Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges 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 (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 Univer ...

, 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, 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, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was Elena Kagan Supreme Court nomination ...

, Fields Medalist Simon Donaldson, 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 Ar ...

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 st ...

; 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 period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

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

, Worcester's predecessor on the same site: this was a college for

Benedictine monks , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

, founded in 1283 and dissolved with the Dissolution of the Monasteries in about 1539. UK-2014-Oxford-Worcester College 01

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'', 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 wa ...

, attempted to establish there a ' Greek College' for

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...

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 Brit ...

. 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 Thomas Cookes, 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 Clark ...

, 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 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 most of its in ...

) 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

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, 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. Oscar Wilde said of the Chapel, "As a piece of simple decorative and beautiful art it is perfect, and the windows very artistic." Worcester College Chapel, Oxford, UK - Diliff

Worcester College Chapel, Oxford, UK - Diliff

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 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 Canal Building sits next to the north entrance to the college and, as the name suggests, beside the Oxford Canal. 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

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 ...

(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 Vi ...

'' was directed by Patrick Garland in the gardens with Oz Clarke as Sir Toby Belch and Francis Matthews. Other garden plays have included The Tempest on the lake, directed by Nevill Coghill in 1949, and

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 Prof ...

and undergraduate Georgia Figgis in 2016. From February 2009 until December 2018 the college's gardeners kept a

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), 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 ...

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

, 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

Every three years in June, the college hosts a commemoration ball. The College holds a Formal Hall 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 languages, 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 ...

: 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 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 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 ext ...

People associated with Worcester

Provosts

* Richard Blechinden, 1714–1736 * William Gower, 1736–1777 * William Sheffield, 1777–1795 * Whittington Landon, 1795–1839 * Richard Lynch Cotton, 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, Wey ...

, 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 Co ...

, 1946–1962 * Oliver Franks, Baron Franks, 1962–1976 * Asa Briggs, Baron Briggs, 1976–1991 * Richard Smethurst, 1991–2011 * Sir

, 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 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 Ho ...

References

Sources

External links

Worcester College homepage

Worcester College JCR

Worcester College MCR

Worcester 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