Christ Church: A Legacy of Learning, Power, and Inspiration

Christ Church, formally titled "The Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral Church of Christ in Oxford of the Foundation of King Henry the Eighth," stands as a unique institution. It is the only academic institution in the world that also serves as a cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of Oxford. Founded in 1546, it is one of the largest colleges comprising Oxford University. Its rich history, architectural grandeur, and impressive list of alumni have made it a prominent landmark in Oxford and a source of inspiration for generations.

Founding and Early History

The story of Christ Church begins with Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, a former member of Magdalen College and a powerful figure in the court of King Henry VIII. Wolsey, who also founded Hampton Court Palace, acquired the Augustinian priory on the site of St. Frideswide's abbey in 1525. He envisioned a grand college, a testament to his power and influence. Construction began on a sprawling complex around a green quadrangle, now known as Tom Quad.

However, Wolsey's ambitions were cut short by his death in 1529. The college remained incomplete, but its foundations were firmly laid. In 1531, the college was suppressed, only to be refounded in 1532 as King Henry VIII's College by Henry VIII, to whom Wolsey's property had escheated. Henry then combined the see and the college in a unique establishment he called Christ Church. Since the time of Queen Elizabeth I the college has also been associated with Westminster School. Christ Church's sister college in the University of Cambridge is Trinity College, Cambridge, founded the same year by Henry VIII.

Architectural Marvels and Filming Locations

Through the centuries, major additions have been made to the buildings. Wolsey's Great Quadrangle was crowned with the famous gate-tower designed by Christopher Wren, completed in 1682. The tower is dubbed Tom Tower. To this day, the bell in the tower, Great Tom, is rung 101 times at 9 pm measured by Oxford time, meaning at 9:05 pm GMT/BST every night, once for each of the 100 original scholars of the college, plus one more stroke added in 1664. In former times this was done at midnight, signalling the close of all college gates throughout Oxford. Since it took 20 minutes to ring the 101, the Christ Church gates, unlike those of other colleges, did not close until 12:20 am. When the ringing was moved back to 9:00 pm, Christ Church gates still remained open until 12.20, 20 minutes later than any other college.

Christ Church sits in approximately 175 acres (71 hectares) of land, including the Christ Church Meadow (including Merton Field and Boathouse Island), which is open to the public all year round.

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The college buildings and grounds have served as a backdrop for various films and television shows. Parts of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, as well as a small part of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland were set here. More recently it has been used in the filming of the movies of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series and also the film adaptation of Philip Pullman's novel Northern Lights (the film bearing the title of the American edition of the book, The Golden Compass). The cloisters are where Harry was shown the trophy his father won as a “seeker”. And although the 16th-century hall wasn’t used for actual filming, it was the inspiration for the great hall in Hogwarts.

Distinctive features of the college's architecture have been used as models by a number of other academic institutions, including the NUI Galway, which reproduces Tom Quad. The University of Chicago, Cornell University, and Kneuterdijk Palace have reproductions of Christ Church's dining hall (in the forms of Hutchinson Hall, the dining hall of Risley Residential College, and the Gothic hall of Kneuterdijk Palace, respectively). ChristChurch Cathedral in New Zealand, after which the City of Christchurch is named, is itself named after Christ Church, Oxford.

Royal Connections and the English Civil War

King Charles I made the Deanery his palace and held his Parliament in the Great Hall during the English Civil War. The royal connection with Christ Church continued during the English Civil War. His court sat in the Deanery, and the royalist "Parliament" convened in the Great Hall. The king's cousin George Stuart, Lord d'Aubigny, was killed at the Battle of Edgehill and buried in the Cathedral in an unmarked grave, as were his two brothers, also killed early in the war.

A Hub of Academic and Religious Life

Christ Church is unique among Oxford colleges as its head of house, the Dean, is also the head of the cathedral. The dean is an Anglican cleric appointed by the Crown. The college's activities are managed by a senior and a junior censor (formally titled the Censor Moralis Philosophiae and the Censor Naturalis Philosophiae) the former of whom is responsible for academic matters, the latter for undergraduate discipline. They are chosen from among the members of the governing body. The governing body of Christ Church consists of the dean and chapter of the cathedral, together with the "Students of Christ Church", who are not junior members but rather the equivalent of the fellows of the other colleges. Until the later 19th century, the students differed from fellows in that they had no governing powers in their own college, as those resided solely with the dean and chapter. The governing body of Christ Church now has around 60 members. Serving alongside the seven members of chapter, the other members include statutory professors and associate professors with joint appointments (employed both by the University and Christ Church) as well as early-career career development fellows on fixed-term contracts.

Long associated with high church Anglicanism, Christ Church is unique in that it has both a cathedral choir and a college choir. The cathedral choir comprises twelve adults and sixteen boys. The adults are made up of lay clerks and choral scholars, or academical clerks. The choir was all male until 2019, when they welcomed alto Elizabeth Nurse, the first female clerk of Christ Church Cathedral Choir. The boys, whose ages range from eight to thirteen, are chosen for their musical ability and attend Christ Church Cathedral School. Aside from the director, Peter Holder, there is also a sub-organist and two organ scholars. The college choir, however, is always a student-run society, and sings Evensong once a week in term time. In vacations the services are sung by the Cathedral Singers of Christ Church - a choir drawn from semi-professional singers in and around Oxford. The cathedral also hosts visiting choirs from time to time during vacations.

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Throughout its history, the cathedral choir has attracted many distinguished composers and organists - from its first director, John Taverner, appointed by Cardinal Wolsey in 1526, to William Walton in the twentieth century. The choir, which broadcasts regularly, have many recordings to their credit and were the subject of the Channel 4 television documentary Howard Goodall's Great Dates (2002). The documentary was nominated at the Montreux TV Festival in the arts programme category - and has since been seen internationally. The choir's collaboration with Goodall has also led to their singing his TV themes for Mr. Bean and Vicar of Dibley. They appeared in Howard Goodall's Big Bangs, broadcast in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 in March 2000.

Notable Alumni

Christ Church boasts an impressive list of alumni who have made significant contributions to various fields. At least thirteen British prime ministers have been educated at Christ Church, including Sir Robert Peel (Prime Minister 1834-1835 & 1841-1846), Anthony Eden (1955-1957) and William Ewart Gladstone (1892-94, 1886, 1880-85, & 1868-74). At least ten Chancellors of the Exchequer have also been educated at Christ Church including Nigel Lawson (1983-1989) and William Murray (Lord Chief Justice 1756-1788 and Chancellor of the Exchequer 1757) as well as other prominent UK politicians such as Quintin McGarel Hogg (Lord Chancellor 1979-1987). Christ Church has also educated many people who have gone on to take prominent political roles abroad, such as Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (former Prime minister of Pakistan), Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party), S.W.R.D.

Politics and Public Service

Sir Robert Peel: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Anthony Eden: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
William Ewart Gladstone: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Nigel Lawson: Chancellor of the Exchequer
William Murray: Lord Chief Justice and Chancellor of the Exchequer
Quintin McGarel Hogg: Lord Chancellor
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: Former Prime Minister of Pakistan
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari: Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party
S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike: Former Prime Minister of Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

Academia and Theology

There are numerous former students in the fields of academia and theology including seventeen Archbishops, most recently Rowan Williams (Archbishop of Canterbury 2002-2012). Other students in these areas include George Kitchin (the first chancellor of the University of Durham and Dean of Durham Cathedral), John Charles Ryle (first Bishop of Liverpool), John Wesley (leader of the Methodist movement), Richard William Jelf (Principal of King's College London), Ronald Montagu Burrows (Principal of King's College London) and Bishop William Stubbs (Bishop of Oxford and historian).

Rowan Williams: Archbishop of Canterbury
George Kitchin: First Chancellor of the University of Durham and Dean of Durham Cathedral
John Charles Ryle: First Bishop of Liverpool
John Wesley: Leader of the Methodist movement
Richard William Jelf: Principal of King's College London
Ronald Montagu Burrows: Principal of King's College London
Bishop William Stubbs: Bishop of Oxford and historian

Philosophy and Science

Prominent philosophers including John Locke, John Rawls, Sir A. J. Albert Einstein was elected to undertake a 5-year Research Studentship in 1931. philosopher and polymath Robert Hooke and developmental biologist Sir John B. A number of successful businessmen have also been educated at Christ Church including Alex Beard (Glencore), Sir Michael Moritz (Sequoia Capital), Crispin Odey (hedge fund manager), Jacob Rothschild (N M Rothschild & Sons), Nicky Oppenheimer (De Beers), Peter Moores (Littlewoods), James A.

John Locke: Philosopher
John Rawls: Philosopher
Robert Hooke: Philosopher and polymath
Sir John B. Gurdon: Developmental biologist and Nobel laureate
Albert Einstein: Physicist

Arts, Literature, and Entertainment

The college has educated six Olympic gold medalists including Jonny Searle in rowing. Other notable alumni include entrepreneur and founder of Pennsylvania William Penn, broadcaster David Dimbleby, composer Sir William Walton and the writers Lewis Carroll and W. H.

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Lewis Carroll: Author of Alice in Wonderland
W. H. Auden: Writer
William Penn: Founder of Pennsylvania
David Dimbleby: Broadcaster
Sir William Walton: Composer
Jonny Searle: Olympic gold medalist in rowing

College Life and Traditions

As well as rooms for accommodation, the buildings of Christ Church include the cathedral, one of the smallest in England, which also acts as the college chapel, a great hall, two libraries, two bars, and separate common rooms for dons, graduates and undergraduates. Accommodation is usually provided for all undergraduates, and for some graduates, although some accommodation is off-site. Accommodation is generally spacious with most rooms equipped with sinks and fridges. Many undergraduate rooms comprise 'sets' of bedrooms and living areas. Members are generally expected to dine in hall, where there are two sittings every evening, one informal and one formal (where gowns must be worn and Latin grace is read). The college offers subsidies on the costs of accommodation and dinners for UK and ROI students from families with lower household incomes. The buttery next to the Hall serves drinks around dinner time. There is a college lending library that supplements the university libraries (many of which are non-lending).

Croquet is played in the Masters' Garden in the summer. The sports ground is mainly used for netball, cricket, tennis, rugby and football and includes Christ Church cricket ground. In recent years the Christ Church Netball Club, which competes on the inter-college level in both mixed and women's matches, has become known as a popular and inclusive sport. Rowing and punting is carried out by the boat-house across Christ Church Meadow - the Christ Church Boat Club is traditionally strong at rowing, having been Head of the River more than all other colleges except Oriel College.

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