Oxford (England) -- History; University of Oxford -- History
Under the Prior Guimond there was certainly a school connected with the
convent. Whatever the origin of the University may have been--and there
are those who maintain that it sprang from the schools of S. Frideswide
as naturally as that of Paris from the schools of Notre Dame--it is
pleasant to remember, when you stand in the middle of Tom Quad, that you
are on the site of this, the first educational institution of Oxford,
just as when you stand in the Lady Chapel of the Cathedral you are on
the site of the old priory, the mother church of the University and
town.
Another faint echo of the priory days may be traced in the annual
Cakestall in S. Olds, which is a survival of the Fair of S. Frideswide
that used to last seven days. During that time the keys of the city
passed from mayor to prior, and the town courts were closed in favour of
the Pie-Powder Court,[2] held by the steward of the priory for the
redress of all disorders committed during the fair.
The entrance to the Cathedral is through the two arches in the
cloisters, directly opposite to you as you pass into Tom Quad beneath
Tom Tower. This curious entrance reminds you at once of the peculiar
position of the Cathedral as three parts College chapel. Tom Quad is the
largest quadrangle in Oxford (264 by 261 feet), and was begun by Wolsey
on a scale which is sufficient evidence of the extreme magnificence of
his plans for "Cardinal's College." It was begun, but has never been
finished. The shafts and marks of the arches, from which the vaults of
the intended cloister were to spring, are, however, plainly visible. Of
the old cloister of the monastery no trace remains save the windows and
door of the chapter house; the fifteenth-century cloisters that do exist
are not to be compared with those of New College or Magdalen. One side
of them was destroyed by Wolsey to make room for the College Hall. On
the south side of the cloister is the old library, which was formerly
the refectory of the monastery. With the chapter house doorway it
survives as a relic of the old conventual buildings, in quiet contrast
to the splendour of the superb kitchen, and the still more magnificent
hall, with its valuable collection of portraits. The vaulted chamber,
which contains the staircase by which this hall is approached, is one of
the most beautiful things in Oxford. The lovely fan-tracery of the vault
and the central pillar were the work of "one Smith, an artificer from
London," and were built as late as 1640, in the reign of Charles II. It
affords a striking instance of the fact in architectural history, that
good Gothic persisted in Oxford long after the influence of Italian work
had destroyed it elsewhere.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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