New College
Holywell Street & New College Lane 279555
Open: Easter to early October
11 a.m. until 5 p.m. £2 entry fee.
Access via the New College Lane gate.
Winter months:
2 p.m. until 4p.m. Access via the Holywell gate. No entry fee.
Official Website
One of the more unusual colleges of Oxford, it was built around a section of the old city walls, giving the college a castle-like appearance. At the far end of the grounds is a large mound that was once the burial ground during the time of the Black Death. While here, visit the chapel, which has 14th century stained glass, and Sir Jacob Epstein's disturbing statue of Lazarus.
Notable Facts:
-
Part of the college was built on an old plague burial ground
-
The name of the College sometimes strikes visitors as odd in an institution more than 620 years old; its origin is that the College's "official" name - the College of St Mary - is the same as that of Oriel College. Hence "the new college of St Mary".
Famous Attendees:
Virginia Woolf - author
John Fowles - author
Dennis Potter - TV writer
Hugh Grant - actor
Reverend Spooner (a warden of the college) - inventor of Spoonerisms
