Christ Church, Oxford

The Meadow Christ Church meadow is a rare open space at the heart of Oxford, open to the public all year round. Though seemingly tranquil, the meadow is highly variable, with seasonal flooding and a variety of wildlife that comes and goes. During the Civil War it proved invaluable as a defence against the Parliamentarian forces, but visitors are nowadays more likely to encounter a rare English Longhorn cow than a soldier besieging the city.

The meadow has long been used as a site for sport, entertainment and recreation. It was the location for some of the earliest balloon flights in England: in 1784 James Sadler, ‘the first English aeronaut’ rose from Christ Church meadow, landing six miles away after a half-hour flight. In May 1785 Sadler again ascended from the meadow, this time with the statesman William Windham as a passenger.

The meadow is enclosed by the rivers Cherwell and Thames - the Thames is known as the Isis whilst flowing through the city. The Isis is home to the college boathouses where rowing teams gather to train and compete. Every summer the major intercollegiate regatta takes place (better known as Summer VIIIs) as it has done since the competition’s inauguration in 1815. Crews from across the university descend annually on the Cherwell to compete in a four-day competition. Fittingly, Christ Church has been the most successful men’s crew, with 32 victories. Sommerville (the former college of Margaret Thatcher) are the most successful women’s crew, with 8 victories since the women’s competition began in 1976.

Christ Church meadow, Oxford, River Cherwell The meadow has also provided a beautiful setting for a number of outdoor performances, including a dramatic a celebration of Christ Church’s history in the form of a Son et Lumiere in 1968. It was a star studded performance: scripted by Jan Morris (historian, author, travel writer and honorary fellow at Christ Church), and with a prologue by W.H. Auden (Anglo-American poet, undergraduate and at Christ Church), it was narrated by Sir John Gielgud (actor, Oscar winner and theatre director).

Between the river and the Meadow Gate of the college is the large Broad Walk, installed in the time of John Fell (1625-1686), dean of Christ Church and Bishop of Oxford. Having survived since the seventeenth century, it was in recent years threatened when proposed as the site for a new bypass. Luckily nothing came of the plans and the walk remains a refuge from the busier city streets. Although Christ Church attracts nearly half a million visitors each year, its purpose remains twofold: the pursuit of learning and the worship of God. In this sense Christ Church preserves the ethos of Thomas Wolsey’s original Cardinal College, founded here in 1524, which sought to renew both education and spirituality. The Meadow Building, through which visitors enter, was built expressly for undergraduates in the nineteenth century – a time when Christ Church, like the rest of the University, was undergoing a series of important reforms to strengthen the emphasis on undergraduate education. The famous tutorial system was developed, in which one or two students discuss their work with a tutor each week, a practice which continues to this day. Meanwhile, the curriculum was expanded to encompass a greater variety of subjects, including such disciplines as natural science, law, and modern history. It was agreed that the undergraduates needed more and better housing, and from 1862-5 the college built a new a suite of rooms overlooking the meadows.

Today Christ Church is home to around 420 undergraduates, taught by over 100 academic staff. The rooms throughout the college are still used by students and staff and we ask all visitors to respect the working environment around the college. Like many colleges, rooms are grouped by staircase, each of which is numbered – look out for the numbers on the Meadow building when you have entered. Each staircase has a housekeeper (known as a scout) who looks after the rooms, and once looked after their inhabitants too.

The Meadow Building is in the Venetian Gothic style, popularised in the Victorian period through the writings of one Christ Church alumni, John Ruskin. Ruskin loved the buildings of Venice and sought to encourage a number of their elements within contemporary architecture. Venetian influences can be seen in the pointed shape of the windows and arches (called a lancet arch) and the inclusion of Eastern Mediterranean motifs on the surface of the building (known as polychrome ornament). But the building was designed by an Irish architect, T. N. Deane, well known in Dublin for his work on the National Museum and Library.

If you look up to the wall between the Meadow Building and the Hall, you can see one of the more recent additions to the college: a series of modern grotesques. Whilst work was ongoing elsewhere, it was decided to use some of the spare stone to decorate the wall and a number of long serving Christ Church staff were used as ‘models’. Two former Clerks of Works (Robert Branch and Bill Major) can be seen, next to Alec and Tony Clarke who served as a scout and SCR butler respectively. The latter two both held their positions for over fifty years, a not unusual feat for staff at the college.

Reference: https://www.chch.ox.ac.uk