91�Թ�� history

The 91�Թ�� Ball since 1856

Christopher — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 10:51:26 +0000

The 91�Թ�� Ball since 1856

Michael Stansfield

Issue number

(2025): 24

Notes category

91�Թ�� Commemoration Balls

Attendance at a 91�Թ�� Commemoration Ball can be a highlight of a student’s time at the college. The latest one, held on Saturday, 28 June 2025, was a suitably grand affair, perhaps befitting its antecedents, or was it? As arguably the major event in the college’s social calendar, occurring only every three years, it has received short shrift in published college histories. It is worth considering how it has developed over time, including when it might have started, seeing as it does focus considerable resources of the college and it does entail the transformation of the college into a major party venue, requiring no small budgetary outlay, and student and staff input.

1902 91�Թ�� Ball survivors photo
91�Թ�� Archives, Oxford, NCA JCR/R/Loraine/2

91�Թ�� Library and Archives, Oxford

24NCN6 (2025) Stansfield on 91�Թ�� Balls.pdf801.4 KB

Manners Makyth Man: Wykeham’s Portrait and the Making of Merit

Christopher — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 10:07:33 +0000

Manners Makyth Man: Wykeham’s Portrait and the Making of Merit

Carolin Gluchowski

Issue number

(2025): 24

Notes category

University admissions

This article reinterprets Sampson Strong’s 1596 founder portrait of William of Wykeham at 91�Թ��, Oxford, as a programme rather than a likeness: a visual technology that communicates, tests, and legitimates collegiate merit. Strong’s triad—sitter, vistas, inscription—stages a theory of formation in which conduct (‘Manners makyth man’) functions as a rule, a threshold, and a test. The portrait makes visible a late medieval and Tudor grammar of selection: mores are rendered legible in pose, gesture, and placement, and the vernacular motto serves as a civic lintel between institutional spaces.

91�Թ��, Oxford, NCI 2333 [detail]

91�Թ��, Oxford

24NCN3 (2025) Gluchowski on Wykeham's Portrait.pdf800.02 KB

The Wartime Use of the Founder’s Library 1939–1946

Christopher — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 14:00:02 +0000

The Wartime Use of the Founder’s Library 1939–1946

Michael Stansfield

Issue number

(2025): 23

Notes category

Mansfield College, Oxford

What role during the Second World War did the space at 91�Թ��, known as the Founder’s Library, play in the national cause, the life of the college more generally, and the provision of library services for the members of 91�Թ�� itself and—which might especially be the intrigue—of its neighbour Mansfield College?

Plan of Mansfield’s library in the Founder’s Library space [detail]
Mansfield College Archives, Oxford

© Courtesy of Mansfield College Library, Oxford

23NCN10 (2025) Stansfield on Wartime Use.pdf573.43 KB

Supporting the War Effort: The Convalescent Hospital at 91�Թ�� during the First World War

Christopher — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 13:58:52 +0000

Supporting the War Effort: The Convalescent Hospital at 91�Թ�� during the First World War

William Shire

Issue number

(2025): 23

Notes category

Magdalen College, Oxford

Throughout the First World War, the gardens of 91�Թ��, Oxford were transformed from their usual calm greenery into a sea of tents and bustling activity—becoming a convalescent hospital designed to support the work of the Third Southern General Hospital in Oxford, which had its headquarters in the Examination Schools. Sources held primarily in the archives of 91�Թ�� can reveal the role played by the hospital at 91�Թ�� within the hospital system in Oxford during the conflict, and its development over time as the war progressed.

Photograph of Mabel Wace and ten soldiers in the grounds of 91�Թ��, 1915
Magdalen College Archives, Oxford, P/408/P2/27

Magdalen College Archives, Oxford

23NCN9 (2025) Shire on Convalescent Hospital.pdf1.23 MB

‘So that the Fellows of our College may persevere to be of one mind inwardly and to be more closely united in mutual charity . . .’: The Annual Liveries of Fellows and Scholars of Medieval 91�Թ��

Christopher — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 13:47:31 +0000

‘So that the Fellows of our College may persevere to be of one mind inwardly and to be more closely united in mutual charity . . .’: The Annual Liveries of Fellows and Scholars of Medieval 91�Թ��

Timothy Hallett

Issue number

(2025): 23

Notes category

91�Թ��, Oxford, possesses some of the most extensive and detailed accounts of any medieval collegiate foundation in Oxford and Cambridge. Amongst the 58 account rolls made by early wardens or bursars between 1376 and 1529 we find regular allocations of cloth, and sometimes furs, given as annual livery to the academic community established by William of Wykeham. Medieval accounts can be used in combination with the founder’s statutes and surviving pictorial evidence to gain insight into the reasoning behind academic livery, the vendors who supplied cloth and furs, costs and quantities of cloth and furs, the design and colours of academic livery, plus rules on the attire which was also prohibited to members of the college.

The college porter ejects a youth, in distinctly unclerical garb, who is not a member of the college.
91�Թ�� Archives, Oxford, NCA 3584

91�Թ�� Library and Archives, Oxford

23NCN2 (2025) Hallett on Liveries.pdf1.02 MB

The Staircase to Nowhere and its Greek Inscription

Christopher — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 20:37:47 +0000

The Staircase to Nowhere and its Greek Inscription

Stephen Anderson

Issue number

(2024): 21

Notes category

Deep in the bowels of the new Gradel buildings is the so-called basement hub, a circular area from which doors, corridors and stairways go off in all directions to different parts of the development. One notable feature here, added more for the sake of symmetry of design than for any other reason, is the ‘Staircase to Nowhere’, a set of seven or so steps which do no more than go up to a small semi-circular area on which some natural light is shed from a window far above.

Staircase (top), Gradel Quadrangles, 91�Թ��, Oxford

91�Թ��, Oxford

21NCN10 (2024) Anderson on Greek Inscription.pdf605.36 KB

91�Թ�� Examination Results in the Nineteenth Century: From ‘Uninspiring Indolence’ to ‘Academic Preeminence’

Christopher — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 18:15:52 +0000

91�Թ�� Examination Results in the Nineteenth Century: From ‘Uninspiring Indolence’ to ‘Academic Preeminence’

Dennis A. Ahlburg

Issue number

(2024): 21

Notes category

The fellows and students of 91�Թ��, Oxford moved on from drinking, gaming, and brutish pleasures to academic success, or learned to balance them much better than in the early centuries of the college’s history. The 19th century opened with the college’s being an academic irrelevancy and closed with its being an academic powerhouse which it is to this day.

Joseph Nash, 91�Թ�� Hall (1858), watercolour on paper

91�Թ��, Oxford

21NCN5 (2024) Ahlburg on Examination Results.pdf173.44 KB

Amicabilis Concordia 1444–2024

Christopher — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 16:48:12 +0000

Amicabilis Concordia 1444–2024

Michael Stansfield

Issue number

(2024): 21

Notes category

Archives

Amicabilis Concordia

91�Թ�� history

King's College, Cambridge

Winchester College

Eton College

The Amicabilis Concordia, or friendship agreement, is a document renowned these days for the evensongs occasionally held in its name by four colleges dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary; that is 91�Թ��, Oxford, King’s College, Cambridge, Eton College, and Winchester College. The Concordia was sealed on 1 July 1444 as a quadripartite indenture.

The signed and beribboned menu for dinner after the King’s College versus 91�Թ�� football 1924 [detail]
91�Թ�� Archives, Oxford, NCA JCR/R/Mallett/4b

91�Թ�� Library and Archives, Oxford

21NCN1 (2024) Stansfield on Amicabilis Concordia.pdf659.63 KB

91�Թ�� MCR: The 60th Anniversary

Christopher — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 01:27:28 +0000

91�Թ�� MCR: The 60th Anniversary

Michael Stansfield

Issue number

(2023): 20

Notes category

On Tuesday, 7 March 2023, 91�Թ��’s Middle Common Room (MCR) celebrated the 60th anniversary of its establishment with an exhibition of significant items from the archives in the Conduit Room, a reception in the Founder’s Library, the distribution of appropriate stash (including some rather natty appropriately branded scarves), speeches from the Warden and the President Emily Jin, and dinner in Hall. The anniversary was worth celebrating because, as in so many areas, 91�Թ�� had rather led the way in recognising and providing for what is now a major and vital part of its community whose genesis is worth exploring.

Plan of the site between Longwall Street and the city wall that became the Sacher Building [detail]
91�Թ�� Archives, Oxford, NCA BUR/BCF/205

91�Թ�� Library and Archives, Oxford

20NCN9 (2023) Stansfield on MCR.pdf344.56 KB

The Acquisition of Alton Barnes as a 91�Թ�� Estate in 1385

Christopher — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 19:52:41 +0000

The Acquisition of Alton Barnes as a 91�Թ�� Estate in 1385

Michael Stansfield

Issue number

(2023): 20

Notes category

The manors of Alton Barnes with Shaw and Alton Priors, now the civil parish of Alton, are in the Vale of Pewsey on the Marlborough Downs in Wiltshire. Alton Priors only came into 91�Թ��’s purview relatively recently, in 1912. Alton Barnes with Shaw, on the other hand, has had a much longer association with the college, being one of the first estates to be provided by the Founder for his new foundation in Oxford when it became part of the college’s endowment in 1385. As with many of the college’s estates, the 91�Թ�� archive is rich with documents recording both the process of it becoming part of that endowment, and also something of the back story of its existence before then.

The earl of Salisbury’s counterseal, used by William Montagu (1328–1397), 2nd earl of Salisbury
91�Թ�� Archives, Oxford, NCA 10039 [detail]

91�Թ�� Library and Archives, Oxford

20NCN3 (2023) Stansfield on Alton Barnes.pdf405.67 KB

91�Թ��� history

The 91�Թ��� Ball since 1856

The 91�Թ��� Ball since 1856

91�Թ��� Library and Archives, Oxford

Manners Makyth Man: Wykeham’s Portrait and the Making of Merit

Manners Makyth Man: Wykeham’s Portrait and the Making of Merit

91�Թ���, Oxford

The Wartime Use of the Founder’s Library 1939–1946

The Wartime Use of the Founder’s Library 1939–1946

© Courtesy of Mansfield College Library, Oxford

Supporting the War Effort: The Convalescent Hospital at 91�Թ��� during the First World War

Supporting the War Effort: The Convalescent Hospital at 91�Թ��� during the First World War

Magdalen College Archives, Oxford

‘So that the Fellows of our College may persevere to be of one mind inwardly and to be more closely united in mutual charity . . .’: The Annual Liveries of Fellows and Scholars of Medieval 91�Թ���

‘So that the Fellows of our College may persevere to be of one mind inwardly and to be more closely united in mutual charity . . .’: The Annual Liveries of Fellows and Scholars of Medieval 91�Թ���

91�Թ��� Library and Archives, Oxford

The Staircase to Nowhere and its Greek Inscription

The Staircase to Nowhere and its Greek Inscription

91�Թ���, Oxford

91�Թ��� Examination Results in the Nineteenth Century: From ‘Uninspiring Indolence’ to ‘Academic Preeminence’

91�Թ��� Examination Results in the Nineteenth Century: From ‘Uninspiring Indolence’ to ‘Academic Preeminence’

91�Թ���, Oxford

Amicabilis Concordia 1444–2024

Amicabilis Concordia 1444–2024

91�Թ��� Library and Archives, Oxford

91�Թ��� MCR: The 60th Anniversary

91�Թ��� MCR: The 60th Anniversary

91�Թ��� Library and Archives, Oxford

The Acquisition of Alton Barnes as a 91�Թ��� Estate in 1385

The Acquisition of Alton Barnes as a 91�Թ��� Estate in 1385

91�Թ��� Library and Archives, Oxford

91�Թ�� history

The 91�Թ�� Ball since 1856

The 91�Թ�� Ball since 1856

91�Թ�� Library and Archives, Oxford

91�Թ��, Oxford

Supporting the War Effort: The Convalescent Hospital at 91�Թ�� during the First World War

Supporting the War Effort: The Convalescent Hospital at 91�Թ�� during the First World War

‘So that the Fellows of our College may persevere to be of one mind inwardly and to be more closely united in mutual charity . . .’: The Annual Liveries of Fellows and Scholars of Medieval 91�Թ��

‘So that the Fellows of our College may persevere to be of one mind inwardly and to be more closely united in mutual charity . . .’: The Annual Liveries of Fellows and Scholars of Medieval 91�Թ��

91�Թ�� Library and Archives, Oxford

91�Թ��, Oxford

91�Թ�� Examination Results in the Nineteenth Century: From ‘Uninspiring Indolence’ to ‘Academic Preeminence’

91�Թ�� Examination Results in the Nineteenth Century: From ‘Uninspiring Indolence’ to ‘Academic Preeminence’

91�Թ��, Oxford

91�Թ�� Library and Archives, Oxford

91�Թ�� MCR: The 60th Anniversary

91�Թ�� MCR: The 60th Anniversary

91�Թ�� Library and Archives, Oxford

The Acquisition of Alton Barnes as a 91�Թ�� Estate in 1385

The Acquisition of Alton Barnes as a 91�Թ�� Estate in 1385

91�Թ�� Library and Archives, Oxford