Oxford - Magdalen College - early Frith undivided back postcard c.1900-2

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  Oxford - Magdalen College - early undivided back (these were the norm before the rules changed on writing the message on the address side in 1902)
• Publisher: Frith 
• 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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Magdalen College (/ˈmɔːdlɪn/ MAWD-lin)[4] is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete.[5] Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million[6] as of 2019 and one of the strongest academically, setting the record for the highest Norrington Score in 2010 and topping the table twice since then.[7] It is home to several of the University's distinguished chairs, including the Agnelli-Serena Professorship, the Sherardian Professorship, and the four Waynflete Professorships.

The large, square Magdalen Tower is an Oxford landmark, and it is a tradition, dating to the days of Henry VII, that the college choir sings from the top of it at 6 a.m. on May Morning.[8] The college stands next to the River Cherwell and the University of Oxford Botanic Garden. Within its grounds are a deer park and Addison's Walk.

The college grounds stretch north and east from the college, and include most of the area bounded by Longwall Street, the High Street (where the porter's lodge is located), and St Clement's. The college features a variety of architectural styles, and has been described as "a medieval nucleus with two incomplete additions, one from the eighteenth and one from the nineteenth century".[26]

The college is organised around five quads. The irregularly shaped St John's Quad is the first on entering the college, and includes the Outdoor Pulpit and old Grammar Hall. It connects to the Great Quad (the Cloister) via the Perpendicular Gothic Founders Tower, which is richly decorated with carvings and pinnacles and has carved bosses in its vault. The Chaplain's Quad runs along the side of the Chapel and Hall, to the foot of the Great Tower. St Swithun's Quad and Longwall Quad (which contains the Library) date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and make up the southwest corner of the college.

Original buildings

The college is built on the site of St John the Baptist Hospital, which was dissolved in 1457 and its property granted to William of Waynflete.[13] Some of the hospital buildings were reused by the college, and the kitchens survive today as the college bar, the Old Kitchen Bar.[9][27]

New construction began in 1470 with the erection of a wall around the site by mason William Orchard. Following this, Orchard also worked on the chapel, hall, and the cloister, including the Muniment and Founder's Towers, with work completed around 1480.[9]

Cloister

The Cloister or Great Quad is the "medieval nucleus" of the college. It was constructed between 1474 and 1480, also by Orchard, although several modifications were made later. Access to the Cloister from St John's Quad is via the Founder's Tower or Muniment Tower. The chapel and the hall make up the southern side of the quad. It is also home to the junior, middle, and senior common rooms, and the old library.

In 1508, grotesques known as hieroglyphics were added to the Cloister. These are thought to be allegorical, and include four hieroglyphics in front of the old library that represent scholarly subjects: science, medicine, law, and theology.[28][29] The other hieroglyphics have been assigned symbolism relating to virtues that should be encouraged by the college (e.g. the lion and pelican grotesques in front of the Senior Common Room representing courage and parental affection) or vices that should be avoided (the manticore, boxers, and lamia in front of the Junior Common Room, representing pride, contention, and lust).[29] In 2017, repair work was undertaken to restore the severely damaged boxers statue.[30]

In 1822, the north side of the Cloister was knocked down, ostensibly due to disrepair. This decision was controversial, provoking protests from the fellows and in the contemporary press, and it was rebuilt shortly afterwards.[26][9]

In the early 1900s, renovations were performed, and it was returned to a more medieval character. Student rooms were installed in the (very large) roof space in the 1980s.

The chapel is a place of worship for members of the college and others in the University of Oxford community and beyond. As a High Anglican chapel, its tradition is influenced by the Catholic Revival in the Church of England. Said and sung services are held daily during term.[31] The choir sings Choral Evensong or Evening Prayer every day at 6:00 pm except on Mondays.[31] On Sundays, a Sung Eucharist is offered in the morning at 11:00 am, whilst Compline (Night Prayer) is sung several times per term.[31] Mass is also sung on major holy days.[31][32]

The chapel itself is a grade I listed building built between 1474–1480.[33] The roof, giving the impression of a stone vaulted ceiling, is in fact a facsimile made from plaster added in 1790 by James Wyatt. Wyatt's redevelopment of the chapel included a number of modifications to make it more Gothic in character, but other than the ceiling, Wyatt's contributions were removed during a later redesign in 1828.[33][26][34]

The stained glass windows facing St John's Quad feature a grisaille depiction of the Last Judgement. These windows, dating from 1792, are a reconstruction by Francis Eginton of an earlier 17th-century window that was destroyed in a storm.[35] It had been uninstalled during World War II to protect it from damage, and was only restored in the 1990s. Much of the glass had been thought lost, until it was rediscovered in the ventilation tunnels under the New Building.[35]

Further information: Magdalen Tower

Construction of Magdalen's Great Tower began in 1492 by another mason, William Raynold. It might have been intended to replace an existing belfry remaining from the hospital, and probably was originally envisioned to stand alone. By the time it was completed in 1509, additional buildings had been built either side, creating the roughly triangular Chaplain's quad between the chapel and the High.[9]

The tower contains a peal of ten bells hung for English change ringing. They were cast at a number of different foundries and the heaviest, weighing 17 cwt, was cast in 1623.[36]

The tower is 144 feet tall and an imposing landmark on the eastern approaches to the city centre.[37] It has been the model for other towers, including Mitchell Tower of the University of Chicago,[38] Manhattan's First Presbyterian Church,[39] and All Saints' Church in Churchill, Oxfordshire.[40] It forms the centre of the May Morning celebrations in Oxford.