Oriel College, Oxford

Oriel College Main Gate

Oriel College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford. It claims to be the oldest college at the University. University College, Balliol College and Merton College also claim to be the oldest. Oriel College traces its origins to 1324.

The full name of the college is "The Provost and Scholars of the House of the Blessed Mary the Virgin in Oxford, commonly called Oriel College, of the Foundation of Edward the Second of famous memory, sometime King of England".

The common name of the college refers to one of its earliest buildings That building, which no longer exists, featured a prominent bay window, known as an oriel.

Oriel College, Oxford Media

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  Oriel College (Oxford University) founded in 1324. First Quad (View of the Hall).

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  The college charter of 1326 given by Edward II.The concluding nine words give the date as 21 January in the nineteenth year of his reign.

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  1675 copper engraving of the college, looking east across the front entrance and First Quad; on the left is the tiered garden where Second Quad would be built.

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  1733 copper engraving of the college, looking south, after the completion of Bishop Robinson's and Provost Carter's buildings in Second Quad

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  1919 photogravure of the college, looking south, after the completion of the Rhodes Building (in the foreground)

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  East range of First Quad; the ornate portico in the centre leads into a hall, the doors on either side lead to the undercroft (left) and chapel (right).

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  Bernard van Orley's Christ Falls, with the Cross, before a City Gate, which hangs in the chapel

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  Designed by James Wyatt and completed in 1796, this building houses the senior common rooms and library.

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  On the first floor of James Wyatt's building, the senior library, looking east

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  Statues of Cecil Rhodes, Edward VII and George V on the central bay of the Rhodes Building's High Street façade