Magdalen College

Performance Spaces

Overview

History

Bibliographic Sources

Events
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17th c. view
Entrance
Founder's Tower
Map of Oxford
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Venue Type & Location

College

Site Name: Magadalen College
Location: Oxford
County: Oxfordshire
Location Type: Town - in town at determined location
http://www.magd.ox.ac.uk/

Performance Spaces

Hall

Overview

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.

Performance History

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.

Current Status

The buildings continue in use as Magdalen College.

History of the Venue

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.

Record Source

REED Oxford 1.29, 50, 72, 73, 77, 162, 279; Inns of Court 3.918

Bibliographic Sources

View a list of abbreviations.

  • Alton, R.E. 'The Academic Drama in Oxford: extracts from the Records of four Colleges.' Malone Society Collections 5 (1959): 29–95.
  • Ayliffe, John. The Ancient and Present State of the University of Oxford. 2 vols. London: Printed for W. Mears & J. Hooke, 1723.
  • Boase, Charles W. Oxford. Historic Towns. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1890.
  • Boase, T.S.R. 'An Oxford College and the Gothic Revival.' Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 18 (July–December 1955): 145–88.
  • Colvin, Howard. Unbuilt Oxford. New Haven: Yale UP, 1983.
  • Elliott, John R., Jr., and Alan H. Nelson (University); Alexandra F. Johnston and Diana Wyatt (City), eds. Oxford. Records of Early English Drama (REED). 2 vols. London; Toronto: The British Library; U of Toronto P, 2004.
  • Hibbert, Christopher and Edward, eds. The Encyclopaedia of Oxford. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan London Ltd., 1988.
  • Loggan, David. Oxonia illustrata, sive, omnium celeberrimae istius universitatis, collegiorum, aularum, bibliothecae Bodleianae, scholarum publicarum, theatri Sheldoniani, nec non urbis totius scenographia. Oxford: e Theatro Sheldoniano, 1675.
  • Lyte, H.C. Maxwell. A History of the University of Oxford from the Earliest Times to the year 1530. London: MacMillan & Co., 1886.
  • New, Edmund H., E.G. Withycombe and Gilbert Murray. The New Loggan Guide to Oxford Colleges. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1932.
  • The Oxford University Archaeological Society. Magdalen College. Kent: Oxford University Archaeological Society, 1950.
  • Pechell, John. The History of the University of Oxford, from the death of William the Conqueror, to the demise of Queen Elizabeth. Oxford: Printed by W. Jackson & J. Lister, for J. & F. Rivington, 1773.
  • Petter, Helen M. The Oxford Almanack. New York: Oxford UP, 1946.
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus, and Jennifer Sherwood. Oxfordshire. 1974. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth, Midd: Penguin Books, 1999.
  • Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England. An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the City of Oxford. London: HMSO, 1939.
  • Salter, H.E., and Mary D. Lobel. A History of the County of Oxford: The University of Oxford. The Victoria History of the Counties of England. vol 3. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1954.
  • Speed, John. Map of Oxford. 10/27/2008 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:John_Speed%27s_map_of_Oxford,_1605.jpg)
  • Sturdy, David. Historic Oxford. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Tempus, 2004.
  • White, Roger. The Architectural Drawings of Magdalen College Oxford. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001.
  • Wilson, H.A. Magdalen College. University of Oxford College Histories. London: F.E. Robinson & Co., 1899.
  • Woolley, A.R. Oxford University and City. London: Art and Technics Ltd, 1951.