Holywell Manor is a historic building in central Oxford, England, in the parish of Holywell. [1] It currently houses some of Balliol College's postgraduate student population. It is on the corner of Manor Road and St Cross Road, next to St Cross Church, which has become the Balliol College Historic Collections Centre.
The manor was held by the rectors of the Church of St Peter-in-the-East in the 11th and 12th centuries. [1] It passed to Merton College in 1294 and was rebuilt by the College in 1516. It was leased to Edward Napper by the College in 1531. When occupied by Napper's family, the house became a refuge for Roman Catholic priests. The building was enlarged during 1555–72 and Napper's family remained in residence until the 17th Century. The building was partially demolished in 1761 and divided into three parts in 1828.
Balliol College has had a presence in the area since the purchase by Benjamin Jowett, the Master, in the 1870s of the open area which is the Balliol sports ground 'The Master's Field'. On the edges of this, along Mansfield Road and St Cross Road, have been built Fellows houses, notably 'The King's Mound' in 1894.
The oldest surviving part of the site is the 16th century farmhouse which now houses the 'Praefectus', i.e., the resident supervising Fellow. [2] It was acquired by Balliol College in 1929, prior to which it had been a convent of the community of St. John the Baptist, Clewer [3] and a home for unmarried mothers (though it was deserted by 1929). The purchase was planned by Kenneth Norman Bell in order to provide accommodation for undergraduates and was funded by donations to the Balliol Society which he had founded expressly for this purpose. [4]
The extensive extensions to the original manor were designed by the architect George Kennedy an Old Boy of the College. These include the road facing façade, the entrance courtyard and the grand Queen Anne style wings surrounding the distinctive two rows of Ginkgo trees planted by C. S. Orwin. [4]
The Manor opened in 1932 and remained a hostel for Balliol's undergraduates until the 1960s, except for during World War II, when it was lent to St Hugh's College. [4] It then became a mixed graduate community shared with St Anne's College's female graduates. Finally in 1984, after Balliol College had begun accepting women it took its current form as a residence just for Balliol's graduates. A supplementary graduate students accommodation block, built on the opposite corner of the road to the Manor on the 'Master's Field', was opened in 1966 and is officially the 'Martin Building' after Leslie Martin, and known jocularly as 'Holywell Minor'. In 1986 another block next to this was opened as the 'Dellal Building', named after Balliol Foundation fellow Jack Dellal. Between 2000 and 2008 a group of undergraduate resident Staircases have been developed along Jowett Walk. In 2019 the Dellal and Martin buildings were demolished to make way for new Balliol accommodation buildings that extend along Jowett Walk and St Cross Road, opposite Holywell Manor. [5]
The building was significantly extended in 1993 with the construction of the James Fairfax Yard block off the manor's north wing. [4] A review of college services led to the decision to close the kitchens and dining room, Manor residents were to use the new facilities at the College Hall, from 2008. This reversed a tendency towards the Manor being regarded as a separate college; Balliol is in fact the ninth largest graduate college in the University by post-graduate student members. This allowed for internal improvements and facilities, notably an additional common space known as the 'cockpit' or 'lounge', and a gym, which are available for use by all College members.
Kenneth Norman Bell began an association between Holywell and the arts which still continues. What is now one of the Manor's computer rooms is decorated with murals depicting the tradition of the founding of the College painted by Gilbert Spencer, the brother of Stanley Spencer. In addition, the garden contains a fountain by Peter Lyon and a wind sculpture by George Rickey. [4]
Holywell Manor has the following facilities: [6]
Balliol College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a rich landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the foundation and endowment for the college. When de Balliol died in 1269 his widow, Dervorguilla, a woman whose wealth far exceeded that of her husband, continued his work in setting up the college, providing a further endowment and writing the statutes. She is considered a co‑founder of the college.
St Anne's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and received full college status in 1952. Once a women's college, it has been coeducational since 1979. It has some 450 undergraduate and 200 graduate students. It retains an original aim of allowing women of any financial background to study at Oxford. A recent count shows St Anne's accepting the highest proportion of female students of any college. The College stands between the Woodstock and Banbury roads, next to the University Parks and Radcliffe Observatory Quarter. In April 2017, Helen King, a retired Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner, took over as Principal from Tim Gardam. Former members include Danny Alexander, Ruth Deech, Helen Fielding, Martha Kearney, Simon Rattle, John Robins (comedian) and Victor Ubogu.
St Catherine's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England and is the youngest college to teach both undergraduate and graduate students. Tracing its roots back to 1868, it has 505 undergraduate and 442 graduate students as of December 2018, making it the largest undergraduate college by membership in the University of Oxford. In 1974, it was also one of the first men's colleges to admit women.
St Cross College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1965, St Cross is an all-graduate college with traditional-style buildings on a central site in St Giles', just south of Pusey Street. It aims to match the structure, life and support of undergraduate colleges, with the relaxed atmosphere of an all-graduate college.
St Hugh's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It is located on a 14.5-acre (5.9-hectare) site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a women's college, and accepted its first male students in its centenary year in 1986.
St Peter's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is located in New Inn Hall Street, Oxford, United Kingdom. It occupies the site of two of the university's medieval halls, dating back to at least the 14th century. The modern college was founded by Francis James Chavasse, former Bishop of Liverpool, opened as St Peter's Hall in 1929, and achieved full collegiate status as St Peter's College in 1961. Founded as a men's college, it has been coeducational since 1979.
Trinity College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1555 by Sir Thomas Pope, on land previously occupied by Durham College, home to Benedictine monks from Durham Cathedral.
Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road.
Benjamin Jowett was an influential tutor and administrative reformer in the University of Oxford, a theologian, an Anglican cleric, and a translator of Plato and Thucydides. He was Master of Balliol College, Oxford.
Holywell Cemetery is next to St Cross Church in Oxford, England. The cemetery is behind the church in St Cross Road, south of Holywell Manor on Manor Road and north of Longwall Street, in the parish of Holywell.
The Snell Exhibition is an annual scholarship awarded to students of the University of Glasgow to allow them to undertake postgraduate study at Balliol College, Oxford. The award was founded by the bequest of Sir John Snell in a will made in 1677, although the original stipulation referred to the University of Oxford, rather than Balliol in particular. Snell died on 6 August 1679, but wrangling over the will meant that it was nearly twenty years before the first scholarships were awarded; the first four Snell Exhibitioners were admitted to Balliol in mid-1699.
Holywell Street is a street in central Oxford, England. It runs east-west with Broad Street to the west and Longwall Street to the east. About halfway along, Mansfield Road adjoins to the north.
St Cross Road is a road in Oxford, England. It links South Parks Road to the north and Longwall Street to the south, where it also meets Holywell Street. The road is named after St Cross Church.
St Sepulchre's Cemetery is located in Jericho, central Oxford, England.
Mansfield Road is a road in central Oxford, England. It runs north-south with two of Oxford University's colleges on it, Mansfield College and Harris Manchester College, and Queen Elizabeth House which houses the Oxford Department of International Development.
The Bodleian Law Library (BLL) is an academic library in Oxford, England. It is part of Oxford University, the Bodleian Libraries and is also the library of the Faculty of Law. It is situated in part of the Grade II*-listed St Cross Building on St Cross Road in the parish of Holywell, on the corner of Manor Road.
Kenneth Norman Bell was a fellow of Balliol College, Oxford from 1914 to his death in 1951. He was a major in the Horse Artillery in the First World War and was the tutor of Christopher Hill and Graham Greene. He was also responsible for the establishment of Holywell Manor as Balliol student accommodation, to accomplish which he also created the Balliol Society.
Jowett Walk is a road in central Oxford, England. It connects Mansfield Road to the west with St Cross Road to the east, running parallel with and north of Holywell Street.
St Cross Church is a former church, now a historic collections centre, in Oxford, England, to the northeast of the centre of the city. The church is on St Cross Road at the junction with Manor Road, just south of Holywell Manor. Also close by is Holywell Cemetery.
Manor Road is a road in central Oxford, England. It is a no through road that links St Cross Road to the west with St Catherine's College, one of the newer Oxford colleges, to the east. The road crosses the Holywell Mill Stream.
