The Queen's College, Oxford

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Colleges and halls of the University of Oxford
The Queen's College

                       
College name The Queen's College
Latin name Collegium Reginae
Named after Queen Philippa of Hainault
Established 1341
Sister college Pembroke College, Cambridge
Provost Sir Alan Budd
JCR president Jonny Medland
Undergraduates 350
MCR president Becky Ross
Graduates 133
The Queen's College, Oxford (Oxford (central))
The Queen's College, Oxford

Location of The Queen's College within central OxfordCoordinates: 51°45′12″N 1°15′04″W / 51.753187, -1.251043
Homepage
Boatclub

The Queen's College, founded 1341, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Queen's is centrally situated on the High Street, and is renowned for its eighteenth-century architecture. The college had an estimated financial endowment of £131m as of 2006[1].

Contents

[edit] History

The college was founded during the 14th century by a chaplain, Robert de Eglesfield, of Queen Philippa of Hainault, wife of King Edward III of England, hence the name. It should be noted that whilst the name of Queens' College, Cambridge is plural, the Oxford college is singular. The coat of arms of three red eagles on a white background was inspired by the chaplain's surname. The magnificent frontage was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, part of a substantial rebuilding in the 18th century during which the impressive library was built.

The college has had a long association with the north of England, in part because of its founder. Eglesfield is a village in Cumberland. This was reinforced for many years until relatively recently by the large number of Hastings Scholarships given to men from 20 schools in Yorkshire, Westmorland and Cumberland. Graduate students from the universities of Bradford, Hull, Leeds, Sheffield, or York are still able to apply for Hastings Senior Scholarships. One of the most famous feasts of the College is the Boar's Head Gaudy, which originally was the Christmas Dinner for members of the College who were unable to return home to the north of England over the Christmas break between terms, but is now a feast for old members of the College on the Saturday before Christmas.

[edit] Library

The Queen's College has one of the best-stocked college libraries in Oxford. The current lending library consists of around 50,000 volumes. Extensive provision is made for Final Honour Schools, often through the purchase of multiple copies of titles in high demand. There is also an excellent range of journals and a large and an ever-increasing number of on-line resources.

The Upper Library is considered one of the finest rooms in Oxford and has been a focal point for the College ever since its construction at the end of the seventeenth century. The Upper Library remains as a reading room for students and is virtually unique in this respect in the University.

The College has one of the largest (around 100,000 volumes) and most diverse collections of rare books in Oxford.

[edit] College Chapel

The College Chapel is noted for its excellent Frobenius organ in the west gallery. It was installed in 1965, replacing a Rushworth and Dreaper organ from 1931. The earliest mention of an organ is 1826. The Chapel Choir has been particularly successful and busy in recent years, and has established a reputation as one of Oxford's finest mixed-voice choirs.[2]

The Chapel is one of Oxford's most notable buildings and its fabric has stood virtually unchanged since it was consecrated by the Archbishop of York in 1719.

The Chapel has a significant place in College life. Holy Communion is celebrated every Sunday morning and at other times and is open to all communicant members of any Christian church or denomination. The Sunday evening service takes the traditional form of Choral Evensong. Short services are held morning and evening, and at other times some like to use the stillness for their own prayer. Baptisms, confirmations and weddings are also conducted for members or former members of the College. The religious life of the College is usually both lively and stimulating.

[edit] College Life

High Street entrance to Queen's College from the main quad.
High Street entrance to Queen's College from the main quad.
Queen's Lane, Oxford.
Queen's Lane, Oxford.

Queen's is an active community performing strongly in intercollegiate sport competitions, having a variety of societies and, as one of the larger colleges, hosting triennial Commemoration balls. The 2004 ball was notable for the presence of Chesney Hawkes and his rendition of "The One and Only", while the 2007 ball coincides with the 666th anniversary of the college.[3] Queen's is host to a number of dining, drinking and sports societies as well as some which are more academically orientated such as a medical society.[4]


[edit] Sport

The College's sports facilities are among the best in Oxford. The College playing field, less than a mile from the main buildings, runs down to the banks of the Isis (which is what the Thames is called as it flows through Oxford): It has a football and a hockey pitch, together with hard and grass tennis courts, a netball court and a pavilion. Queen's College shares a rugby pitch nearby with University College. In the summer the goal posts go down and a cricket square appears in the middle.

On the opposite bank of the river is a modern and well-equipped boathouse, which contains a mini-gym for rowers. The College's two squash courts, located at the College's Cardo Building, are amongst the best in Oxford[citation needed].

The College has a designated table tennis room in College for which a new table has just been purchased. The University clubs, free to all members of Queen's, supports sports from golf, fencing, and boxing, to karate and hillwalking.

Queen's attracts many talented sportsmen and women, some of which are selected to represent the University against Cambridge (thus winning a Blue or Half-Blue). All others can compete at inter-collegiate level in various leagues and cup competitions.

In the summer, cricket is played at the sports ground and attracts a large and varied crowd of onlookers.

A sports day that includes a bouncy castle and barbecue is often held towards the end of summer term, after exams have finished. There is also a joint sports event - 'Us v Them' - with Teddy Hall, neighbours to Queen's. Friendly rivalry is evident, especially in the Tug of War event.

The Queen's College competes strongly in most of the intercollegiate Cuppers (tournament style) and league sports with many first teams placed in the 1st division. In 2005 the 1st XI football team won the league competition and netball has been especially strong[citation needed].

The College is notable for having one of the oldest boat clubs in the world. In 1837, The Queen's College Boat Club represented Oxford in the third Boat Race against Lady Margaret Boat Club, representing Cambridge, and won. This event, held on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames, is credited with leading to support from the town for the establishment of the Henley Royal Regatta, one of the most famous rowing events in the world, in 1839[citation needed]. Rowing is still a major sport in the College, with the men placed 9th in Torpids and 13th in Eights and the women 2nd in Torpids and 8th in Eights. The women are closing in on the Head of the River in Torpids.

In 2005, in addition to two Blues in women's rowing, 11 other members of the college were awarded a Blue and 11 were awarded Half Blues.


[edit] Music

Queen's College is well known in and beyond Oxford for the quality and quantity of its musical activities. The mixed-voice Chapel Choir is widely regarded as the finest such choir in Oxford.[citation needed] It is directed by the Organist (Dr Owen Rees) and the Organ Scholars; the singers include Choral Scholars (up to eighteen at any one time) and volunteers. The Choir sings for Evensong three times a week during term, as well as for other services such as Compline; it gives one major concert each term, and undertakes regular tours and short visits both within this country and abroad. The Eglesfield Musical Society, named after the Founder (and the oldest musical society in Oxford), organizes a substantial series of concerts each year, ranging from chamber music to orchestral works. These concerts provide abundant performing and conducting opportunities for the College's many musicians, as well as featuring visiting artists. There are weekly lunchtime organ recitals in College (the College organ - built by the Danish firm of Frobenius in 1965 - is one of the finest in the country[citation needed]), including, during 2000, a prestigious series featuring the complete organ works of Bach, to mark the 250th anniversary of the composer's death.

Jazz and popular music also have regular adherents. Facilities for individual and group rehearsal are available in the Music Practice Room. In addition to the organ, the chapel contains a concert grand piano and a fine harpsichord, and is acoustically one of the best chapels in Oxford for musical performance.[citation needed]

[edit] Academic issues

The college has been strong academically for many years. In 2005, 21 members of the college were awarded First Class B.A. degrees, 6 were awarded University Prizes and 17 were awarded D. Phil. degrees.

[edit] Notable former students

 This list may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please help improve this list. It may be poorly defined, unverified or indiscriminate. (January 2008)
This article or section may contain poor or irrelevant examples.
Articles should only contain pertinent examples.
Please improve the article or discuss proposed changes on the talk page.
You can edit the article to add more encyclopaedic text. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for further suggestions.
See also Former students of The Queen's College.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Oxford College Endowment Incomes, 1973-2006 (updated July 2007)
  2. ^ The Chapel Choir of The Queen's College Oxford. Guild Records page. Retrieved on 2007-04-27.
  3. ^ Queen's College Ball. Retrieved on 2007-04-27.
  4. ^ Queen's College Medical Society. Queen's College Societies page. Retrieved on 2007-04-27.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
University of Oxford

Chancellor: The Lord Patten of Barnes • Vice Chancellor: Dr John Hood

Colleges: All Souls • Balliol • Brasenose • Christ Church • Corpus Christi • Exeter • Green • Harris Manchester • Hertford • Jesus • Keble • Kellogg • Lady Margaret Hall • Linacre • Lincoln • Magdalen • Mansfield • Merton • New College • Nuffield • Oriel • Pembroke • Queen's • 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 • Templeton • Trinity • University • Wadham • Wolfson • Worcester

Permanent Private Halls: Blackfriars • Campion Hall • Greyfriars • Regent's Park College • St Benet's Hall • St Stephen's House • Wycliffe Hall

Categories: University • Chancellors • Colleges • Departments • Academics • Chairs • Alumni
Languages