Harry Christopher Minchin

“ In these buildings, then, the history of Norman Oxford is written, so far as history can be written in stone; yet here and there about the city are to be seen structures which, although two or three centuries younger, have an appearance hardly less venerable. Year after year the aged walls and portals are thronged with fresh generations of the youth of England; and it is in this combination of youth and age that no little of the charm of Oxford lies. ”

“ Vaulting ambition, that o'erleaps itself,
And falls o' the other side.
Yet Wolsey had a public as well as a private ambition. He loved learning, and desired to promote it: he sought to save the Church by rearing instructed ministers for her service. If he failed, it was a noble failure; for though Henry VIII., who now assumed the title of Founder, sanctioned an establishment less wide and generous than Wolsey proposed, even so the new College easily surpassed all others in the scale of its endowments. ”

“ THE UNIVERSITY AND ITS BUILDINGS WHEN did the University come into existence? That is a question which many people would like to have answered, but which still, like Brutus, "pauses for a reply." It is to the last degree improbable that we shall ever know. There were teachers and learners in Oxford at an early date, but so there were in many other English towns; the plant struck deeper in Oxford than elsewhere, that is all that one can say. There are various indications that in the twelfth century the town had acquired a name for learning. ”

“ Architecture of a totally different order meets the eye when the Inner Quadrangle is reached, as a glance at the final illustration proves; for the Italian style is much in evidence. The foundation stone of the present Chapel, which represented an older one, was laid in 1656, and tradition attributes the design of it, as well as that of the Library, to Sir Christopher Wren, who was then quite a young man. ”

“ The quiet old street has Colleges on either hand, Lincoln, Exeter, and Jesus. Retracing our footsteps, we get the fine view of All Saints which is given in the third illustration. The history of this Church, known originally as All Hallows, goes back to the twelfth century, but the present building, designed by Dr. Aldrich, a former Dean of Christ Church, has only been in existence since 1708, the old one having been destroyed in 1699 by the fall of its spire. The present graceful tower and spire are a worthy memorial of Dean Aldrich's versatility. ”

“ Longford, by whom he had five sons and two daughters; (2) on 10 November 1877 to Dora, younger daughter of Edwin Sturge of Gloucester, by whom he had one son and two daughters. The four sons who reached manhood all entered the army. The eldest, Ralph Charles Osborne, served with distinction in Burmah, in Manipur, at the relief of Chitral, in the Kurram Valley, and in South Africa, and died at Netley on 27 Jan. 1904.
[Historical Record of the 86th Regiment; The Afghan Campaigns of 1878–80, by Sydney H. Shadbolt, 1882, 2 vols; private information.] ”

“ The Front Quadrangle, whose exterior and interior are here depicted, was erected in the first half of the seventeenth century. Viewed from without, it has an air of quiet dignity; but the visitor will be even better pleased when he has passed the Porter's Lodge. A striking feature is the central flight of steps, with a portico, by which the Hall is reached. On either side of the statues of the two kings (Edward II. and Charles I.) stretches a trio of finely moulded windows, flanked by an oriel to right and left. Mr. Matthison clearly made his drawing when the "Quad." ”

“ In 1875 Pullen retired from Salisbury. During 1875-6 he served in Sir George Nares's arctic expedition as chaplain on the Alert, receiving on his return the Arctic medal. Thenceforth for twelve years he travelled widely on the Continent, making Perugia his headquarters. ”

“ NEW COLLEGE THIS College, in respect of its buildings and its endowments, is one of the most splendid in the University. Its founder, William of Wykeham, rose through the favour of Edward III. to high positions in Church and State, being made Bishop of Winchester in 1366 and Chancellor of England in the following year. He was a man of affairs, liberal and tolerant, who took delight in building, and had himself great skill in architecture. ”

“ A churchman and conservative, he took an active though unostentatious part in religious, philanthropic, and political affairs. He died at St. Leonards on 23 May 1901, and is buried in the Hastings borough cemetery. ”

“ In the view of the interior of the Quadrangle the building at the back is the Library; the abundance of creepers on the left hand adds to the idea of comfort suggested by the homeliness of the architecture. ”

“ In 1186, Giraldus Cambrensis, who had written a book about Ireland and wanted to get it known, came and read his manuscript aloud at Oxford, where, as he tells us, "the clergy in England chiefly flourished and excelled in clerkly lore." That was fifty years after the death of King Henry the Scholar, who—was it only a coincidence?—had a residence in Oxford. It is pleasant to find Oxford students, even in those early days, with ears attuned to hearing "some new thing." ”

“ The Founder's motto, "Manners Makyth Man," is of too wide an application to be limited to the members of any one school; and it is permissible to think that William of Wykeham, shrewd and liberal-minded as he was, would approve the change. An earlier alteration he would certainly have endorsed. He secured as a special privilege to the Fellows of his Foundation, that they should be admitted to all degrees in the University without asking any grace of congregation, provided they passed a satisfactory examination in their own College. ”

“ In the first place, it is the oldest; for though the original endowments of University and Balliol were bestowed a little earlier, Merton was the first College to have a corporate existence, regulated and defined by statute. With the granting of Merton's statutes in 1264, a new era of University life began. From being casual sojourners in lodgings and Halls, students from this date tended more and more to be gathered into organised, endowed, and dignified societies, where discipline was one of the factors of education. ”

“ The first illustration shews the exterior of the College. Above the gateway a curious piece of sculpture represents "Angels bearing the Host," or Corpus Christi, in a monstrance; on either side is a shield, the one engraved with Foxe's arms, the other with those of his see.
The second picture gives the interior of the Front Quadrangle. It is perhaps not too fanciful to suggest that the solidity and simplicity of the architecture are in keeping with the characteristics which experience has taught us to look for in Corpus men. ”

“ CHRIST CHURCH IF Magdalen is the most beautiful of Oxford Colleges, Christ Church is assuredly the most magnificent. Building was one of the favourite pursuits of Cardinal Wolsey, first Founder of Christ Church, as it was of Wykeham and Waynflete before him: it is almost mysterious how men of this type, who had the highest affairs of the State as well as of the Church upon their shoulders, found so much leisure to devote to architecture. ”

“ The western College was founded in 1314 by Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter, who twelve years later met his death as a supporter of Edward II., when that king was overthrown and murdered. A later and liberal patron was Sir William Petre, father of Dorothy Wadham, a statesman of the Tudor period. Of the ancient buildings of Exeter hardly anything remains. The Hall dates from the seventeenth century, the fronts to the Turl and Broad Streets from the nineteenth. The present Chapel is the third in which Exeter men have worshipped. ”

“ Mary's, All Souls, Queen's, and Magdalen; on our right the long, dark front of University, and many old dwelling-houses, whose architecture does not shame their situation. Looking backward for a moment at Queen's College (perhaps when the west is rosy, as in Mr. Matthison's drawing) , one sees substantially the same view which delighted Wordsworth in 1820; and we, if we are wise, shall take as much delight in it as he. ”

“ TRINITY COLLEGE TRINITY COLLEGE was founded by Sir Thomas Pope, a rich lawyer, in 1555. The site was previously occupied by Durham College, a now extinct foundation, which existed for the training of students from the Benedictine monastery of Durham.
There is much that is admirable about the buildings and grounds of Trinity; and its position is so little secluded that anyone passing down Broad Street or Parks Road can hardly help noticing its beauties. The first illustration shews the College as seen from Broad Street. ”

“ Benefactions poured in upon the several Colleges, but the greater institution was not forgotten. In the Divinity School, within whose walls Latimer and Ridley defended their opinions, and Charles II.'s Parliament debated, the University possesses, as is fit and proper, the most beautiful room in Oxford and one of the most beautiful in England. The style is Perpendicular and the ceiling is particularly admirable. Together with the fine room above it, in which Duke Humphrey's manuscripts were housed, the Divinity School was completed in 1480. ”

“ The Garden itself is delightful, and has, alone of Oxford pleasances, the additional feature of a lake. Mr. Matthison's drawing shows how beautiful this lake and its surroundings can be, when the colours are newly laid on by the brush of summer.
HERTFORD COLLEGE Hertford college consists of an anomalous collection of buildings, of various styles and dates. The eye rests with most pleasure on the Jacobean part of the Quadrangle, opposite the gateway. ”

“ A bump in front of the Barges (which Mr. Matthison has sketched) , following a long and stern chase from Iffley, is a thing to live for.
West of Folly Bridge "The River" might as well, for all the ordinary undergraduate knows of it, sink for some distance, like a certain classic stream, beneath the ground. Venturesome explorers tell of a tract of water put to base mechanical uses, flanked by dingy wharves and overlooked by attic windows.
But to most boating-men "The River" ends at Salter's, only to reappear in the modified form and style of "The Upper River" at Port Meadow. ”

“ Of the present buildings of the College none is of earlier date than the seventeenth century. The two Quadrangles form a grand front towards the High Street, with a tower over each gateway at equal distances from the extremities. Above the gateways are statues of Queen Anne and Queen Mary, on the outside; two more, within, represent James II. and Dr. Radcliffe. It was mainly at the cost of John Radcliffe, a member of the College, that the smaller Quadrangle was completed. ”

“ The Alfred tradition need not keep us longer.
University College owes its existence to William of Durham, who, at his death in 1249, beqeathed to the University the sum of three hundred and ten marks for the use of ten or more Masters (at that time the highest academical title) to be natives of Durham or its vicinity. Certain tenements were purchased, one of them on a part of the site of Brasenose, and here, in 1253, Durham's scholars first assembled; but only in 1280 were they granted powers of self-government. ”

“ All undergraduates of "The House" wear surplices—worn by scholars only, save here and at Keble—and the Cathedral is their Chapel. Mr. Matthison has chosen such a moment for his drawing, when the Quadrangle is in a moment flooded by the white surplices, varied here and there by the crimson hood of a Master or a Doctor's scarlet robes.
On the left of the drawing appears the Cathedral spire; in the centre the Belfry Tower, a solid and handsome structure put up in Dean Liddell's day ”

“ But the Library is eclipsed, in general opinion, by the Chapel. "It is usually observed," says Chalmers, "that whatever visitor remembers anything of Oxford, remembers the beautiful Chapel of All Souls, and joins in its praises." It is characterised by dignity and simplicity, and its great reredos has a remarkable history. The Chapel was wrecked in Reformation days, and the remains of the reredos were covered with plaster in the reign of Charles II. In 1870 some workmen accidentally discovered, on removing some of the plaster, the ruins of the now forgotten reredos. ”

“ BALLIOL COLLEGE THIS College was originated about 1260 by John de Balliol, a baron of Durham, whose son for four years occupied the throne of Scotland. But inasmuch as John de Balliol only made provision for four students, and that as penance for an outrage, the greater credit attaches to his wife Dervorguilla, who endowed a dozen more and hired them a lodging close to St. Mary Magdalen Church, on the site where part of the present College stands. Devorguilla gave her scholars their first statutes in 1282. She bade them live temperately, and converse with one another in the Latin tongue. ”

“ At the same time it may be readily admitted that the east end, designed on Norman lines, which the architect substituted, has considerable beauty, and harmonises with the general tone of the building. Regret is unavailing, and it is perhaps wiser to console oneself with the reflection that at any rate things might have been worse. ”

“ The conflict which ensued was of a very deadly nature. The scholars held their own until evening, when the citizens called the neighbouring villagers of Cowley and Headington to their aid, and the Gown were routed. As many as forty students were slain, and twenty-three townsmen. Then Edward III. took steps to protect the men of learning, lowering, among other measures, the tower of Carfax, because they complained that in times of combat the townsmen retired thither as to a castle, and from its summit grievously annoyed and galled them with arrows and stones. ”

“ J. H. Parker made the reasonable suggestion that the architect desired to emphasise by this variation of style the religious and secular uses of the several structures. Wadham, whether viewed from Parks Road or from its own delightful gardens, is a veritable joy to the beholder, as our illustrations indicate. The Hall, moreover, which is one of the finest in Oxford and contains a large collection of portraits, should not be neglected, nor the interior of the Chapel, with the sombre grandeur of its stained windows and "prophets blazoned on the panes." ”