Magdalen College is situated on the N side of High Street, just W of the River Cherwell. The buildings are made from local Oxfordshire limestone.
The hall is adjacent to the chapel on the upper floor at the E corner of the S block of the Great Quadrangle. The vestry of the chapel was on the ground level below. The kitchen range was adjacent, dating from the late 13th/early 14th c. St John's Hospital building.
Entertainers of various kinds were paid for performances by Magdalen College before 1642. It is unlikely that the hall itself was used by bearwards and their bears.
The buildings continue in use as Magdalen College.
1458 College founded by William of Waynflete, bishop of Winchester. The site included older buildings of St John's Hospital which were put to immediate use until mostly replaced by new construction.
1466-- 7 Construction of the college boundary walls.
1474--80 Hall, chapel, library, cloister and Muniment and Founder's Towers built.
1485 First president's lodging built.
1492--1507 Magdalen Tower ,144.5' high, built.
1509 Chaplain's Quadrangle finished.
1541 Fine linenfold panelling installed in the W end of the hall, continued in 1574.
1605 New screen added at lower (E) end of the hall in honour of the visit of James I and Prince Henry.
1614 Grammar Hall built.
1629--35 New gateway, ascribed to Inigo Jones, built to W of the chapel. Range S of the kitchen built.
1633--5 Entrance gate built by the Christmas brothers.
1635 Kitchen staircase built.
18th c. Medieval Song School demolished.
1733 New range (still called New Building) built on the N, designed by Holdsworth.
1790--2 Chapel and Hall largely rebuilt by James Wyatt, who also offered a new design for the Great Quadrangle and entrance gate.Wyatt removed the medieval roof in the hall and added a plaster ceiling, as well as plaster to the walls.
1822 N side of the cloisters demolished. Rebuilt to resemble their original form as designed by Joseph Arkinson who also rebuilt the Old Library.
1824 N side of cloisters rebuilt.
1836--8 Renovation work begun on the hall, with a new floor and new doors designed by Buckler inserted in the screen. Green paint was removed from the original panelling.
1844 17th c. entrance gate by Inigo Jones replaced with a new gate by A. W. N. Pugin.
1883 Pugin's gate demolished and replaced by Bodley and Garner's design in 1885.
1901--2 Wyatt's plaster ceiling in the hall replaced by a wooden ceiling by G.F. Bodley following its original design.
REED Oxford 1.29, 50, 72, 73, 77, 162, 279; Inns of Court 3.918
