Oxford - Brasenose College - RP postcard c.1920s

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  Brasenose College, Oxford - real photo type
• Publisher:  none given
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Brasenose College, originally Brazen Nose College (in full: The King's Hall and College of Brasenose, often referred to by the abbreviation BNC), is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1509, with the College library and current chapel added in the mid-seventeenth century. The College's New Quadrangle was completed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with additional residence areas completed in the 1960s and 1970s.

As of 2006, it has an estimated financial endowment of £98 million.^[2] For the Degree year 2011/2012 Brasenose ranked 2nd in the Norrington Table (a measure of performance in undergraduate degree examinations).^[3] Brasenose is home to one of the oldest boat clubs in the world, Brasenose College Boat Club.

The history of Brasenose College, Oxford stretches back to 1509, when the college was founded on the site of Brasenose Hall.^[4] Its name is believed to derive from the name of a bronze knocker that adorned the hall's door.^[5] The college was associated with Lancashire and Cheshire, the county origins of its two founders – Sir Richard Sutton and the Bishop of Lincoln, William Smyth – a link which was maintained strongly until the latter half of the twentieth century.^[4][6][7] The first principals navigated Brasenose, with its Catholic sympathisers, through the reformation and continuing religious reforms.^[8] Most of Brasenose favoured the Royalist side during the English Civil War, although it produced notable generals and clergy on both sides.^[9] The library and chapel were completed in the mid-seventeenth century, despite Brasenose suffering continuing money problems.^[10][11]

The post-1785 period would see an era of prosperity of the college under Principal William Cleaver.^[12] The college began to be populated by gentlemen, its income doubling between 1790 and 1810,^[13] and academic success considerable.^[14] Efforts to reconstruct Brasenose were not completed, however, until the second half of the century with the addition of New Quad between 1886 and 1911.^[15] Brasenose's financial position remained secure, although under the tenure of Principal Edward Hartopp Cradock Brasenose's academic record waned greatly, with much of its success focussed on sports – where it excelled most notably in cricket and rowing.^[16] The mid-Century Royal Commissions were navigated – although they were opposed in form, their recommendations welcomed including the submission of accounts.^[15] The election of Charles Heberden as Principal in 1889 led to a gradual reversal in Brasenose's academic failures, although its sporting performance suffered.^[17] Heberden was the first lay Principal, presiding over an increasingly secular college, and opening up the library to undergraduates, instituting an entrance exam for the first time and accepting Rhodes scholarships.^[18]

Brasenose lost 115 men in the First World War (including a quarter of the 1913 year), with its undergraduate numbers greatly reduced.^[19] Lord Curzon's post-War reforms were successfully instituted. The inter-war period was defined by William Stallybrass, who as fellow and eventual Principal (until 1948) dominated college life.^[20] Brasenose once again produced top sportsmen – cricketers, rowers, and others.^[21] This came at the cost of falling academic standards and poorly performing finances, which would see Stallybrass' authority challenged. He died in a railway accident before he could be forced out, however.^[22] After the war, sporting achievements waned (although there were notable exceptions) but academic success did not improve significantly, in what was now one of Oxford's largest colleges.^[23]

The 1970s saw considerable social change in Brasenose: the admission of women beginning in 1974, more post-graduate attendees and fewer domestic staff.^[24] There was also considerable construction work to ensure that undergraduates could be housed for the entirety of their degree on the main site and on the Frewin site;^[25] this task was only completed in 1997 with the opening of the St Cross Building and Frewin extension.^[26] Law continued to be a strong subject for Brasenose (following on from Stallybrass through Principals Herbert Hart and Barry Nicholas), as was the emerging subject of Politics, Philosophy and Economics, starting with the fellowship of Vernon Bogdanor.^[27] Brasenose's finances were secured, and it thus entered the twenty-first century in a good position with regards financial, extracurricular and academic success.^[28]

Brasenose faces the west side of Radcliffe Square opposite the Radcliffe Camera in the centre of Oxford. The north side is defined by Brasenose Lane, while the south side reaches the High Street. To the west is Lincoln College. At its south-east end, the college is separated from the University Church by St Mary's Passage. The main entrance of the College can be found on Radcliffe Square. Although not located on Turl Street the college has links with the three Turl Street colleges (Lincoln, Jesus, and Exeter).The College is also physically linked to Lincoln College through a connecting door, which Brasenose College members are permitted to enter Lincoln College through on Ascension Day each year. The door is opened for five minutes and it is the only time during the year that this door is unlocked. Brasenose members are then served an ale by Lincoln College, which is traditionally flavoured with ground ivy.^[29]

The main college site comprises three quads, the original Old Quad, the small second quad affectionately known as the Deer Park, and the large New Quad, as well as collection of smaller houses facing Radcliffe Square and the High Street.^[30] The original college buildings comprised a single two storey quad, incorporating the original kitchen of Brasenose Hall on the south side. In the 17th century a third floor was added to the quad to form the current Old Quad. A separate chapel was also built to the south, connected to the quad by a library built over a cloister as shown in a 1670 print, thus enclosing the Deer Park. The cloister was for a time the college burial ground, and evidence suggests there were at least 59 people buried there, with the last recorded burial being in 1754. The cloister was filled in to make two or three chambers in around 1807, used as student bedrooms or administrative offices until 1971, when the space was converted into the graduate common room.^[31] More recently the graduate common moved to the Old Quad, and the space, still known as the ""Old Cloisters"" has been used as a library overspill area, a teaching room and, in 2010-11, as the temporary Senior Common Room. The nickname for the Chapel Quad is often thought to be a friendly jibe at Magdalen College which has a genuine deer park known as The Grove.^[31]

During the 16th century the dining hall was heated by an open fire in the centre of the room, supplemented by movable braziers. In the 1680s the hall was renovated, with a raised floor to accommodate a wine cellar below and a reconstructed roof. Another renovation phrase in the mid-18th century included a new chimneypiece, a new ceiling to cover the original timber beams and two gilded chandeliers. The original brazen nose was placed above high table in 1890.^[32]

Building began on the current chapel in 1656, and it replaced an old chapel which was located in a space now occupied by the Senior Common Room. Building materials were taken from a disused chapel at the site of St Mary’s College (now Frewin Hall), transported piece by piece by horse-and-cart to Brasenose College. The chapel, a mix of Gothic and Baroque styles, features a hanging fan vault ceiling of wood and plaster, and was consecrated in 1666.^[32] The internal fittings are largely 18th and 19th century, and include chandeliers presented to the college in 1749. These were donated to a parish church and later converted to gas but then returned to Brasenose when the church switched to electric lights. The chandeliers were then converted back to their original state so that candles could be used in them once again.^[33] The current library was begun in 1658 and received its first books in 1664. It replaced a smaller library on Staircase IV, which is now used as a meeting room. The books in the current library were fixed by chains, which were only removed in the 1780s, over a hundred years later.^[32]

New Quad was designed by Jackson and finished in 1911, replacing a number of existing buildings. The current site was completed in 1961 with new buildings, used largely for first year undergraduate accommodation, designed by the architects Powell and Moya. In 2010, a project was begun to renovate the kitchens, servery, dining hall and some other areas of college. The project included the installation of under floor heating and a new timber floor in the dining hall, new kitchen equipment, a new servery area, additional dining and meeting places, and disabled access to the dining hall.^[34] During the project, the Old Quad housed a temporary dining hall and kitchen, while the New Quad was used to store building materials. The dining hall refurbishment was completed by September 2010, whilst the remaining work was completed around Easter 2012. The new catering facilities were unveiled during a ceremony on 14 March 2012. During the ceremony, college members gathered in a restored 15th century building in the heart of college, originally the college kitchens and most recently used as the servery. This room, to be known as the Mediaeval Kitchen, will be used as a new dining space in addition to the main dining hall, which will remain the usual location for student meals. The temporary kitchen and builder's yard were removed and the Quads restored to their normal state during the Easter 2012 vacation.^[35] In recent years the Junior Common Room (JCR) and Bar have also been renovated.

The college also has a large undergraduate annex situated on St Michael's Street, developed from Frewin Hall in the 1940s, and a graduate annex shared with St Cross College was completed in 1995. The St Cross annex is laid out in clusters of five bed-sitting rooms, sharing two shower rooms and a well equipped kitchen. A second graduate annex, Holly Bush Row, was opened in September 2008 and is located close to the railway station and Said Business School. It consists of single rooms with en suite bathrooms and shared kitchens. There are also a small number of other graduate houses offered by the college.

type=real photographic (rp)

theme=topographical: british

sub-theme=england

county/ country=oxfordshire

number of items=single

period=inter-war (1918 - 1939)

postage condition=unposted