Tom Quad
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The Great Quadrangle, more popularly known as Tom Quad, is one of the quadrangles of
Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...
, England. It is the largest college
quad QUaD, an acronym for QUEST at DASI, was a ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiment at the South Pole. QUEST (Q and U Extragalactic Sub-mm Telescope) was the original name attributed to the bolometer detector instrume ...
in
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 ...
, measuring 264 by 261 feet. Although it was begun by
Cardinal Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( ; – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic cardinal. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling f ...
in 1525–1529, he was unable to complete it before his fall from power. Wolsey planned a
cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...
, but only the starts of the arches on the walls, and of the supports jutting into the lawn were done; these can still be seen around the quadrangle. The main entrance was also left incomplete, and it is not known how the gatehouse was planned to look. After some 150 years, the gatehouse was completed in 1681–1682 with Tom Tower, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, when John Fell was Dean. A statue of Queen Anne on Tom Tower overlooks the main entrance to the Quad. The quad is listed Grade I on the
National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...
.


Description

The funds for the building of Tom Quad were found from the suppression of three
Norbertine The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Church ...
abbeys. It is dominated to the west by Tom Tower, designed by Sir Christopher Wren. On the east side is the entrance to Christ Church Cathedral and at the south-east corner is the entrance to the college dining hall. The north contains the homes of the canons of Christ Church, and much of the east side is taken up with the
Deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...
, in which the Dean of the college lives. On the north-east side, the quad leads, via Kilcannon, to
Peckwater Quadrangle The Peckwater Quadrangle (known as "Peck" to students) is one of the Quadrangle (architecture), quadrangles of Christ Church, Oxford, Christ Church, Oxford, England. It is a Grade I listed building. Christ Church Library is on the south side of ...
and the college library. In the north-west part of the quad is the Junior Common Room ("JCR"). Parts of the quad are still lived in by undergraduates, including the staircase above the Porter's lodge, known as "Bachelors' Row", to the left of the quadrangle when entered via Tom Gate. Bachelors' Row was only inhabited by first year male undergraduates until 2014, when the first female first year undergraduates took up residence there.


Mercury fountain

In the centre of the quad, there is an ornamental pond with a statue of Mercury. In the past, it was traditional for " hearties" (sporty students) to throw " aesthetes" (more artistic students) into this pond. Currently, entrance to Mercury carries a heavy fine for undergraduates. The pond also contains a large koi carp apparently worth a hefty sum, and donated by the Empress of Japan. The base of the fountain was designed by Sir
Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...
, the architect who designed much of India's modern capital
New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
. Lady Gwendolyn Cecil, in the biography of her father (the last Victorian Prime Minister
Lord Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903), known as Lord Salisbury, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United ...
), recounts how as a student in the 1840s, he rescued his bookish friends from being dunked in the fountains, by infiltrating the ''hearties'' and tipping off his friends about the time of the planned raid, and arranging with them a counter-ambush:


Gallery

Image:Tom Quad, Christ Church 2004-01-21.jpg, Winter view of Tom Quad in the snow. File:David Loggan - Oxonia Illustrata, 1675 - Christ Church College (BL 128.h.10).jpg, Print of 1675, before Wren's additions, David Loggan, ''Oxonia Illustrata'' File:Christ Church Oxford Tom Quad view 2011.jpg, Spire of the cathedral in centre, hall at right File:Entrance to Christchurch College, Oxford - geograph.org.uk - 1138645.jpg, The entrance to Tom Quad File:Tom Quad, Christ Church - geograph.org.uk - 556746.jpg, A view looking towards Tom Tower, from the entrance to the hall File:Tom quad Tom tower by Pavel Kliuiev.jpg, Tom Tower and Tom Quad. View on a warm winter evening.


See also

*
Peckwater Quadrangle The Peckwater Quadrangle (known as "Peck" to students) is one of the Quadrangle (architecture), quadrangles of Christ Church, Oxford, Christ Church, Oxford, England. It is a Grade I listed building. Christ Church Library is on the south side of ...
* Blue Boar Quadrangle * Meadow Building * Christ Church Library * Dunster House at Harvard


References


External links

* {{Portal bar, Architecture, University of Oxford Christ Church, Oxford Grade I listed buildings in Oxford Parks and open spaces in Oxford Courtyards Buildings and structures of the University of Oxford