Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) 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 ...

in England. The college was founded in 1555 by Sir Thomas Pope, on land previously occupied by

Durham College Durham College is a public college in Ontario, Canada, with two main campuses in Oshawa and Whitby. Durham College offers over 145+ academic programs, including six bachelor degrees and eleven apprenticeship programs, to around 13,700 full-ti ...

, home to

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monks from

Durham Cathedral Durham Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Durham, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Durham and is the Mother Church#Cathedral, mother church of the diocese of Durham. It also contains the ...

. Despite its large physical size, the college is relatively small in terms of student numbers at approximately 400. It was founded as a men's college and has been coeducational since 1979. As of 2023, the total funds of Trinity amounted to more than £224 million, including a

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 £191 million. Trinity has produced three British prime ministers, placing it third after Christ Church and Balliol in terms of former students who have held that office.

History

Durham College

The site where Trinity College now stands was originally occupied by Durham College, built for

monks from

. This college had been founded after land was bought in 1291, though monks had been sent to Oxford for a few years previous to this. The site was surrendered to the crown in March 1545, being granted to private owners in 1553. They were then acquired by civil servant Thomas Pope on 20 February 1555 (February 1554 as then was), who used them to found Trinity College 16 days later. Durham College was originally dedicated to the Virgin Mary,

St Cuthbert Cuthbert of Lindisfarne () ( – 20 March 687) was a saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Hiberno-Scottish mission, Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monastery, monasteries of Melrose Abbey#Histo ...

, and the Trinity, and it is thought that Trinity College took its name from the last element of this dedication.

Trinity College

Trinity College was founded in 1555 by Sir Thomas Pope, on land bought following the abolition of Durham College during the period of

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

, whose buildings housed the original foundation. Pope was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

who had no surviving children, and he hoped that by founding a college he would be remembered in the prayers of its students. His remains are still encased beside the chapel altar. The original foundation provided for a president, 12 fellows, and 12 scholars, and for up to 20 undergraduates. The fellows were required to take

Holy Orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

and to remain unmarried. The college remained an all-male institution until 1979, when (in common with a number of other Oxford colleges) it admitted its first women undergraduates. It is now fully

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 ...

and co-residential. Between 2015 and 2017, 41.1% of UK undergraduates admitted to Trinity came from state schools. Trinity was one of the locations used for filming of the original series ''

Brideshead Revisited ''Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder'' is a novel by the English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. It follows, from the 1920s to the early 1940s, the life and romances of Charles Ryder, esp ...

''; its grounds were also, in part, the basis for Fleet College in Charles Finch's '' The Last Enchantments''. Trinity has also featured heavily in episodes of ''

Inspector Morse Endeavour Morse, GM, is the namesake character of the series of "Morse" detective novels by British author Colin Dexter, a Detective Chief Inspector in the Thames Valley Police in Oxford, England. On television he was portrayed by John ...

'', '' Lewis'' and '' Endeavour''. Dame Hilary Boulding, formerly principal of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, succeeded Sir Ivor Roberts as president in August 2017.

Trinity–Balliol rivalry

For many years, there has been a traditional and fierce rivalry shown between the students of Trinity and those of its immediate neighbour to the west,

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 ...

. It has manifested itself on the sports field and the river; in the form of songs (of greater or less offensiveness) sung over the dividing walls; and in the form of "raids" on the other college. In college

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

, the rivalry goes back to the late 17th century, when Ralph Bathurst, president of Trinity, was supposedly observed throwing stones at Balliol's windows. In fact, although the first antagonism was recorded in 1583, the rivalry in its modern form appears to date from the late 1890s, when the chant or song known as a "Gordouli" began to be sung from the Balliol side. The traditional words run: Although these words are now rarely heard, the singing of songs over the wall is still known as "a Gordouli". The traditional Gordouli is said to have been sung by Balliol and Trinity men in the trenches of

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The rivalry was given an extra edge in the early 20th century by the contrast between the radical tendencies of many Balliol students and Trinity's traditional conservatism and social exclusivity. The president of Trinity between 1907 and 1938 was Herbert Blakiston, who became notorious for his reluctance to admit non-white students. Notably, he stubbornly resisted pressure from the

India Office The India Office was a British government department in London established in 1858 to oversee the administration of the Provinces of India, through the British viceroy and other officials. The administered territories comprised most of the mo ...

to admit undergraduates from

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, something that government department was attempting to promote. Balliol in contrast did admit a number of Indian and Asiatic students which gave many of the taunts from the Trinity side a distinctly

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

tone: Balliol students, for example, were sometime referred to as " Basutos". In '' Five Red Herrings'' (1931), a

Lord Peter Wimsey Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th Duke of Denver) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers (and their continuation by Jill Paton Walsh). A amateur, dilettante who solves myst ...

novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, Lord Peter (a Balliol man) is asked whether he remembers a certain contemporary from Trinity. "'I never knew any Trinity men,' said Wimsey. 'The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.'" Sayers also alludes to the rivalry in '' Murder Must Advertise'' (1933): Mr Ingleby, a Trinity man, comments, "If there is one thing more repulsive than another it is Balliolity." One of the wittier raids from Balliol, in 1962 or 1963, involved the turfing of the whole of Trinity JCR (complete with daffodils). One of the most famous incidents was perpetrated by three Trinity students (Richard Todd, Richard Cohen and Deidrie Small) on the new intake of freshers to Balliol in October 1985. They sent personally addressed letters to each of Balliol's new freshers on Balliol headed notepaper. It enclosed a narrow neck 100ml screw-top receptacle. The attached letter read, "Dear Welcome to Balliol. As you are aware the university requires a short medical check-up as part of your Coming-Up. Could you therefore please provide a urine sample in the attached sample bottle and return it to your college tutor's office by no later than 5.00 PM on Wednesday." The letters were sent out on that Wednesday evening. Balliol admitted to some 57 being returned. The incident was subsequently reported in the ''Daily Express'' under the headline, "students play wee joke on neighbours". The incident concluded with Todd and Cohen unfurling a banner over Balliol reading, "We are Balliol. Please Don't Take The Piss!". The last incident suspected to relate to the feud was the vandalism of Trinity's SCR pond in 2010, which led to the death of all but one of the fish.

Buildings

The main entrance to the college is on Broad Street, located between

and

Blackwell's Blackwell UK, also known as Blackwell's and Blackwell Group, is a British academic book retailer and library supply service owned by Waterstones. It was founded in 1879 by Benjamin Henry Blackwell, after whom the chain is named, on Broad Stree ...

bookshop, and opposite

Turl Street Turl Street is a historic street in central Oxford, England. Location The street is located in the city centre, linking Broad Street at the north and High Street at the south. It intersects with Brasenose Lane to the east, and Market St ...

. It is enclosed by an iron palisade rather than a wall, and the college's distinctive blue gates provide it with a more open appearance than many others in Oxford. The rear of the college backs onto St John's College, and has entrances on both St Giles' and

Parks Road Parks Road is a road in Oxford, England, with several Oxford University colleges along its route. It runs north–south from the Banbury Road and Norham Gardens at the northern end, where it continues into Bradmore Road, to the junction with Bro ...

. As well as its four major quadrangles, the college also boasts a large lawn and gardens, which include a small area of woodland.

Durham Quadrangle

Trinity College was built around a single quadrangle, now known as the Durham quadrangle, named after Durham College which previously occupied the site of Trinity.

Chapel

The chapel, though relatively modest in size compared to some of its Oxford counterparts, was the first college chapel to be designed entirely in the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style. It was thought to be designed by

Henry Aldrich Henry Aldrich (15 January 1648 – 14 December 1710) was an English theologian, philosopher, architect, and composer. Life Aldrich was educated at Westminster School under Dr Richard Busby. In 1662, he entered Christ Church, Oxford, and in 1 ...

, with advice from

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren FRS (; – ) was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist who was one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the history of England. Known for his work in the English Baroque style, he was ac ...

, and was consecrated in 1694. The executed design was based on a second print, moderated by Wren, and the previous print, held in the Library of Christ Church, Oxford, showed a different scheme for the west tower and the interior. On the top of the west tower sit four female statues, which represent Astronomy, Geometry, Medicine and Theology.

Garden Quadrangle

In a letter dated June 22, 1665, kept in the Trinity College Archives,

wrote back to the President of the College, Ralph Bathurst that it would be 'lame one... like a threelegged table' in response to Bathurst's suggestion of an open Quadrangle be put up to allow the view of the Fellows' Garden. During Wren's absence in Paris, the construction of the initial freestanding building - two-storied accommodation block with a mansard roof (the first one in Oxford) was put up under the direction of Oxfordshire stonemason family, the Townsends between 1665-1668. The west side was added to the same plan in 1682. The mansard roof was pulled down and replaced with the addition of a third storey as the population of Trinity College students grew. In its current state, the Garden Quad remains faithful to Bathurst's original intentions and the addition of the central block, completing the open air quadrangle was probably inspired by William Byrd's Garden Quadrangle at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

completed between 1682-1702.

Front Quadrangle

The front quadrangle between the Durham quadrangle and Broad Street was formed by the new buildings (1883–1885) and the president's lodgings (1885–1887), both designed by

Thomas Graham Jackson Sir Thomas Graham Jackson, 1st Baronet (21 December 1835 – 7 November 1924) was one of the most distinguished British architects of his generation. He is best remembered for his work at Oxford, including the Oxford Military College at Co ...

. It also includes some older buildings on Broad Street: four old cottages and Kettell Hall, a stone house built by President Ralph Kettell in around 1620.

Library Quadrangle

The library quadrangle is located between Jackson's new buildings and the new library of 1925–1928, built as a memorial to members of the college who perished in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The building was designed by architect Mr. J. Osborne Smith, with the ornate barrel roof created by the leading architectural designer Leonard Shuffrey. The Cumberbatch buildings to the north and south were designed by Maguire and Murray and built in 1964–1966. The Norrington Room (named after Sir Arthur Norrington, a former president of the college) of Blackwells bookshop lies underneath the quad. In 2018 the college gained planning permission for a new building, designed by ADAM Architecture, to the north of the library quadrangle and the university's

Weston Library The Weston Library is part of the Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, reopened within the former New Bodleian Library building on the corner of Broad Street and Parks Road in central Oxford, England. Hi ...

and replacing the northern Cumberbatch building. The Levine Building was opened in 2022 and marked the beginning of the overarching transformation of Trinity College.

Graces

The college grace reads:

Student life

The college offers accommodation to all undergraduate students. First and second years are housed on the college's main site, and third and fourth years in college buildings on the Woodstock Road.

Chapel Choir

The Chapel Choir of Trinity College consists of up to eight choral scholars and exhibitioners, and over thirty choral volunteers from across Oxford. It remains as one of the few non-auditioning chapel choirs in Oxford and the majority of its singers are Trinity College students. The choir sing a weekly

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. It is loosely based on the canonical hours of vespers and compline. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which ...

on a Sunday with occasional weekday services to mark college events such the Founder's Day. Unlike many colleges, Trinity College remains in the minority of Oxford colleges with no Director of Music. Thus, the responsibility of overseeing the chapel choir falls to the organ scholars and is overseen by the

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

. As of 2023, the organ scholars and choral award-holders are supported by Sarah Tenant-Flowers and Joanna Campion-Watt. Previous choral advisors to the Chapel Choir include Ralph Allwood who was appointed after his directorship at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. The Chapel Choir has gone on overseas tours annually: tour destinations include Dublin in 2008, where they sang concerts and a Sung Eucharist in

St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Saint Patrick's Cathedral () in Dublin, Ireland is the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland. Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Christ Church Cathedral, also a Church of Ireland cathedral in Dublin, is designated as the local cathedral of ...

, Rome in 2009, Paris in 2010, Barcelona in 2011 and Vienna in 2012. In more recent decade, the Chapel Choir has toured Valencia (2022), Ljubljana (2023) and Lyon (2024), singing concerts and mass at Ljubljana Cathedral and Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière. In terms of discography, in 2009, the choir released a CD, called 'A Voice from Afar', directed by then-organ scholar, Catherine Wallace.

Notable alumni

In over four centuries of its history, Trinity has produced a number of notable students who have led careers in fields such as academia, politics, science, religions and the arts. File:John Henry Newman by Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Bt.jpg, St John Henry Newman, theologian, poet and Cardinal of the Catholic Church File:William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham by William Hoare.jpg,

William Pitt the Elder William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him "Chatham" or "Pitt the Elder" to distinguish him from his son ...

, former

Prime Minister of Great Britain The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pr ...

File:Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford by Nathaniel Dance, (later Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland, Bt).jpg,

Frederick North, Lord North Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (13 April 17325 August 1792), better known by his Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title Lord North, which he used from 1752 to 1790, was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He ...

, former

File:Portrait of Henry G.J. Moseley, 1887-1915, in lab holding a glass globe, from Nature magazine (cropped).jpg, Henry Moseley, physicist and discoverer of

Moseley's law Moseley's law is an empirical law concerning the characteristic X-rays emitted by atoms. The law was discovered and published by the English physicist Henry Moseley in 1913–1914. Until Moseley's work, "atomic number" was merely an element's plac ...

File:Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington (1673–1743).jpg,

Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington (1673 – 2 July 1743) was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who served continuously in government from 1715 until his death in 1743. He sat in the House of Commons of England, En ...

, former

File:Jacob Rees-Mogg MP.jpg, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, former

Leader of the House of Commons The Leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The Leader is always a memb ...

and

Lord President of the Council The Lord President of the Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. The Lor ...

File:RichardFrancisBurton.jpeg, Sir Richard Burton, explorer and writer File:Robert Smallbones.png, Robert Smallbones, British diplomat and humanitarian File:Ronald Syme.jpg, Sir Ronald Syme, Roman historian File:Koning Filip van België.jpg,

Philippe of Belgium Philippe (born 15 April 1960) is King of the Belgians. He is the eldest child of King Albert II and Queen Paola. He succeeded his father upon the former's abdication for health reasons on 21 July 2013. He married Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz in 1 ...

King of the Belgians The monarchy of Belgium is the Constitutional monarchy, constitutional and Inheritance, hereditary institution of the monarchical head of state of the Kingdom of Belgium. As a popular monarchy, the Belgian monarch uses the title king/quee ...

File:SirEricErrington.png, Sir Eric Errington, Bt. Conservative Party

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and Justice of the Peace

Gallery

File:Trinity College's Lawns, facing Garden Quad, 2022.jpg, Back lawns looking towards Garden Quad; the white structure centre right is a temporary dining hall (2023). File:Front Quad, Trinity College, Oxford.jpg, Front Quad looking towards Staircase VII File:Bust of Cardinal Newman, Trinity College, Oxford.jpg, Bust of Cardinal Newman outside Garden Quad File:High table at trinity college oxford.jpg, Old dining hall File:Chapel at Trinity college oxford.jpg, Chapel interior File:Lawn - trinity college Oxford.jpg, From the lawn looking towards

Wadham College Wadham College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy Wadham, a ...

File:Residential building at trinity college oxford.jpg, The Jackson Building (Staircase VI in Front Quad) File:Christmas Formal in the New Dining Hall.jpg, Balcony view: re-inaugural Christmas Formal in the new dining hall (2024)

References

Bibliography * * Kemp, Martin (2014). ''The Chapel of Trinity College, Oxford''. With photographs by

Tim Rawle Tim Rawle is an English architectural photographer and writer. He is best known for his photographs of buildings in Cambridge, England. Biography Tim Rawle was born in Ashford, Kent. After studying fine art and graphic design at St Martin's ...

. London: Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers. 88 pp.

External links

History of the College''Google Streetview'' Tour of TrinityVirtual Tour of TrinityTrinity College JCRTrinity College MCRTrinity College Boatclub
{{Authority control Colleges of the University of Oxford 1555 establishments in England Educational institutions established in the 1550s Grade I listed buildings in Oxford Grade I listed educational buildings Buildings and structures of the University of Oxford