The colleges of Oxford

I have now been at Oxford for quite a while but I must confess to not having been a very good tour guide. I knew next to nothing about the colleges other than the handful I had personal experience with. So, I decided to open up each of their Wiki pages and have a look for anything interesting. When I have little on a college I will merge entries. I make zero claims about the accuracy of what is written here, the depth of the research is the Wiki page. The entries are roughly from oldest to youngest. Let's get to it!

University College

The oldest college (well it’s complicated, the next two also claim to be first). According to myth, it was founded by King Alfred! The only “Great” we have in the English line. The college shares his coat of arms (pictured below).

Univ has the longest grace of any college. Apparently, those listening to the grace have to respond five times in Latin before they can eat. 

Stephen Hawking went here for undergrad, Bill Clinton also popped up here as a Rhodes Scholar.  

Balliol

Balliol also has a claim to be the oldest Oxford college. It was the first “house of scholars” to be established, something like a proto-college. (Merton was the first proper college with a clear statute, and University College was the first informal grouping of funded scholars.) 

Balliol has a rivalry with Trinity, with the tradition of chanting offensive songs known as “Gordouli” over the wall at their neighbours. The wittiest of the raids between the two colleges belongs to Trinity, whose entry you should look forward to. 

After going to Eton, Boris Johnson went here. He was also president of the Oxford Union when he was here.

Merton

Merton is the oldest college (if we measure it by when the college first received a statute). It is also the highest-ranked college academically over the past 20 years. It was also the only college to side with Parliament during the Civil War. 

Merton has a fun tradition called the “Time Ceremony”. It’s a spoof of other Oxford traditions. In the Time Ceremony, students walk backwards around the Quad while drinking as the clocks go back to “preserve the space-time continuum”. They raise the fantastic toast “long live the counter-revolution” as they do so. 

Sir Andrew Wiles, who proved Fermat’s Last Theorem, did his undergrad here.

St Edmonds Hall (Teddy Hall) and Exeter

Teddy Hall is deeply connected to Lollardism, which was essentially protestantism before protestantism in England. It also counts Kier Starmer among its alumni, who did a postgrad law course there in the 80s. 

JRR Tolkien did his undergrad at Exeter. Apart from that, I didn’t find the page that interesting. Sorry Exeter.

Hertford

Hertford had a bumpy ride. First it was Hart Hall in the 1280s. This became a college in 1740 but was dissolved in 1816. In 1820, Magdalen Hall took over the site (established 1490). In 1874 Magdalen Hall became a college and was given the name Hertford.

A tourist favourite, The Bridge of Sighs (pictured) was added in 1913.

Oriel

Oriel was the last of Oxford's men's colleges to admit women, doing so in 1985. They also have a statue of Cecil Rhodes right in the middle of the front of their building on the High Street. At least put him in the gardens. 

Sir Walter Raleigh, the guy who is supposed to have introduced the English to the potato and tobacco (two bedrocks of the country), studied for an undergraduate degree here but never graduated. 

Queen’s

Queen’s was founded by the chaplain of queen consort Philippa of Hainault (the Queen in Queen’s). This was back in the mid 1300s, so Philippa acted as regent for a few years while her husband was away perpetrating the Hundred Years’ War. 

The chaplain’s family crest (pictured) did not include the little star on the breast of the first eagle. It was added since, as the little brother, he wasn’t allowed to use the family arms. Poor little brothers. 

Queen’s has an impressive alumni list. One of my favourite actors, Rowan Atkinson, briefly pursued a PhD here, leaving with a master's after deciding to devote himself to acting. In addition, they boast Henry the Fifth of the Battle of Agincourt, Tim Berners-Lee of the internet, Edmond Halley of the comet, and Edwin Hubble of the discovery that there are other galaxies than the one we are in!

New College

This is a pretty one (pictured 1). They have a mound in their gardens (pictured 2), which I found pretty intriguing when I happened to be there. I thought it might be some kind of ruin, but it turns out it’s just a mound from the early 1600s that they thought would make a nice garden feature. 

The college also has a cool motto, “Manner Makyth Man”.

Brasenose

Literally “Brass-Nose” after a bronze knocker that used to be on the hall’s door (pictured), with what looks more like a big snout than a nose. 

Brasenose has a rivalry with Lincoln College. Its neighbour, to which it is linked by a door. According to legend, a mob once chased students through the town. The Lincoln porter only allowed the Lincoln men through, leaving a Brasenose student to die at the hands of the mob. To honour the fallen man, the door is opened once a year for five minutes, and Brasenose students are served ale by Lincoln. The ale is flavoured with ground ivy to discourage excessive consumption. 

Alumni include David Cameron, Michael Palin of Monty Python and William Webb Ellis who invented Rugby,

Lincoln 

Dr Suess dropped out of a doctorate here. Maybe he was put off by the Goblin Club, an exclusive all-male dining society banned in 2019 on the grounds of being elitist and racist. 

The college grace is read aloud in Latin every formal. To encourage students, if you do it twice in a term, you get a bottle of wine. Lincoln is the other half of the Brasenose rivalry above, so hopefully the wine isn’t flavoured with ivy too. 

Rishi Sunak went here.

All Souls 

Most these colleges have long winded real names, but while most just seem superfluous, All Souls’ is actually quite cool. The true name is The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed of Oxford.  

All Souls admits no undergraduate students. Within three years of completing an undergraduate or master's degree, individuals can apply for a “prize fellowship” here. This entails an exam once called the “hardest in the world” for room and board in Oxford for 7 years to study whatever one wishes. 

Every hundred years, there is a feast, after which fellows parade around the college with flaming torches singing the Mallard song, led by a “Lord Mallard” carried in a chair. They search for the legendary mallard that flew out of the college's foundations when it was being built. In past years, they followed a man who brandished a live mallard duck tied to a pole. 

Magdalen

This is a big one. Magdalen, pronounced “maudlin”, is probably the richest college in Oxford. It owns the Oxford Science Park, an area south of the city with over 100 companies. 

On May day the college choir sings from the top of its tower at 6 a.m. I’ve been once, it’s unbelievably packed (pictured). 

The reason the name is like that is the college is so old language has shifted around it. It was named after Mary Magdalene, whose name in late medieval English was Maudelen. 

Its alumni include Thomas Wolsey, the advisor to Henry the VIII who actually founded a college later in this list and Oscar Wilde. 

Erwin Schrödinger came to be a fellow here after he left Nazi Germany. He brought both his wife and a second partner to live with, which was not met with acceptance. Don’t feel too bad for Schrödinger, the evidence suggests he was a paedophile who abused several of his students. 

Corpus Christi 

The Pelican in her Piety (pecking her own breast to draw blood to feed her chicks) is on the left in the coat of arms (pictured). Pelicans are a theme at the college.

Once a year, the college tortoise is raced against other Oxford tortoises at the “Tortoise Fair”.

Christ church

Christ church is intimately tied to the English Reformation. At the height of his power, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey founded Cardinal College at the site. He fell from grace after being incapable of attaining an annulment for Henry VIII's marriage. Among the Church's possessions, Henry seized the site. He established it as a college and cathedral of the new Diocese of Oxford. 

The college contains some impressive architecture, including Tom Tower (pictured), designed by Sir Christopher Wren, Tom Quad (the largest Oxford quadrangle, pictured) and the Great Dining Hall (also pictured). The latter was the seat of parliament assembled by Charles I during the English Civil War. The architecture has been featured in Harry Potter and The Golden Compass.

The college has the most British prime ministers among its alumni, at 13. Lewis Carroll spent most of his life here, and so did John Locke, a man whose ideas were a big influence on the US Declaration of Independence. Robert Hooke of the law about springs went here. 

While my favourite physicist, Albert Einstein, was in Oxford, he was at Christ Church. Here is a little anecdote I love from the author of Lord of the Flies from when he met the great man (this is reproduced from here: link).

Some time in 1931, the young Golding happened to be standing on a small bridge in Magdalen Deer Park looking at the river when a ‘tiny moustached and hatted figure’ joined him. 

“Professor Einstein knew no English at that time, and I knew only two words of German. I beamed at him, trying wordlessly to convey by my bearing all the affection and respect that the English felt for him. “

For about five minutes the two stood side by side.

At last, said Golding, “With true greatness, Professor Einstein realized that any contact was better than none."

He pointed to a trout wavering in midstream. ‘Fisch’, he said.

Golding continues: Desperately I sought for some sign by which I might convey that I, too, revered pure reason.

I nodded vehemently.

In a brilliant flash I used up half my German vocabulary: ‘Fisch. Ja. Ja.’ I would have given my Greek and Latin and French and a good slice of my English for enough German to communicate. But we were divided; he was as inscrutable as my headmaster.

For another five minutes, the unknown undergraduate Englishman and the world-famous German scientist stood together. 

Then Professor Einstein, his whole figure still conveying goodwill and amiability, drifted away out of sight. 

Trinity

Trinity is the other half of the Balliol-Trinity rivalry. The wittiest of the pranks inflicted in this century-long war was committed by Trinity:

In October 1985, the new intake of Balliol students each received a letter containing a narrow-necked 100ml screw-top receptacle. The letter read, "Dear [X], 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 the unfurling of a banner over Balliol reading, "We are Balliol. Please Don't Take The Piss!"

St John’s

This is the richest of all the colleges. It owns a bunch of land that was developed and is still the landlord. The Lamb and Flag pub is famously owned (and until very recently operated) by the college. 

Tony Blair did his undergrad here.

Jesus

Jesus is the only college to date to the reign of Elizabeth I. It is known as the Welsh college and, for a time, had many stipends available only to students from particular parts of Wales. This is no longer the case but the college's undergraduate gossip sheet is entitled The Sheepshagger, a reference to an offensive joke about Welsh people. 

Lawrence of Arabia went here.

Wadham 

The Wadham Wiki page very helpfully cuts to the chase and gives us a section called Anecdotes and Curiosities. This is what we’re here for! Below are some highlights:

• Under the original statutes, women were forbidden from entering the college, with the exception of a laundress who was to be of 'such age, condition, and reputation as to be above suspicion.' 
• In 1739 the warden of Wadham, Robert Thistlethwayte, fled England after a homosexual scandal. The event prompted the limerick:

There once was a Warden of Wadham. Who approved of the folkways of Sodom, For a man might, he said, Have a very poor head But be a fine Fellow at bottom.

• In 1968, as student protests became commonplace at centres of learning in Europe and the Americas, the Warden and Fellows are reported to have sent this reply to a set of "non-negotiable demands" Dear Gentlemen: We note your threat to take what you call 'direct action' unless your demands are immediately met. We feel it is only sporting to remind you that our governing body includes three experts in chemical warfare, two ex-commandos skilled with dynamite and torturing prisoners, four qualified marksmen in both small arms and rifles, two ex-artillerymen, one holder of the Victoria Cross, four karate experts and a chaplain. The governing body has authorized me to tell you that we look forward with confidence to what you call a 'confrontation,' and I may say, with anticipation. The letter seemed to have dimmed the students' fire.

Sir Christopher Wren of St Paul’s Cathedral went here. So did the physicist Roger Penrose. 

Pembroke 

In 2002, two fellows here resigned after they accepted a bribe to admit the fictional child of an undercover reporter. The autocratic leader of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, went here, so maybe he learnt a thing or two from those fellows. 

Pete Buttigieg, a rising star in the American Democratic Party, was a Rhodes Scholar here.

Worcester 

Worcester has an unusually decorative and beautiful chapel (pictured). 

The media tycoon Rupert Murdoch studied PPE here, other alumni are Emma Watson and the show runner through much of the best of Dr Who, Russell T Davies. 

Keble

This college is built of red, blue, and white bricks in the 1870s (pictured) and stood out quite a bit when it was built. Sir Kenneth Clark recalled that during his Oxford years it was generally believed that Keble College was "the ugliest building in the world". Undergraduates at St John's College started the Destroy Keble Society, which aimed to dismantle the college brick by brick.

Lady Margaret Hall, Sommerville, St Hugh’s, St Hilda’s, St Anne’s

The interesting thing these colleges share is that they were all the first women's colleges in Oxford. Depending on how you count, LMH was the first of these, but they were all established within 20 years of each other in the latter half of the 1800s. Before 1920, the university would not recognise women as full members of the university. They could go to lectures, take exams, but wouldn’t be given a degree.

Some tidbits I found where LMH is the only college to offer a foundation year and alumni include Nigella Lawson and the peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai. Margaret Thatcher went to Sommerville. Teresa May went to St. Hugh's. St Hilda’s was the last of the women’s colleges to admit men, doing so in 2008. Finally St Anne’s doesn’t have a chapel, and its college mascot is a Beaver, which like the Corpus Christi Pelican is a theme in the college.

St Peter’s, St Catherine's, Nuffield college

St. Peter's had the nickname “Pot hall”, Wikipedia doesn’t elaborate. Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada, went there. 

Catz was designed by one guy, Arne Jacobsen. “Jacobsen designed everything, including the furniture, cutlery, lampshades, and the college gardens, down to the choice of fish species for the pond.” 

Nuffield was the first Oxford college to accept both men and women. It was also the first exclusively graduate college at either Oxford or Cambridge. 

Regents

This is a college that was drawn into Oxford like dust to a motherboard. It was located in Regent’s Park, London, from which it’s name, before floating into Oxford in 1927. Part of the appeal of the move was that neither of the ancient universities had Baptist representation. 

When it first arrived in Oxford, a Latin grace was composed for use in Hall. This was quickly put to a stop by the principal, whose principles led him to dunk those who spoke Latin in Hall in a bath of cold water. A true Baptist.

Harris Manchester College

This college is another that kind of floated around for a while before landing in Oxford. It was established in Manchester in 1757, moved to York, then to London, and finally to Oxford in 1889. It is the smallest undergraduate college in either Oxbridge universities.

HMC was requisitioned by Naval Intelligence during WWII. The section housed there played a role in planning Operation Overlord.

Mansfield

Another college that was drawn in over time from elsewhere in the country. Manchester again, in fact. It was the first nonconformist college in Oxford, meaning a college that is still Protestant, just not specifically Church of England Protestant. Which, at some point, was presumably a big deal.

Today, Mansfield is known for its emphasis on equality, with over 90% of the students from state schools.

St Antony’s 

At this point in the blog, the colleges are modern, St Antony’s was founded in 1950. However, it has quite a mysterious air to it. It was established with an emphasis on regional studies and became the place to study the Soviet Union at Oxford. This gave it a reputation for being a spy college:

St Antony’s in Oxford was notorious in both the British and Soviet press as a “spy college”.

I found this little article by a student who went on an exchange to Moscow during the Cold War oddly nostalgic for a time I wasn’t even born in. Link

Linacre

This is my college. It is known for the biggest bop in Oxford, the matriculation bop “sexy sub-fusc” and for some recent drama about its name being changed: 

In 2021, the college signed a memorandum with SOVICO Group to receive £155 million. It stipulated that after the first £50 million, the College would change its name to Thao College. The UK government announced an investigation into this memorandum in 2022, and I have heard nothing about this since. 

St Cross

One of the poorest colleges in Oxford. Only £25 million to its name. Technically, it’s also only renting the land it is on with a 999-year lease from Pusey House. I guess they just thought it would be funny to have a lease that long. 

Wolfson

I’ve been here quite a few times because they have the Linacre punt. Wolfson gives off the vibes of a 60s hotel. I like it, it’s stylish, and the space is interesting to move around in. 

The cofounder of LinkedIn went here.

Kellogg College

Kellogg says grace in Welsh. It is the only college in Oxbridge to do so. 

Yes, that is the same Kellogg as the Kellogg's cereal brand. It was their money that established it.

Green Templeton College

GTC was formed by the merger of Green College (founded 1979) and Templeton College (founded 1965). It is centred around the Radcliffe Observatory, one of the earliest purpose-built observatories in Britain, completed in 1773. 

The full crest (pictured) features a knight's helm atop the shield with a heraldic Sun behind the astronomical device for Venus (♀), since it was the transit of Venus across the Sun in 1761 which prompted the foundation of the Observatory. A very cool crest in my opinion.

Reuben 

The baby of the bunch. Reuben was founded in 2019. It feels like my baby brother because it was in Linacre until they could get their own site. I don’t remember when they moved out, and the Wiki page doesn't either, but for the first couple of years of my PhD I remember the bottom part of Linacre being given over to them. They are pretty focused on AI, it always seems like the Reuben people work with AI to some capacity. 

And that’s it.

An Anki deck to remember where the colleges are and their crests can be downloaded on the Anki website.