Jesus College, Oxford

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Jesus College
Latin: Collegium Ihesus


UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

Oxford,
Oxfordshire

JesusCollegeFirstQuadSpire.png
Coat of Arms of Jesus College Oxford.svg
Principal: Nigel Shadbolt
Website: www.jesus.ox.ac.uk
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Location
Grid reference: SP51390634
Location: 51°45’12"N, 1°15’25"W

Jesus College (the full name of which is Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It is in the centre of Oxford, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street. The college was founded by Queen Elizabeth I on 27 June 1571. A major driving force behind the establishment of the college was Hugh Price (or Ap Rhys), a churchman from Brecon in Brecknockshire. The oldest buildings, in the first quadrangle, date from the 16th and early 17th centuries; a second quadrangle was added between about 1640 and about 1713, and a third quadrangle was built in about 1906. Further accommodation was built on the main site to mark the 400th anniversary of the college, in 1971, and student flats have been constructed at sites in north and east Oxford. A fourth quadrangle was completed in 2021.

There are about 475 students at any one time.

History

Foundation

Portraint of Queen Elizabeth I in the college hall

Jesus College was founded on 27 June 1571, when Elizabeth I issued a royal charter.[1] It was the first Protestant college to be founded at the university, the only Oxford college to date from Elizabeth's reign,[2] and the first new Oxford college since 1555, when Trinity College and St John's College were founded by Queen Mary I. The foundation charter named a principal (David Lewis), eight fellows, eight scholars, and eight commissioners to draw up the statutes for the college.[3] The commissioners included Hugh Price, who had petitioned the queen to found a college at Oxford "that he might bestow his estate of the maintenance of certain scholars of Wales to be trained up in good letters."[4] The college was originally intended primarily for the education of clergy. The particular intention was to satisfy a need for dedicated, learned clergy to promote the Protestant church in the parishes of England, Ireland and Wales. The college has since broadened the range of subjects offered, beginning with the inclusion of medicine and law, and now offers almost the full range of subjects taught at the university. The letters patent issued by Elizabeth I made it clear that the education of a priest in the 16th century included more than just theology, however:[1]

Jesus College's first quadrangle
...to the Glory of God Almighty and Omnipotent, and for the spread and maintenance of the Christian religion in its sincere form, for the eradication of errors and heresies, for the increase and perpetuation of true loyalty, for the extension of good literature of every sort, for the knowledge of languages, for the education of youth in loyalty, morality, and methodical learning, for the relief of poverty and distress, and lastly for the benefit and well-being of the Church of Christ in our realms, [...] we have decreed that a College of learning in the sciences, philosophy, humane pursuits, knowledge of the Hebrew, Greek and Latin languages, to the ultimate profession of Sacred Theology, to last for all time to come, be created, founded, built, and established....
—Elizabeth I,  27 June 1571.
Part of Ralph Agas's map of Oxford (1578)

Price continued to be closely involved with the college after its foundation. On the strength of a promised legacy, worth £60 a year on his death, he requested and received the authority to appoint the new college's principal, fellows and scholars. He financed early building work in the college's front quadrangle, but on his death in 1574 it transpired that the college received only a lump sum of around £600. Problems with his bequest meant that it was not received in full for about 25 years. As the college had no other donors at this time, "for many years the college had buildings but no revenue".[5]

17th century

College Engraving 1675

The main benefactor, other than the King, was Eubule Thelwall, from Ruthin in Denbighshire, who became Principal in 1621; he succeeded in securing a new charter and statutes for the college from King James I, having spent £5,000 of his own money on the hall and chapel, which earned him the title of its second founder.[6] Thelwall died on 8 October 1630, aged 68 and was buried in Jesus College Chapel where a monument was erected to his memory by his brother Sir Bevis Thelwall (Page of the King's Bedchamber and Clerk of the Great Wardrobe).

Other benefactions in the 17th century include Herbert Westfaling, the Bishop of Hereford, who left enough property to support two fellowships and scholarships (with the significant proviso that "my kindred shallbe always preferred before anie others").[7] Sir Eubule Thelwall (principal 1621–1630) spent much of his own money on the construction of a chapel, hall and library for the college. The library, constructed above an over-weak colonnade, was pulled down under the principalship of Francis Mansell (1630–1649), who also built two staircases of residential accommodation to attract the sons of Welsh gentry families to the college.[8]

The dining hall at Jesus College Oxford

The Civil War "all but destroyed the corporate life of the college."[9] Mansell was removed from his position as principal and Michael Roberts was installed. After the Restoration, Mansell was briefly reinstated as principal, before resigning in favour of Leoline Jenkins.[9][10] It was Jenkins (principal 1661–1673) who secured the long-term viability of the college. On his death, in 1685, he bequeathed a large complex of estates, acquired largely by lawyer friends from the over-mortgaged landowners of the Restoration period. These estates allowed the college's sixteen fellowships and scholarships to be filled for the first time – officially, sixteen of each had been supported since 1622, but the college's income was too small to keep all occupied simultaneously.[8] In 1713, the bequest of Welsh clergyman and former student Edmund Meyricke established a number of scholarships for students from north Wales, although these are now available to all Welsh students.[11]

18th and 19th centuries

Snow in the second quadrangle

The 18th century, in contrast to the disruption of the 17th century, was a comparatively quiet time for the college. A historian of the college, J. N. L. Baker, wrote that the college records for this time "tell of little but routine entries and departures of fellows and scholars".[11] The Napoleonic Wars saw a reduction in the numbers of students and entries in the records for the purchase of muskets and other items for college members serving in the university corps. After the war, numbers rose, to an average of twenty new students per year between 1821 and 1830. However, debts owed to the college had increased, perhaps due to the economic effects of the war. During the first half of the 19th century, the academic strength of the college diminished: scholarships were sometimes not awarded because of a lack of suitable candidates, and numbers fell: there were only seven new entrants in 1842. Ernest Hardy wrote in his history of the college in 1899 that it had been becoming "increasingly evident for years... that the exclusive connection with Wales was ruining the college as a place of education."[12]

An 1837 engraving of the first quadrangle

A Royal Commission was appointed in 1852 to investigate the university. The college wished to retain its links with Wales, and initial reforms were limited despite the wishes of the commissioners: those scholarships that were limited to particular parts of Wales were opened to the whole of Wales, and half of the fellowships awarded were to remain open only to Welshmen "if and so long as the Principal and Fellows shall deem it expedient for the interests of education in connection with the Principality of Wales". All the scholarships at the college, except for two, and all the exhibitions were still restricted to students from Wales.[13] The numbers of students at the college still fell, despite prizes being awarded for success in university examinations. Daniel Harper, principal from 1877 to 1895, noted the continuing academic decline. Speaking in 1879, he noted that fewer students from the college were reaching high standards in examinations, and that more Welsh students were choosing to study at other Oxford colleges in preference to Jesus. A further Royal Commission was appointed. This led to further changes at the college: in 1882, the fellowships reserved to Welshmen were made open to all, and only half (instead of all) of the 24 scholarships were to be reserved for Welsh candidates.[14][15] Thereafter, numbers gradually rose and the non-Welsh element at the college increased, so that by 1914 only about half of the students were Welsh.[14]

20th century

During the First World War, "the college in the ordinary sense almost ceased to exist".[14] From 129 students in the summer of 1914, numbers dropped to 36 in the spring of 1916. Some refugee students from Belgium and Serbia lodged in empty rooms in the college during 1916, and officers of the Royal Flying Corps resided from August 1916 to December 1918. After the war, numbers rose and fellowships were added in new subjects: history (1919 and 1933); theology (1927); physics (1934); a second fellowship in chemistry (1924); and modern languages (lectureship 1921, fellowship 1944). The improved teaching led to greater success in university examinations and prizes.[16]

The college had its own science laboratories from 1907 to 1947, which were overseen (for all but the last three years) by the physical chemist David Chapman, a fellow of the college from 1907 to 1944. At the time of their closure, they were the last college-based science laboratories at the university.[17] They were named the Sir Leoline Jenkins laboratories, after a former principal of the college. The laboratories led to scientific research and tuition (particularly in chemistry) becoming an important part of the college's academic life.[18] The brochure produced for the opening ceremony noted that the number of science students at the college had increased rapidly in recent years, and that provision of college laboratories would assist the tuition of undergraduates, as well as attracting to Jesus College graduates of the University of Wales who wished to continue their research at Oxford. A link between one of the college science lecturers and Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) led to 17 students joining ICI between the two World Wars, some, such as John Rose, reaching senior levels in the company. The laboratories became unnecessary when the university began to provide centralised facilities for students; they were closed in 1947.[18]

Location and buildings

The main buildings are located in the centre of Oxford, between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street. The main entrance is on Turl Street. The buildings are arranged in three quadrangles, the first quadrangle containing the oldest college buildings and the third quadrangle the newest. The foundation charter gave to the college a site between Market Street and Ship Street (which is still occupied by the college) as well as the buildings of a defunct university academic hall on the site, called White Hall.[19] The buildings that now surround the first quadrangle were erected in stages between 1571 and the 1620s; the principal's lodgings were the last to be built. Progress was slow because the new college lacked the "generous endowments" that earlier colleges enjoyed.[20] Before new buildings were completed, the students lived in the old buildings of White Hall.[21]

First quadrangle

The interior of the chapel in 1814

The chapel was dedicated on 28 May 1621, and extended in 1636.[22] The architectural historian Giles Worsley has described the chapel's east window (added in 1636) as an instance of Gothic Revival architecture, rather than Gothic Survival, since a choice was made to use an outdated style – classical architecture had become accepted as "the only style in which it was respectable to build".[23] In 1853, stained glass by George Hedgeland was added to the east window.[24] In 1863, the architect George Edmund Street was appointed to renovate the chapel. The arch of the chancel was widened, the original Jacobean woodwork was removed (save for the screen donated by Edwards and the pulpit), new seats were installed, new paving was placed in the main part of the chapel and a stone reredos was added behind the communion table.[24][25] Views of the changes have differed. On 21 October 1864, Building News reported that the restoration was nearing completion and was of "a very spirited character". It said that the new "handsome" arch showed the east window "to great advantage", with "other improvements" including a "handsome reredos".[24] Ernest Hardy, principal from 1921 to 1925, said that the work was "ill-considered",[26] described the reredos as "somewhat tawdry" and said that the Jacobean woodwork had been sold off too cheaply.[27] In contrast, the architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner called the reredos "heavily gorgeous".[28]

The principal of the college resides in the lodgings, a Grade I listed building,[29] on the north side of the first quadrangle between the chapel (to the east) and the hall (to the west). They were the last part of the first quadrangle to be built.[30] Sir Eubule Thelwall, principal from 1621 to 1630, built the lodgings at his own expense, to include (in the words of the antiquarian Anthony Wood) "a very fair dining-room adorned with wainscot curiously engraven".[31]

The hall has been said to be "among the most impressive of all the Oxford college halls", with its "fine panelling, austere ceiling, and its notable paintings".[32] Like the chapel, it was largely built by Griffith Powell between 1613 and 1620, and was finally completed soon after his death in 1620.[30] Pevsner noted the "elaborately decorated columns" of the screen (installed in 1634) and the dragons along the frieze, and said that it was one of the earliest examples in Oxford of panelling using four "L" shapes around a centre.[22][33] In 1741 and 1742, the oak-beamed roof was covered with plaster to make rooms in the roof space.[34][35] Pevsner described the 1741 cartouche on the north wall, which contains the college crest, as "large [and] rich".[36]

Second quadrangle

The second Quadrangle

In 1640, Francis Mansell (appointed principal in 1630) began construction of a second quadrangle with buildings along the north and south sides; further work was interrupted by the Civil War.[37][38] Work began again in 1676, and the library (now the Fellows' Library) was completed by 1679.[26][39] Under Jonathan Edwards (principal from 1688 to 1712), further rooms were built to complete the quadrangle; the project was completed just after his death in 1712.[26] Pevsner described the second quadrangle as "a uniform composition", noting the "regular fenestration by windows with round-arched lights, their hood-moulds forming a continuous frieze".[36] The Dutch gables have ogee sides and semi-circular pediments.[36] The writer Simon Jenkins said that the quadrangle has "the familiar Oxford Tudor windows and decorative Dutch gables, crowding the skyline like Welsh dragons' teeth and lightened by exuberant flower boxes".[40]

The Fellows' Library contains bookcases decorated with strapwork dating from about 1628, which were used in an earlier library in the college.[36] Hardy's opinion was that, "if only it had an open timber roof instead of the plain ceiling, it would be one of the most picturesque College Libraries".[27][41] Another author said (in 1914, after the provision of a library for undergraduates elsewhere in the quadrangle) that it was "one of the most charming of Oxford libraries, and one of the least frequented".[42] It holds 11,000 antiquarian printed books and houses many of the college's rare texts, including a Greek bible dating from 1545 and signed by Philipp Melanchthon and others, much of the library of the scholar and philosopher Lord Herbert of Cherbury and 17th-century volumes by Robert Boyle and Sir Isaac Newton.[43][44]

Third quadrangle

The third quadrangle

The long but narrow third quadrangle adjoins Ship Street, on the north of the site and to the west of the garden of the principal's lodgings, where the college has owned some land since its foundation. In the 18th century, this was home to the college stables. A fire in 1904 led to the demolition of the stables and the gateway to Ship Street. Replacement buildings adjoining Ship Street, effectively creating a third quadrangle for the college, were constructed between 1906 and 1908.[45] It contained the college's science laboratories (now closed) and a new gate-tower, as well as further living accommodation and a library for students, known as the Meyricke Library, after a major donor – there had been an undergraduate library in the second quadrangle since 1865, known as the Meyricke Library from 1882 onwards.[45]

Fourth quadrangle

In 2019, work began on redevelopment of a commercial property, Northgate House, owned by the college on the corner of Cornmarket and Market Streets, to provide new student accommodation above retail facilities with a new quad and other teaching facilities behind, projected for completion to mark the college's 450th anniversary in 2021.[46] The new building is named the Cheng Yu-tung building after the late billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist Cheng Yu-tung whose family provided the principal donation for the project.

Outside links

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References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Baker (1971), p. 1
  2. ↑ Gibson, p. 21
  3. ↑ Hardy, p. 13
  4. ↑ Hardy, p. 6, quoting Anthony Wood
  5. ↑ Baker (1954), p. 264
  6. ↑ National Library of Wales: On-line Biography; accessed 6 June 2014
  7. ↑ {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=encyclopaedia }} (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Jesus College, Oxford (14 May 2002). "Benefactors". http://www.jesus.ox.ac.uk/history/benefactors.php. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Baker (1954), p. 265.
  10. ↑ Baker (1954), p. 266
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Baker (1954), p. 267
  12. ↑ Hardy, p. 190
  13. ↑ Hardy, p. 197
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Baker (1954), p. 269
  15. ↑ Hardy, p. 208
  16. ↑ Baker (1954), p. 270
  17. ↑ {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=encyclopaedia }} (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Long, Derek (1996). "Sir Leoline Jenkins Laboratories 1907–47". Jesus College Record: 46–57. 
  19. ↑ Hardy, p. 9
  20. ↑ Tyack, Geoffrey (1998). Oxford: an architectural guide. Oxford University Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-19-817423-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=FsOx8eHkOC8C. Retrieved 26 June 2009. 
  21. ↑ Hardy, p. 17
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Baker (1954), p. 272
  23. ↑ Giles Worsley (1993). "The Origins of the Gothic Revival: A Reappraisal: The Alexander Prize Essay". Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. Sixth Series (Royal Historical Society) 3: 108–109. doi:10.2307/3679138. 
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Baker (1954), p. 276
  25. ↑ Hardy, p. 233
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Hardy, p. 172
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Hardy, p. x
  28. ↑ Pevsner, p. 143
  29. ↑ National Heritage List 1046727: Jesus College Principal's Lodgings (Grade I listing)
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Hardy, p. 39
  31. ↑ Quoted by Hardy, p. 60
  32. ↑ Burnett, Richard George (1950). Oxford and Cambridge in pictures. Phoenix House. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-125-55554-5. 
  33. ↑ Pevsner, p. 39
  34. ↑ Baker (1954), p. 275
  35. ↑ Hardy, p. 173
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 36.3 Pevsner, p. 144
  37. ↑ Baker (1971), pp. 1–2
  38. ↑ Hardy, p. 91
  39. ↑ Baker (1954), p. 274
  40. ↑ Jenkins, Simon (2009). England's Thousand Best Houses. Penguin Books. p. 680. ISBN 978-0-14-103929-9. 
  41. ↑ Hardy, p. xi
  42. ↑ Gibson, Strickland (1914). Some Oxford libraries. Oxford University Press. p. 89. ISBN 1-55014-330-1. OCLC 3791497. https://archive.org/details/someoxfordlibrar00gibsrich. Retrieved 28 June 2009. 
  43. ↑ "College News and Notes". Jesus College Record: 6–7. 1994. 
  44. ↑ "Fellows' Library Appeal launched". Jesus College Newsletter (8): 1–2. 2007. http://alumni.jesus.ox.ac.uk/MT07Newsletter.pdf. Retrieved 25 June 2009. 
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 Baker (1954), p. 277
  46. ↑ Ffrench, Andrew (2019-04-03). "Jesus College demolition scheme in Cornmarket reaches new phase". Oxford Mail. https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/17546517.jesus-college-demolition-scheme-in-cornmarket-reaches-new-phase/. 


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All Souls • Balliol • Brasenose • Christ Church • Corpus Christi • Exeter • Green Templeton • Harris Manchester • Hertford • Jesus • Keble • Kellogg • Lady Margaret Hall • Linacre • Lincoln • Magdalen • Mansfield • Merton • New College • Nuffield • Oriel • Pembroke • The Queen's • Reuben • St Anne's • St Antony's • St Catherine's • St Cross • St Edmund Hall • St Hilda's • St Hugh's • St John's • St Peter's • Somerville • Trinity • University • Wadham • Wolfson • Worcester

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