Wills Hall

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The outside of Old Quad as seen from the Cedar Lawn

Wills Hall is one of the nine halls of residence in the University of Bristol. Cresting the Stoke Bishop site on the edge of the Bristol Downs, it houses 340 students in two quadrangles. The majority of these students are in their first year of study, but a number of students from other years stay on to contribute to hall life through the Junior Common Room or groups such as the hall Christian Union. The current Warden of Wills Hall is Donald Shell, a senior lecturer in the Department of Politics in the University of Bristol. Mr. Shell took up this position in 1997. The current JCR President is Jonathan Cherry, an Undergraduate student studying Politics. He was elected by resident students in June 2006.

1 History
2 The Hall motto
3 Facilities
4 Wills Hall and classism
5 After Wills
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] History

The name of Wills Hall reflects the university-wide connection with the Wills family. The fortune made by their famous tobacco empire, W.D. & H.O. Wills and later Imperial Tobacco, enabled Henry Overton Wills III to fund the University's foundation in 1908 with a pledge of £100,000 and many of its finest buildings, such as the Wills Memorial Building. His son George Alfred Wills provided the money to build a hall of residence in memory of his brother Henry Herbert Wills. He originally planned to base the hall around Goldney House in Clifton, next to the existing hall of Clifton Hill House. However, the warden of the all-female Clifton Hill House felt that having so many young men so close to "her girls" would be a grave moral risk, and demanded that the new hall be sited at least two miles away. Thus Downside House in Stoke Bishop was purchased, and a quadrangle of accommodation blocks erected around it according to the design of Sir George Oatley. A Latin inscription on the exterior of the dining hall dedicated the hall to Henry Herbert.

Downside House, now the warden's lodgings

Wills Hall was officially opened by Winston Churchill in 1929, then the Chancellor of the University. When he returned to open Churchill Hall in the late 1950s, he allowed himself to be "kidnapped" and his release was allowed only after he signed the following statement, now displayed in the Warden's Lodge at Wills:

"I Winston Spencer Churchill MP, CH Chancellor of the University of Bristol, Declare there be no Finer Hostel than Wills Hall among the Universities of the British Empire".

The initial quadrangle sufficed until rising student numbers precipitated the building of a further accommodation block, 'XYZ', which was opened in 1961. Another expansion in 1990 completed this 'New Quad' as 'UVW' block was built. This new block featured en-suite rooms and a conference centre, in an effort to make Wills more competitive as a venue for the conference market, which was becoming an important source of revenue for cash-strapped universities.^[1]

Having initially been an all-male institution, Wills became the last hall to accept both sexes in 1985, despite opposition from the more 'traditionalist' wing of the Wills Hall Association. In that first year, seventy women took up residence alongside 200 men, but over the next few years female numbers quickly rose, and Wills today is equally split between the sexes. However, due to the shared bathroom facilities in old quad and XYZ block, staircases are single-sex.

[edit] The Hall motto

Over the main entrance to Wills Hall can be seen a shield emblazoned with the Wills family crest and their motto "Pro Aris et Focis". This Latin phrase literally means "for our altars and our hearths", but is used by ancient authors to express attachment to all that was most dear and venerable. It could be more idiomatically translated as "for our homes".

[edit] Facilities

The Old Quad in the snow

The Monica Wills Chapel was opened in 1930 and holds a short informal service for students from the Stoke Bishop halls each Sunday morning during term-time. It is occasionally used to stage plays and concerts. Wills Hall has an oak-panelled dining room, often likened to that in Harry Potter or the dining hall of an Oxbridge college. There are also tennis and squash courts which the Hall shares with the rest of the halls on the Stoke Bishop Site, a table tennis room, and an oak-panelled snooker room which dates back to the original Downside House.

Perhaps the most notable event in the Wills Hall calendar is the Wills Hall Ball which takes place in June of each year. This event has recently featured major acts such as Pendulum (band), DJ Luck and MC Neat and BBC Radio 1's 'The Dream Team'.

The 2005 and 2006 Summer Balls have gone on to sell out before the event.

[edit] Wills Hall and classism

Wills sometimes faces allegations of being biased in favour of privately educated students and being unwelcoming to less 'privileged' students. In 2003, as part of the national controversy surrounding claims that British universities were discriminating in favour of public school applicants, The Observer ran an article purporting to highlight class-strife and prejudice in Wills.^[2] Letters in reply followed the next week vigorously defending Wills.^[3] Whilst it is certainly true to say that there is a strong public school presence at Wills Hall this is more a symptom of the University itself, which has been embroiled in controversy over past years for the varying extremes of its admissions policies. Other Halls are equally, if not more, public school orientated; Churchill Hall and Goldney, for example.

[edit] After Wills

Past residents of Wills Hall are invited to join the Wills Hall Association, a group including members going right back to the hall's foundation in 1929. The association meets once a year for a reunion at Wills, including a formal meal and speeches.

Famous former residents include Stephen Williams MP, Derren Brown and Bob Marshall-Andrews MP.