field.
For most sports t ...
(a total of , including a lake).
The gardens have won numerous awards, including the Oxford in Bloom college award every time they have been entered for the competition. Extensive work on the gardens was carried out between 1817 and 1820, and they may have been laid out in the Picturesque style by Richard Greswell in 1827. They are now managed by head gardener Simon Bagnall and a team of seven gardeners.
A production of ''
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...
'' was directed by
Patrick Garland
Patrick Ewart Garland (10 April 1935 – 19 April 2013) was a British director, writer and actor.
Career
Garland was educated at St Mary's College, Southampton, and St Edmund Hall, Oxford where he studied English and was Literary Editor of Isi ...
in the gardens with
Oz Clarke
Robert Owen Clarke (born 1949), known as Oz Clarke, is a British wine writer, actor, television presenter and broadcaster.
Early life
Clarke's parents were a chest physician and a nursing sister. He is of Irish descent and was brought up Roman ...
as
Sir Toby Belch
Sir Toby Belch is a character in William Shakespeare’s ''Twelfth Night''. He is Olivia's uncle.
Character
Sir Toby is an ambiguous mix of high spirits and low cunning. He first appears in the play's third scene, when he storms onto the stage ...
and
Francis Matthews. Other garden plays have included
The Tempest on the lake, directed by
Nevill Coghill
Nevill Henry Kendal Aylmer Coghill (19 April 1899 – 6 November 1980) was an English literary scholar, known especially for his modern English version of Geoffrey Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales''.
Life
His father was Sir Egerton Coghill, 5th ...
in 1949, and
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...
in the Provost's garden, directed by Provost
Jonathan Bate
Sir Andrew Jonathan Bate, CBE, FBA, FRSL (born 26 June 1958), is a British academic, biographer, critic, broadcaster, poet, playwright, novelist and scholar. He specialises in Shakespeare, Romanticism and Ecocriticism. He is Foundation Profes ...
and undergraduate Georgia Figgis in 2016.
From February 2009 until December 2018 the college's gardeners kept a
blog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
to provide an insight into the work involved in looking after the .
Gallery
File:WorcesterQuadrangle.JPG, The main quadrangle of Worcester College; on the left are the medieval buildings known as "the cottages", the most substantial surviving part of Gloucester College
Gloucester College, Oxford, was a Benedictine institution of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, from the late 13th century until the Dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century. It was never a typical college of the Universit ...
, Worcester's predecessor
File:Worcester College from the quad.JPG, The main building re-built between 1720 and 1786. Above the arcade is the Old Library; behind the arcade are the main entrance to the College (centre) and the entrances to the Chapel (left) and the Hall (right)
File:Worcester College, Oxford - geograph.org.uk - 1325095.jpg, North range of the Quad, the 18th century Terrace
File:Oxford - Worcester College - Provost lodging.jpg, Provost's Lodgings, added to the North range in 1773–1776 by the architect Henry Keene
File:Worcester College Oxford England.jpg, The cottages from the Nuffield lawn
File:Oxford - Worcester College - lake sun.jpg, Lake
File:Sainsbury Building.jpg, Sainsbury Building (which won the Civic Trust Award in 1984)
File:Nazrin Shah Centre.jpg, Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre, added in 2017, viewed across the cricket field
Traditions
![Oxford - Worcester College - lake playing field](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Oxford_-_Worcester_College_-_lake_playing_field.jpg)
Every three years in June, the college hosts a
commemoration ball
A Commemoration ball is a formal ball held by one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in the 9th week of Trinity Term, the week after the end of the last Full Term of the academic year, which is known as "Commemoration Week". Commemorati ...
.
The College holds a
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 ...
every day of term except on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays; dress is formal with gowns compulsory for students who choose to attend. Before each meal, the College grace is recited by a scholar, or student studying a field related to
Literae Humaniores. The text is the same as that recited at
Christ Church but, in comparison, always given in the long form, in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
:
Translated into English:
Every Hilary (spring) term on the Saturday of 4th Week, second-year members of the College celebrate 'Midway' to mark the point at which they are exactly halfway through their degree (given that students on 3-year courses attend for nine terms, each of duration eight weeks...). The occasion is marked with the taking of professional photographs: one in formal dress (but not gowns), and the other in costumes made by the students, usually reflecting themes decided by individual groups of friends. Later in the day a meal is served in
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 ...
to distinguish the event.
Sports
Worcester College is known for its sporting prowess, especially in football, cricket and hockey, and is one of the few colleges to have its sporting grounds onsite (football, rugby, tennis, basketball, netball, croquet and cricket). In the 2011/2012 season Worcester won Men's Football Cuppers, Men's Reserve Football Cuppers and Women's Football Cuppers. During recent years the hockey side has won numerous league titles, 'Varsity Cuppers' or 'Supercuppers' in 2015, and Cuppers in 2016..
The
Worcester College Boat Club
Worcester College Boat Club (WCBC) is a rowing club for members of Worcester College, Oxford. It is based on the Isis at Boathouse Island, Christ Church Meadow, Oxford, Oxford.
History
The club was founded in 1825 and shares the boathouse buil ...
was founded in 1825 and shares the boathouse building with
Merton College Boat Club
Merton College Boat Club (MCBC) is a rowing club for members of Merton College, Oxford. It was established in 1838 and competes every year in Torpids and Summer Eights, the intercollegiate bumps races at the University of Oxford, as well as e ...
.
People associated with Worcester
Provosts
* Richard Blechinden, 1714–1736
* William Gower, 1736–1777
* William Sheffield, 1777–1795
*
Whittington Landon
Whittington Landon (c. 1758 – 29 December 1838) was an academic at the University of Oxford and an Anglican clergyman who became Dean of Exeter.
Life
Whittington Landon, the son of John Landon from Tedstone, Herefordshire, matriculated at th ...
, 1795–1839
*
Richard Lynch Cotton
Richard Lynch Cotton (14 August 17948 December 1880) was a British vicar and academic administrator at the University of Oxford.
Cotton was born in Whitchurch, Oxfordshire, the son of Henry Calveley Cotton and Matilda Lockwood, one of 11 childr ...
, 1839–1881
*
William Inge
William Motter Inge (; May 3, 1913 – June 10, 1973) was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s he had a string of memorable Broad ...
, 1881–1903
* Charles Henry Olive Daniel, 1903–1919
*
Francis John Lys
Francis John Lys (1863–1947) was a British lecturer and academic administrator. He was Provost of Worcester College, Oxford (1919–46) and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University from 1932 until 1935.
The elder son of F. D. Lys, of Highclere, W ...
, 1919–1946
*
John Cecil Masterman
Sir John Cecil Masterman OBE (12 January 1891 – 6 June 1977) was a noted academic, sportsman and author. His highest-profile role was as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, but he was also well known as chairman of the Twenty C ...
, 1946–1962
*
Oliver Franks, Baron Franks
Oliver Shewell Franks, Baron Franks (16 February 1905 – 15 October 1992) was an English civil servant and philosopher who has been described as 'one of the founders of the postwar world'.
Franks was involved in Britain's recovery after the S ...
, 1962–1976
*
Asa Briggs, Baron Briggs
Asa Briggs, Baron Briggs (7 May 1921 – 15 March 2016) was an English historian. He was a leading specialist on the Victorian era, and the foremost historian of broadcasting in Britain. Briggs achieved international recognition during his lon ...
, 1976–1991
*
Richard Smethurst
Richard Good Smethurst (born 17 January 1941) was provost of Worcester College, Oxford, England.
Smethurst was educated at Liverpool College, Worcester College, Oxford, and Nuffield College, Oxford.
In 1964, Smethurst was appointed research f ...
, 1991–2011
* Sir
Jonathan Bate
Sir Andrew Jonathan Bate, CBE, FBA, FRSL (born 26 June 1958), is a British academic, biographer, critic, broadcaster, poet, playwright, novelist and scholar. He specialises in Shakespeare, Romanticism and Ecocriticism. He is Foundation Profes ...
, 2011–2019
*
Kate Tunstall, Interim Provost 2019–21
*
David Isaac, from 1 July 2021–
Fellows
Notable alumni
Fictional alumni of the college include Nick Guest from
The Line of Beauty
''The Line of Beauty'' is a 2004 Man Booker Prize-winning novel by Alan Hollinghurst.
Plot
The novel is set in Britain in three parts, taking place in 1983, 1986 and 1987. The story surrounds the young gay protagonist, Nick Guest. Nick is midd ...
by
Alan Hollinghurst
Alan James Hollinghurst (born 26 May 1954) is an English novelist, poet, short story writer and translator. He won the 1989 Somerset Maugham Award, the 1994 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the 2004 Booker Prize.
Early life and education
H ...
.
See also
*
Bromsgrove School
Bromsgrove School is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, England. Founded in 1553, it is one of the oldest public schools in Britain, and one of the 14 founding members of the Headmaste ...
that shares a similar coat of arms, based on those of their joint benefactor, Sir Thomas Cookes of Norgrove.
References
Sources
*
External links
Worcester College homepageWorcester College JCRWorcester College MCRWorcester College Chapel*
{{Authority control
1714 establishments in England
Educational institutions established in 1714
Colleges of the University of Oxford
Grade I listed buildings in Oxford
Grade I listed educational buildings
Buildings and structures of the University of Oxford
William Burges buildings