OXFORD LIFESt Peter’s College
The College’s blend of antiquity and youth makes it a stimulating environment for study. It is heir to all the traditions of Oxford, above all the pursuit of academic excellence in the context of expanding the whole personality. It is a tolerant, harmonious, and open community in which students and tutors are in close contact and enjoy good relations. St Peter’s is a medium-sized College by Oxford standards, occupying a compact site in the city centre less than 100 yards from CMRS. It admits some 130 undergraduates each year, and its postgraduates number about 90, making a student body of around 450. The College now attracts a lively mix from all over the British Isles and overseas. It has over 50 Fellows and Lecturers (dons) who cover nearly all the subjects offered by the University. College Buildings St Peter’s has an interesting and varied set of buildings, many of them much older than the College itself. The College has, in effect, adapted existing buildings to provide the collective facilities required for College life, and built new ones to provide student accommodation. Linton House, dating from 1797, is the entrance to the College, and houses the Porter’s Lodge and the College library. Canal House, the Master’s Lodge, dates from the early 19th century. The College Dining Hall, known as Hannington Hall after the Victorian missionary, Bishop James Hannington, dates from 1832 and is the only surviving part of New Inn Hall. The College Chapel was originally the Church of St Peter-le-Bailey, built in 1874. The buildings of the former Oxford Girls School, which adjoin the original site of the College, have been acquired more recently and provide student accommodation and a wide variety of function rooms. Social Life and the Junior Common Room Undergraduate social life at St Peter’s revolves around the ‘Junior Common Room’ (JCR), which annually elects committees that plan social activities in College and contribute to facilities like the College Bar. The Common Room is a place to socialize with other students, read the newspapers, enjoy music, and attend College ‘bops’. It is a notable feature of life at St Peter’s that all members, tutors and students, enjoy good personal and collective relations. Students at CMRS enjoy access to the St Peter’s JCR, and are welcome to share its facilities. College Societies & Clubs In a lively college such as St Peter’s there is plenty of opportunity for college societies to flourish, though their fortunes rise and fall with the talents of each generation. Interests in drama, music, politics, religion and sport are well represented. The Music Society arranges orchestral and choral concerts, and a varied and imaginative series of recitals. St Peter’s has a Music Room, complete with Blüthner grand piano, and the Chapel, which provides an excellent acoustic space for larger concerts, has a refurbished Willis organ and Goble harpsichord. The College Drama Society is active, and always welcomes new recruits. It organises a production in most terms, and its repertoire is highly diverse. The College is also active in sport, and has shared sportsground and rowing facilities nearby. It has recently shown particular strength in men’s rugby, cricket and tennis. University Societies
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St
Peter’s College occupies the site of two of the University’s
oldest ‘Inns’ or medieval hostels, Bishop Trellick’s
(later New Inn Hall), and Rose Hall, both dating from the 13th century.
Its history really began, however, in 1929 when St Peter’s
was founded by Francis James Chavasse, later Bishop of Liverpool,
who was concerned at the rising cost of education in Britain’s
older universities, and projected St Peter’s as a College
where promising students, who might otherwise be deterred by the
cost of College life, could obtain an Oxford education. The commitment
to make Oxford accessible to any student of ability, irrespective
of means, religion, gender, race, or colour, remains a feature of
St Peter’s today. In 1961 the University approved a statute
giving St Peter’s full collegiate status. With the granting
of its Royal Charter in the same year, it took the name of St Peter’s
College.
The
range of clubs and societies is impressive, and covers music, drama,
politics, religion, sport, and many other subject areas and fields
of interest. Membership of most clubs is relatively cheap and, study-time
permitting, can be an excellent way of meeting people outside CMRS
and St Peter’s. A notable resource is the Oxford Union Society,
a private members’ club situated very near to St Michael’s
Hall and St Peter’s. Membership includes cafeteria/restaurant
facilities, a bar and a sizeable lending library. As a debating
society, it enjoys unparalleled worldwide prestige, many world leaders
having begun their careers there. Speaker meetings and other events
occur daily in term.