My Name's Sake at University College

I was walking down High Street in Oxford last month and saw this sign.  Of course I had to follow. It is not often that I see a sign that bears my name.

This sign was just outside University College in Oxford.  It was pointing the way to a memorial to the Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Percy Bysshe Shelley attended University College in 1810 and was expelled the following year for “contumaciously refusing to answer questions proposed to [him], and for also repeatedly declining to disavow a publication entitled The Necessity of Atheism”. At the time, the College thought it had washed its hands of a troublesome student; it only realized later that it had expelled one of England’s greatest romantic poets.

The monument is the work of Edward Onslow Ford, a prominent member of the so-called “New Sculpture”, and the enclosure was designed by Basil Champneys.

The Shelley Memorial is one of the most beloved sculptures in Oxford.  It is an idealized depiction of the drowned Shelley washed ashore.  Shortly before his 30th birthday, Shelley drowned in a sudden storm while attempting to sail from Leghorn to La Spezia, Italy.

There is a legend that University College was founded by King Alfred in 872.  Most agree, however, that is was founded in 1249 by William of Durham. University College claims it is the oldest of the Oxford colleges, although this claim is contested by both Balliol and Merton Colleges. 

Until the 16th century it was only open to Fellows studying theology. As the college grew in size and wealth, its medieval buildings were replaced with the current Main Quadrangle in the 17th Century. 

University College began to accept female undergraduate students in 1979.

Among it's famous alumni are C.S. Lewis, Bill Clinton, and Stephen Hawking. 

The Chapel at University College

The Great Hall

The Main Quadrangle

University College is beautiful and well worth a visit.  As with most Oxford colleges, it is closed to the public.  It is only open a few weekends throughout the year for perspective students to visit. I'm glad I stumbled upon an open day and heeded the invitation to visit despite the fact that I look nothing like a perspective student. Lesson learned: if you see a sign with you name on it, follow the sign.

Remembrance Day

Today is Remembrance Day in the U.K. I love this day. I love how everyone wears a poppy on their lapel for weeks before today. I love that proceeds for the sale of the poppies goes to veteran welfare causes and a substantial amount is raised each year. I love how everyone participates in the 2 minutes of silence, to be held at 11:11 AM wherever they are to remember the millions killed, injured and affected by the wars. I love how on Remembrance Sunday towns and villages all across the U.K. have a parade to honor all veterans. I love how there is such a strong and sincere expression of gratitude for all who have served in past and present conflicts. I love how there is a conscious effort to remember the wars, those who fought and died and those who survived but whose live where forever affected. And I love that the stories of the wars are told and passed on, year after year, to ensure that this nation will never forget.

Our village has a monthly newsletter, a booklet really, that lists all that is going on in Kennington for the month. This month, several pages were filled with short bios of former villagers that served served in either of the World Wars. I never knew these people but I was still deeply moved to read of their lives and of what they sacrificed.

The War Memorial in our village of Kennington, Oxfordshire

In Flanders fields the poppies blow      

Between the crosses, row on row,   

That mark our place; and in the sky   

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. 

Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,   

Loved and were loved, and now we lie         

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw   

The torch; be yours to hold it high.  

 If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow         

In Flanders fields.

John McCrae

An interesting article about Poppy sellers in today's Daily Mail:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2492536/Britains-longest-serving-Rememberance-Day-poppy-seller-91-75th-year.html

Nuffield College

A few weeks ago I had the chance to see Nuffield College, just across from the castle mound. Nuffield is a relatively new college, founded in 1937 after a donation to the University by the William Morris otherwise know as Lord Nuffield, the industrialist and the founder of Morris Motors. He donated land for the college on New Road, to the west of the city center near the mound of Oxford Castle.  In addition to the land Nuffield gave £900,000 to build the college and to provide it with an endowment fund.  For the creation of Nuffield College and for his other donations (many of the medical buildings and programs) he was described in 1949 by an editorial in The Times as "the greatest benefactor of the University since the Middle Ages".  

Because of The Second World War, the building of the college was delayed  until 1949 and was not completed until 1960, a time when contemporary architecture was just beginning to appear in the University.  Progress was also hampered by post-war building restrictions and the effects of inflation on Nuffield's donation. This led to various cost-saving changes to the plans. In one change, the tower, which had been planned to be ornamental, was redesigned to hold the college's library. It was the first tower built in Oxford for 200 years and is about 150 feet tall.  It is an impressive tower and dominates the skyline. 

Since its beginnings, Nuffield College has initiated a number of trends at both Oxford and Cambridge. It was the first college to have both women and men housed together. It was also the first college to consist solely of graduate students. In addition, it was the first in modern times to have a defined subject focus, namely, the social sciences.

I love the simplicity of the architecture and design of the college.  I love the generosity of Lord Nuffield, who in his day was one of the wealthiest men in Europe and who gave away his fortune to so many great causes (He and his wife had no children).  He and his wife’s legacy continue to bless the U.K. to this day. 

Looking down at Nuffield College from the Castle Mound

Sculptures and a pond in the Quad

Windows of the lower quadrangle

A practical tower -- it houses the library.   

The windows in the Chapel were designed by John Piper and they are truly stunning! 

Unlike most college chapels, Nuffield's chapel is modern, simple, small, and really more of a place of meditation than a gathering place for worship

Ghost Dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum

Oxford's Natural History is getting a make-over. Most of the museum is closed until sometime in 2014 for renovation work on its roof. You can see some exhibits on the side galleries as you walk to and from the Pitt Rivers Museum. Through the construction, you can also get a peek at the dinosaurs all wrapped up in white plastic and looking a lot like ghost dinosaurs.