High Table

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View towards the High Table in the dining hall of Merton College, Oxford. The lower tables have a mixture of chair and bench seating. The Hall, Merton College, Oxford-geograph-3159217.jpg
View towards the High Table in the dining hall of Merton College, Oxford. The lower tables have a mixture of chair and bench seating.

The High Table is a table for the use of fellows (members of the Senior Common Room) and their guests in large dining halls, where the students eat in the main space of the hall at the same time. They remain the norm at Oxford, Cambridge, Dublin and Durham universities, where the university is organized into colleges. Other academic institutions (such as University of London; University of St Andrews; [1] University of Manchester and University of Bristol in the UK, Queen's University, and The University of Trinity College and Massey College at the University of Toronto, and the University of Hong Kong) also have high tables.

A fellow is a member of a group of learned people which works together in pursuing mutual knowledge or practice. There are many different kinds of fellowships which are awarded for different reasons in academia and industry. These often indicate a different level of scholarship.

University of Cambridge University in Cambridge, United Kingdom

The University of Cambridge is a collegiate public research university in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Founded in 1209 and granted a Royal Charter by King Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's fourth-oldest surviving university. The university grew out of an association of scholars who left the University of Oxford after a dispute with the townspeople. The two 'ancient universities' share many common features and are often referred to jointly as 'Oxbridge'. The history and influence of the University of Cambridge has made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

University of Dublin University in Dublin, Ireland, founded 1592

The University of Dublin, corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree awarding body for Trinity College Dublin. It was founded in 1592 when Queen Elizabeth I issued a charter for Trinity College as "the mother of a university", thereby making it Ireland's oldest operating university. It was modelled after the collegiate universities of Oxford and of Cambridge, but unlike these other ancient universities, only one college was established; as such, the designations "Trinity College" and "University of Dublin" are usually synonymous for practical purposes.

The table is normally at the end of the dining hall on a raised platform, although this is not always the case. On more formal evening occasions, dinner jackets are worn. It is also still common to wear academic gowns, at least for dinner.

Academic dress regulated formal attire worn by students and officials at certain schools and universities, especially for commencement or other cermonial occasions

Academic dress is a traditional form of clothing for academic settings, mainly tertiary education, worn mainly by those who have obtained a university degree, or hold a status that entitles them to assume them. It is also known as academical dress, academicals, subfusc and, in the United States, as academic regalia.

The high table preserves what was the normal style of eating in large houses in the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, when the whole household ate together in one hall, but in segregated and sharply differentiated styles. Tradionally the high table had chairs and the other tables benches, but today many halls have all-chair seating. The food is generally different, often completely so. [2]

Other bastions of this dining layout include some boarding schools (including the fictional Hogwarts) and the Inns of Court in London.

Hogwarts fictional British school of magic from the Harry Potter universe

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, commonly shortened to Hogwarts, is a fictional British school of magic for students aged eleven to eighteen, and is the primary setting for the first six books in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.

Inns of Court professional associations for barristers in England and Wales

The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple.

"High table" is sometimes used figuratively in a variety of ways to suggest things thought to be characteristic of Oxbridge fellows.

High Table in dining hall, Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge S95HighTableFitzwilliam.jpg
High Table in dining hall, Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge

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Hall large room often used for meetings

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Common Room (university)

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Formal Hall or Formal Meal is a meal held at some of the oldest universities in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland at which students usually dress in formal attire and often gowns to dine. These are held commonly in the colleges and halls of Oxford, Cambridge, Dublin, Durham, St Andrews, Bristol, London, the Australian sandstone universities, and Toronto.

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References

  1. St Salvator's Hall
  2. Strong, Roy, Feast: A History of Grand Eating, pp. 102-105, 2002, Jonathan Cape, ISBN   0224061380
Churchill College, Cambridge college of the University of Cambridge

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