|
Christ Church (in full: The Cathedral Church of Christ in Oxford of the Foundation of King Henry
VIII) is one of the largest and wealthiest of the constituent colleges
of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
The city of Christchurch, New Zealand was named after the college, which was the setting of Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. The college itself is the setting for Lewis
Carroll's Alice's Adventures
in Wonderland. More recently the college was used in the filming of the movies of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.
Organisation
Christ Church is the only Oxford
college which is also a cathedral (the smallest in England, and the seat of
the Bishop of Oxford), and its corporate title is The Dean, Chapter and Students of
the Cathedral Church of Christ in Oxford of the Foundation of King Henry VIII. The cathedral has a famous men and boys'
choir, and is one of the main choral foundations in Oxford. The Visitor of the
college is the reigning British Sovereign. The Governing Body of
Christ Church consists of the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral, together with several "Students", who until the 19th century had
no governing powers, but are now equivalent to Fellows in other colleges. Two Censors are responsible for undergraduate discipline.
Student life
As well as providing accommodation, the college houses a cathedral (which also acts as the college chapel), a great hall, two
libraries, two bars, and common rooms for dons, graduates and undergraduates. There are also gardens and a neighbouring
sportsground and boat-house.
Accommodation is provided for all undergraduates, and for some graduates, though some accommodation is off-site. Members are
generally expected to dine in hall, where there are two sittings every evening, one informal and one formal (where jackets, ties
and gowns are worn). The Buttery next to the Hall serves drinks around dinner time. There is also a college undercroft bar, as
well as a Junior Common Room (JCR) and a Graduate Common Room (GCR).
There is a college lending library which supplements the university libraries (many of which are non-lending). Law students
have the additional facility of the college law library. Most undergraduate tutorials are carried out in the college, though for
some specialist papers undergraduates may be sent to tutors in other colleges.
Croquet may be played in the Master's Garden in the summer. The sportsground is mainly used for cricket, tennis, rugby and
soccer, and also contains a bar. Rowing and punting is carried out by the boat-house across Christ Church Meadow.
History
In 1525, at the height of his power, Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, Lord Chancellor
of England and Archbishop of York, suppressed the Abbey of St
Frideswide in Oxford and founded Cardinal College on its
lands. He planned the establishment on a magnificent scale, but fell from grace in 1529,
before the college was completed.
In 1531 the college was itself suppressed, and refounded in 1532 as King Henry VIII's College by Henry VIII, to whom Wolsey's property had escheated. Then in 1546 the King, who had broken from the Church of
Rome and acquired great wealth through the dissolution of the monasteries in England, refounded the college as Christ
Church as part of the re-organisation of the Church of
England and made it the cathedral of the recently created diocese of Oxford.
Christ Church's sister college
in the University of Cambridge is Trinity College, Cambridge, founded the same year by
Henry VIII. Since the time of Queen Elizabeth I the
college has also been associated with Westminster School, which
continues to supply a large proportion of the scholars of the college.
Major additions have been made to the buildings through the centuries, and Wolsey's Great Quadrangle was crowned with the
famous gate-tower designed by Sir Christopher Wren. To this day the
bell in the tower, Great Tom, is rung 101 times at 9:05 GMT (9 o'clock Oxford time) every night for the 101 original scholars of
the college. In former times this signalled the close of all the college gates throughout Oxford.
King Charles I made the Deanery his palace and held his
Parliament in the Great Hall during the English Civil War.
The college has long been the most prestigious of the colleges of the University due to its wealth and the nobility of its
undergraduates. However, today the proportion of undergraduates from maintained and independent schools is roughly equal, which
is typical of most Oxford colleges.
Christ Church has produced 13 British prime ministers (the most recent being Sir Alec Douglas-Home in 1963-1964), which is more than any other Oxford or Cambridge college.
Famous Former Students
Christ Church's famous Tom Tower, seen from St Aldate's (street).
External link
|