St Edmund Hall, Oxford

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St Edmund Hall, Oxford
College name	St Edmund Hall
	Aula Sancti Edmundi
Named after	St Edmund of Abingdon
Established	13th century, (c. 1226)
Sister College	Fitzwilliam College
Principal	Prof. Michael Mingos
JCR President	Ryan Buckingham
Undergraduates	395
MCR President	Aliza Watters
Graduates	148
Location	The High / Queen's Lane
Homepage
JCR

St Edmund Hall is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Within the University it is better known by its nickname, "Teddy Hall". It has a claim to being "the oldest academical society for the education of undergraduates (A. B. Emden) in any University"^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 College Colours 3 Coat of Arms 4 Locations and Buildings 5 Student Life 6 College Assets and Artifacts 7 College Graces 8 People Associated with the College 8.1 Current Tutors and Fellows 8.2 Notable Alumni 8.3 Other Notable Figures 9 Notes and References 10 External Links

[edit] History

Like the University of Oxford itself, the precise date of establishment of St Edmund Hall is unknown; it is usually estimated at 1226. The college is named after St Edmund of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, the first known Oxford Master of Arts and the first Oxford-educated Archbishop of Canterbury, who lived and taught on the college site.

St Edmund Hall began life as one of Oxford's ancient Aularian houses, the mediaeval halls that laid the foundation of the University, preceding the creation of the first colleges. As the only surviving mediaeval hall, its members are known as "Aularians". St Edmund Hall took on the status of a college in 1957, though retaining the historical moniker of "Hall".

The college has a history of independent thought, which has brought it into regular conflict with both church and state. During the late 14th century and early 15th century, it was a bastion of the Wyclif heresy, for which college principal William Taylor was ultimately burnt at the stake, and principal Peter Payne fled the country. In the 17th century, it incurred the wrath of the crown for fostering nonjurors, men who remained loyal to the Scottish House of Stuart and who refused to take the oath to the German House of Hanover, whom they regarded as having usurped the British throne.

[edit] College Colours

Like most academic institutions, Oxbridge colleges commonly have a colour scheme used for college scarves, ties, sports clothing and so on. There is a great deal of confusion regarding the Hall's official college colours which seems to have arisen due to a discrepancy between "official college wear" and sporting wear.

The college's official colours are frequently referred to as "claret and cream" and this is indeed the scheme used on the college scarf and ties as can be seen by looking at the St Edmund Hall section on the Shepherd and Woodward website.

The vast majority of sporting wear is however produced in a dark red, often maroon, and yellow perhaps due to these colours being easier/cheaper to produce. This has naturally led to many people incorrectly assuming that these are the college colours. Confusion may also be caused by the fact that the college's coat of arms has a yellow/gold field.

[edit] Coat of Arms

The College Coat of Arms depicts a red cross fleury against a yellow/gold field surrounded by four Cornish Choughs and is blazoned "Or, a cross fleury gules between four Cornish choughs perched proper".

In the image shown to the right, the College Crest is found above the following Latin dedication "sanctus edmundus huius aulae lux" which can be loosely translated as "St. Edmund, light of this Hall".

Interestingly, it is very common practice within the University that when dedications are transcribed into Latin, they are written in such a way that an important date, usually that of a foundation or the dedication itself, is embedded in the text. This is usually achieved by choosing certain letters in the text which correspond to Roman Numerals which when added, often disregarding the usual subtractive notation, amount to the required date. These numerals are then indicated by being rendered in a larger size than that of the surrounding letters.

In the above dedication, the text is rendered as

and, in this case, adding the numerals naively gives:

C + V + M + V + V + V + I + V + V + L + L + V + X = 1246

which is a popular, if conservative, estimate for the establishment of the Hall.

[edit] Locations and Buildings

St Edmund Hall is based on a small central site on the north side of the High Street. The front quadrangle (see picture) is bordered by the porters' lodge, the old dining hall (1659), the college bar and buttery (containing a mid-15th-century fireplace), the chapel with the old library above (late 17th century), and accommodation for students and fellows. In the centre of the quadrangle is a medieval well. Passages from the quadrangle give access to the college library (the deconsecrated church of St Peter in the East, 12th century) and gardens (St Peter's churchyard) to the north, and modern accommodation blocks and dining hall to the east. The college also owns annexes at Norham Gardens, on Dawson Street, and on Iffley Road.

[edit] Student Life

The student body has long been known for prowess in sport, especially rugby. More recently, it has also demonstrated strengths in journalism, drama, mathematics and student politics.

[edit] College Assets and Artifacts

Work in progress

[edit] College Graces

Work in progress

[edit] People Associated with the College

[edit] Current Tutors and Fellows

Work in Progress

[edit] Notable Alumni

See also Former students of St Edmund Hall.

• Thomas Hearne
• Oronhyatekha
• Robin Day
• Anna Botting
• Patrick Garland (also Honorary Fellow)
• Timothy Gorringe
• M. J. K. Smith
• Derek Morris
• Terry Jones
• Gabriel Josipovici
• Emma Kennedy
• Stewart Lee
• Sir Nicholas Pumfrey (Mr Justice Pumfrey), High Court Judge
• Sir Ken Macdonald, the Director of Public Prosecutions
• Mark Field MP (represents the City of Westminster)
• Stuart Barnes, former England and British Lions rugby player, commentator for Sky Sports
• Hugo MacNeill, former Ireland and British Lions rugby player
• John McManners
• Al Murray
• John Wells
• Richard Onslow, 1st Baron Onslow
• General Sir (Hugh) Michael Rose, KCB, CBE

[edit] Other Notable Figures

Work in progress

[edit] Notes and References

1. ^ College History H.E.J. Cowdrey, entry in Encyclopaedia of Oxford, reproduced on St Edmund Hall Website.

• Emden, A.B., (1927), An Oxford Hall in Medieval Times: being the Early History of St. Edmund Hall, Clarendon Press, Reprinted 1968
• Kelly, J.N.D., (1989), St. Edmund Hall: Almost Seven Hundred Years, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-951559-X

[edit] External Links

• St Edmund Hall – official website
• Virtual tour of St Edmund Hall
• Shepherd and Woodward, St Edmund Hall