Trinity College, Oxford

Trinity College (in full: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Thomas PopeClare Hopkins, Trinity : 450 years of an Oxford college community (Oxford, 2005).) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It stands in Broad Street, next door to Balliol, and opposite Turl Street. It is enclosed by an iron palisade, rather than a wall, giving the college a more open and accessible appearance than many others in Oxford. The college occupies a spacious site, including four major quadrangles, and is particularly known for its large and attractive gardens, which include a small area of woodland. Despite its size, the college is relatively small in terms of student numbers, with fewer than 300 undergraduates.

As well as being generally attractive, Trinity's buildings also have many notable features. On the top of the West Tower sit four female statues, which represent Astronomy, Geometry, Medicine, and Theology. The Chapel, though relatively modest in size compared to some of its Oxford counterparts, is also of particular note, being the first College chapel to be designed entirely in the neoclassical style. The noted architect Sir Christopher Wren is said to have assisted in its design.

Durham College

The site where Trinity College now stands was originally occupied by Durham College. This college had been founded in 1286, at around the same time as the oldest colleges that survive until today. Durham College was built for Benedictine monks from the Cathedral Church in the city of Durham, and was built around a single quadrangle, known nowadays as the Durham Quadrangle. The only major surviving building from the Durham College foundation is the east range of Durham Quad, containing Old Library, which dates from 1421, although elements of the pre-Reformation fabric also survive on the opposite side of the quad, at either end of the seventeenth-century Hall. Durham College was originally dedicated to the Virgin, St Cuthbert, and the Trinity, and it is thought that Trinity College took its name from the last element of this dedication.

History

Trinity College was founded in 1555 by Sir Thomas Pope, on land bought following the abolition of Durham College, whose buildings housed the original foundation. Pope was a Catholic who had no surviving children, and he hoped that by founding a college he would be remembered in the prayers of its students. The original foundation provided for a president, twelve fellows, and twelve scholars, and for up to twenty undergraduates. The fellows were required to take Holy Orders and to remain unmarried.

Notable former students

Academics/teachers

References

External links

Colleges of the University of Oxford | 1555 establishments | Educational institutions established in the 1550s