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St Peter's College is a
constituent college A collegiate university is a university where 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 Col ...
of the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
. Located on New Inn Hall Street,
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
, 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, 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 2023, the college had an estimated
financial endowment A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of Financial instrument, financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to Donor intent, the will of its fo ...
of £52.8 million.


History


Medieval halls

Although founded in its current form in the 20th century, St Peter's occupies a central Oxford location on the site of two of the university's medieval halls. The first Master of St Peter's called the acquisition of the site "a chance of ages". The site was originally the location of Trilleck's Inn, later known as New Inn Hall, and Rose Hall. Trillecks' Inn was founded in the 14th century by Bishop Trilleck and, as New Inn Hall, merged into
Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...
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 Bishop of Liverpool, returned to Oxford. He was concerned at the rising cost of education in the older universities in Britain, and projected St Peter's as a college where promising students, who might otherwise be deterred by the costs of college life, could obtain an Oxford education. After Francis James died in 1928, his son Christopher Chavasse launched a memorial appeal in his father's name to fund the project, raising £150,000 from donors including Ella Rowcroft to convert and build new buildings on the site. St Peter's was licensed by the
university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
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 four permanent private halls at Oxford, three 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 for establishing the Nuffield Foundation, th ...
, who would also found
Nuffield College Nuffield College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. N ...
. The hall was sometimes nicknamed "Pot Hall". During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, 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 st ...
of the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
, 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 ...
. 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 ...
.


Buildings

St Peter's has a varied set of buildings, many of them much older than the college itself. The college has, in effect, adapted existing buildings to provide the collective facilities needed for college life, and built new ones to provide student accommodation.


Linton Quad

Linton House, a Georgian rectory dating from 1797, stands on the east side of Linton Quad along New Inn Hall Street. It was originally built as the offices for the Oxford Canal Company and called Wyaston House. It was bought in 1878 by Canon Henry Linton who converted it to a
rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...
for the Church of St Peter-le-Bailey. 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 Church of St Peter-le-Bailey. Built in 1874 and incorporating some of the stone of an earlier church, it is the third church of that name on or close to the site since the 12th century. Memorials to members of the Chavasse family in the chapel include Captain Noel Chavasse's original grave cross, a large
bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , 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 Noel Godfrey Chavasse, Captain Noel Chavasse. After serving in parishes in Preston, Lancashire, Preston, London, and Oxford, for eleven y ...
at prayer and the Chavasse memorial window. The quad also includes the Latner building.


Hannington Quad

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


Chavasse Quad

The Central Girls' School to the South of the original site of the college was designed by Leonard Stokes and completed in 1901. It was converted into the college's Chavasse Building between 1984 and 1986 and provides living accommodation for students and seminar rooms. In 2018 the new Hubert Perrodo Building was completed offering further on-site accommodation and conference spaces. The Middle Common Room (MCR) for postgraduates, and a music room are also located in the Pastry School in the quad's southwest corner.


Mulberry Quad

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


Castle Bailey Quad

The Castle Bailey Quad is St Peter's latest build, housing 54 undergraduate students across Damazer House (named after former Master, Mark Damazer) and Westfield House (named in honour of the women of Westfield College, London, who relocated to St Peter's during World War II). Other support facilities, including Fellow’s Rooms and an estates workshop and office, can be found on the ground floor. Castle Bailey Quad was funded through almost 900 donors and alumni contributions of close to £14m. The quad was officially opened on 15 June 2024 by the then Chancellor, The Rt Hon the Lord Patten of Barnes, KG, CH, PC.


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


Student life

The student-run Junior Common Room organises a wide variety of social events throughout the academic year, ranging from formal events to celebrate such things as Burns Night (complete with
haggis Haggis ( ) is a savoury pudding containing sheep's offal, pluck (heart, liver, and lungs), Mincing, minced with chopped onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with Stock (food), stock, and cooked while traditionally encased in the anima ...
and poetry) to creatively themed parties that run into the early hours of the morning. The college is one of the few to feature its own student-edited arts magazine, ''Misc'', which is published termly. The college also has a student-run college bar, which serves the Cross Keys cocktail.


Sports

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


Locomotive

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


People associated with the college


Masters

* Christopher Maude Chavasse (1929–1940) * Julian Thornton-Duesbery (1940–1944; first term) * Robert Wilmot Howard (1945–1955) * Julian Thornton-Duesbery (1955–1968; second term) * Alec Cairncross (1969–1978) * Gerald Aylmer (1979–1991) * John Barron (1991–2003) * Bernard Silverman (2003–2009) * Mark Damazer (2010–2019) * Judith Buchanan (from October 2019)


Fellows


Notable alumni

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'' * Robert Hanson, financier *
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'' * Kurt Jackson, painter * Libby Lane, Bishop of Derby, first woman consecrated a bishop in the
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of the college * Helen Lewis, ''
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'' of London * David Moxon, former
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* George Whipple III, American lawyer and society reporter * William Wickham (1831–1897), alumnus of New Inn Hall and MP for Petersfield * Daniel Woolf, historian; principal and vice-chancellor (2009–2019) of Queen's University, Canada * Ben Wright,
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References


External links


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