Brasenose College

Brasenose College, originally Brazen Nose College (in full: The King's Hall and College of Brasenose, often referred to by the abbreviation BNC), is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. As of 2006, it has an estimated financial endowment of £98m.

History

The College was founded in 1509 by a lawyer, Sir Richard Sutton, of Prestbury, Cheshire, and the Bishop of Lincoln, William Smyth. Smyth provided the money for the college's foundation, and Sutton acquired the property. It was built on the site of Brasenose Hall, one of the medieval Oxford institutions which originally existed just as a lodging house, but which had grown to become a seat of learning. The college still maintains traditional ties to its official Visitor, the Bishop of Lincoln.

Among the earliest to endow the new College (or Hall) was John Elton, an early Canon of Salisbury Cathedral, and later Chancellor of Hereford Cathedral, who donated funds on May 20, 1529, towards the tuition of any Elton family member who wished to attend the new Brasenose Hall. Other notable early benefactors include Alexander Nowell, Joyce Frankland, Elizabeth Morley and Sarah Seymour, Duchess of Somerset.

The name "Brasenose" is thought to originate from a brazen (bronze) door knocker in the shape of a nose; the nose-shaped door knocker which hangs above the high table of the main hall of Brasenose College is thought to be the original door knocker belonging to Brasenose Hall. In the 1330s, a group of students left Oxford for Stamford in Lincolnshire led by a student from Brasenose Hall, and are thought to have taken the door knocker with them. In 1890, a house in Stamford named "Brazenose" bearing a 12th-century door knocker in the shape of a nose was put on sale. The house was purchased by the college for the sake of the door knocker, which was removed and placed in the hall, believed to have been returned to its rightful home. The house, and remains of the Hall, are now part of the estate of Stamford School. Interest in the college's history by its members is still strong, and in 2006, Brasenose students made a pilgrimage to Lincoln and Stamford.

An alternative theory is that the name is a corruption of brasenhuis (brewhouse), but this is not widely accepted, and the college uses the "nose" as an informal symbol.

Location and buildings

Brasenose faces the west side of Radcliffe Square opposite the Radcliffe Camera in the centre of Oxford. The north side is defined by Brasenose Lane, while the south side reaches the High Street. To the west is Lincoln College. Although not located on Turl Street the college has links with the three Turl Street colleges (Lincoln, Jesus, and Exeter).

The main college site comprises three quads, the original Old Quad, the small second quad affectionately known as the Deer Park, and the large New Quad, as well as collection of smaller houses facing Radcliffe Square and the High Street.

The original college buildings comprised a single two storey quad, incorporating the original kitchen of Brasenose Hall on the south side. In the seventeenth century a third floor was added to the quad to form the current Old Quad. A separate chapel was also built to the south, connected to the quad by a library built over a cloister as shown in a 1670 print, thus enclosing the Deer Park. The cloister was filled in to make rooms around 1807. New Quad was designed by Jackson and finished in 1911, replacing a number of existing buildings. The current site was completed in 1961 with new buildings designed by the architects Powell and Moya.

The college also has a large undergraduate annexe developed from Frewin Hall in the 1940s, and a graduate annexe shared with St Cross College was completed in 1995. A second graduate annexe, Hollybush Row, is under construction (2007).

Student life

Brasenose College Boat Club (BNCBC) is popularly held to be the oldest boat club in the world; this is impossible to verify but BNCBC is certainly the oldest collegiate boat club and took part in the first ever head race, beating Jesus College Boat Club on that occasion.

Brasenose College Rugby Football Club proudly associates itself with William Webb Ellis, who is often wrongly credited as the inventor of the game, founder of BNCRFC, the club's first captain, and graduate of the college. Webb-Ellis's 'outside-the-box' approach has underpinned the tactical philosophies of a long and illustrious line of BNCRFC captains.

The JCR plays a central part in the life of the undergraduate community. Offering social, recreational and welfare support to the students, the elected committee addresses many aspects of student life and liaises with the governing body and HCR representatives. A weekly report is collated and distributed on the mailing-list by official JCR Scribe and Vice-President.

The college also prides itself on its annual summer arts festival, first staged in 1994, involving various plays, pantos, comedy evenings and musical performances.