The Queen's College, Oxford

Colleges and halls of the University of Oxford The Queen's College
College name	The Provost and Scholars of The Queen’s College in the University of Oxford
Latin name	Collegium Reginae
Named after	Philippa of Hainault
Established	1341
Sister college	Pembroke College, Cambridge
Provost	Professor Paul Madden
Undergraduates	349 (2011/2012)
Graduates	133
Location of The Queen's College within central Oxford
Homepage
Boatclub
Blazon	Argent, three eagles displayed gules, beaked and legged or, on the breast of the first, a mullet of six points of the last.

The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield (d'Eglesfield) in honour of Queen Philippa of Hainault (wife of King Edward III of England). The college is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, which includes buildings designed by Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor.

In 2012, the college had an endowment of £157.1 million, making it the fifth wealthiest college.

History

Statue of Robert de Eglesfield in the Provost's garden

The college was founded during the 14th century by Robert de Eglesfield (d'Eglesfield), chaplain to Queen Philippa of Hainault (the wife of King Edward III of England); hence its name. The college's coat of arms is that of the founder; it differs slightly from his family's coat of arms, which did not include the gold star on the breast of the first eagle. The current coat of arms was adopted by d'Eglesfield because he was unable to use his family's arms, being the younger son.

The frontage of the college was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, part of a substantial rebuilding in the 18th century during which the library was built. The medieval foundations, however, remain beneath the current 18th-century structure. In 2011, the college had an net assets of £194.5 million, and fixed assets of approximately £207.5 million.

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 connection 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.

Naming

The college is named for Queen Philippa of Hainault (1314 - 1369), its first patroness. Established in January 1341 'under the name of the Hall of the Queen's scholars of Oxford' (sub nomine aule scholarium Regine de Oxon), the college was subsequently called the 'Queen's Hall', 'Queenhall' and 'Queen's College'. An Act of 1585 sought to end this confusion by providing that it should be called by the one name 'the Queen's College'; in practice the definite article is usually omitted. The full name of the College, as indicated in its annual reports, is The Provost and Scholars of The Queen’s College in the University of Oxford. Queens' College, Cambridge, positions its apostrophe differently and has no article, as it was named for multiple Queens (Margaret of Anjou and Elizabeth Woodville).

Buildings

The main quad of Queen's

Library

The college has one of the best-stocked college libraries in Oxford.^{[citation needed]} The current lending library consists of around 50,000 volumes. The Upper Library is considered one of the finest rooms in Oxford^{[citation needed]} and has been a focal point for the College ever since its construction at the end of the 17th century. The Upper Library remains as a silent reading room for students and is virtually unique in this respect in the University.^{[citation needed]} The open cloister below the Upper Library was enclosed in the 19th century to form the Lower Library, which now houses the bulk of the lending collection. The college has one of the largest (around 100,000 volumes) and most diverse collections of rare books in Oxford.

Chapel

The chapel is noted for its 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 described as "Oxford's finest mixed-voice choir". The chapel has stood virtually unchanged since it was consecrated by the Archbishop of York in 1719.

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, which is also held on Wednesday and Friday evenings during term. Morning and evening prayer is said daily, 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.

Recent recordings by the Chapel Choir

• 2008 - Caeli Porta - 17th-century sacred music from Lisbon & Granada
• 2005 - Paradisi Portas - Music from 17th-Century Portugal
• 2004 - Come, Holy Spirit - Music for Ascension, Pentecost & Trinity
• 2001 - Christ Rising - Music for Holy Week and Easter
• 1993 - Howells & Leighton - Sacred Choral Music

Student life

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

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 coincided with the 666th anniversary of the college. 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.

Sport

Queen's College pavilion

The college playing field, less than a mile from the main buildings (as the crow flies), runs down to the banks of the Isis: It has a football and a hockey pitch, together with hard 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 boathouse, shared with two other colleges. The college's two squash courts, located at the Cardo Building, are amongst the best in Oxford^{[citation needed]}.

The college has a designated table tennis room. The University clubs, free to any member of any college of the university, supports sports from golf, fencing, and boxing to karate and hillwalking.

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 football team have in recent years struggled, although signs show that they are well on their way to making a recovery towards the upper echelons of college football once again. The cricket team have flourished recently, reaching the Cuppers final, and narrowly losing the league title last year.

The College is notable for having one of the oldest boat clubs in the world, along with many other colleges. 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]}. The college's colours were changed thereafter from red and white to navy blue and white, the colours of the university. Rowing is still a major sport in the College, with the men placed 12th in Torpids and 14th in Eights and the women 4th in Torpids and 20th in Eights.

Music

The choir performing in the Front Quad on Ascension morning 2009.

The 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 conducted by the Organist and Praelector in Music, Dr. Owen Rees, a noted scholar of Iberian polyphony, and occasional services are conducted by the Organ Scholars, Benedict Lewis-Smith and Matthew Burgess. The singers include Choral Scholars (up to eighteen at any one time) and volunteers, all of whom are auditioned. The Choir sings Evensong three times a week during term, and performs one major concert each term, often with a noted orchestral ensemble; most recently, the choir performed Bach's B Minor Mass with the London Handel Orchestra. The choir also 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 performing and conducting opportunities for the College's many musicians, as well as featuring visiting artists. There are weekly lunchtime organ recitals in College, including, during 2000, a 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 harpsichord, and is acoustically one of the best chapels in Oxford for musical performance.^{[citation needed]}

Academic performance

The Neda Agha-Soltan Graduate Scholarship, named after an Iranian student who died in the 2009 Iranian election protests, was established at Queen's in 2009.

Notable former students

Main category: Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford

• Tony Abbott, Leader of the Opposition in the Australian Parliament
• Joseph Addison, co-founder of The Spectator
• Rowan Atkinson, actor and comedian, known for Blackadder and Mr. Bean
• Jeremy Bentham, English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer
• Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web and director of the World Wide Web Consortium
• Wilfred Bion, British psychoanalyst
• Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, New Jersey
• Vere Gordon Childe, Australian archaeologist
• John Crewdson, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for The New York Times
• Ernest Dowson, English poet and prose writer
• Eric Garcetti, Mayor-Elect of Los Angeles, California
• Edmund Halley, English astronomer
• Fred Halliday, Irish academic, Fellow of the British Academy, Montague Burton Professor of International Relations at London School of Economics
• King Henry V of England
• Edwin Powell Hubble, American astronomer
• The Rt Hon. Ruth Kelly MP
• Mom Rajawongse Kukrit Pramoj, Thai prime minister
• Kenneth Leighton twentieth-century English composer
• Thomas Middleton, English Jacobean playwright and poet
• John Owen, seventeenth-century English theologian
• Walter Horatio Pater, English essayist
• Oliver Sacks, neurologist and writer
• John Wycliffe, English theologian
• Adam Zamoyski, Historian and author
• Brian Paddick, Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of London

See also

• Fellows of The Queen's College, Oxford
• Provosts of The Queen's College, Oxford
• Queens' College, Cambridge

External links

• Official website
• Virtual Tour of the Queen's College
• Queen's College JCR
• Queen's College MCR