Gloucester College, Oxford

Gloucester College
Gloucester College
	University of Oxford
Location	Present day Worcester Street
Coordinates	[ ⚑ ] : 51°45′18″N 1°15′49″W / 51.75497°N 1.26370°W
Established	1283
Closed	1542 (annexed to St John's); 1714 (refounded as Worcester College)
Named for	St. Peter Abbey, Gloucester
Previous names	Gloucester Hall (1542)
Map
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Short description: Former college of the University of Oxford

Gloucester College, Oxford, was a Benedictine institution of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England , from the late 13th century until the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century. It was never a typical college of the University; in that there was an internal division in the college, by staircase units, into parts where the monasteries sending monks had effective authority.^[1] The overall head was a Prior, later changed to a Prior Studentium, and finally a Principal.^[2]

It later became Gloucester Hall, an academic hall and annexe of St John's College and was again refounded in 1714 as Worcester College by Sir Thomas Cookes.

History

The initial foundation was from 1283. John Giffard gave a house, in Stockwell Street, Oxford.^[3] There was early friction with the local Carmelites.^[4] This was a donation to the Benedictines of the province of Canterbury. Control of the 13 places for monks fell to the abbey of St. Peter, Gloucester.^[5] The first prior was Henry de Heliun.

Pope Benedict XII in 1337 laid down, in the bull Pastor bonus, that 5% of Benedictine monks should be university students.^[6] The bull also led to the title of Prior being changed to Prior Studentium, elected by the students themselves. But from the middle of the fourteenth century onwards there was an alternative, at the University of Cambridge.^[7] There were also the Benedictine Durham College, Oxford, and Canterbury College, Oxford. Even though the catchment area after 1337 included the Province of York, numbers of students were never high, one reason being the cost of living in Oxford (which the home monastery had to meet). After the Black Death, Gloucester College was closed for a time. In 1537 it was found to have 32 students.^[8]

At the Dissolution the property passed to the English Crown, then to the Bishop of Oxford in 1542,^[9] who sold it to Sir Thomas White. White was the founder of St John's College, Oxford, and Gloucester Hall, as it then became, was treated as an Annexe to St John's College.

The penultimate Principal of Gloucester Hall, Benjamin Woodroffe, established a "Greek College" for Greek Orthodox students to come to Oxford, part of a scheme to make ecumenical links with the Church of England.^[10] This was active from 1699 to 1705, although only 15 Greeks are recorded as members.

The status of Gloucester Hall changed in the 18th century, when it was refounded in 1714 by Sir Thomas Cookes as Worcester College, Oxford. Oxford's Gloucester Green, which was opposite the old College, and the Gloucester House building within the current college preserve the name.

Head of House

The lodgings of the Prior of Gloucester Hall

Prior

fl. 1283–1292 Henry de Heliun/Helm
1302 William de Camme
1356 Walter de Cham'

Prior Studentium

1366 Adam Easton
1376 –1377 Everard
1381 John Welles
1389 Simon Suthereye
1393 William Barwe
1401–1407 John Fordham (resigned c. 1410)
c. 1414–1417John Wethamstede
c. 1417–1423 Thomas Ledbury
c. 1425–1426 Edmund Kirton
fl. 1429–1431 John Bevere
c. 1439–1442 Thomas Knyght (alleged)
1446 William Wroughton
1451 Mag. Tully
1452 Richard Ryngstede
1492 John Kyllyngworth
1502 Dr. Stangwell/Stanywell
c. 1512 John Wynnyscombe/Wynchecombe
1522 Thomas Barton
1522–1528 John Newbolde
fl. 1526–1529 Anthony Dunston/Kitchin
c. 1530 Humphrey Webley
1534–1535 Andrew Alton
1537 Robert Joseph
1538 Thomas Wellys^[11]^[12]

Principal

1560–1561 William Stocke
1561–1563 Richard Eden
1563–1564 Thomas Palmer
1564–1576 William Stocke
1576–1580 Henry Russell
1580–1581 Christopher Bagshawe
1581–1593 John Delabere
1593–1626 John Hawley
1626–1647 Degory Wheare
1647–1647 John Maplett
1647–1660 Tobias Garbrand
1660–1662 John Maplett
1662–1692 Byrom Eaton
1692–1711 Benjamin Woodroffe
1712–1714 Richard Blechynden^[13]

Alumni

Those who studied at the college and hall include:

Gloucester College (1283–1542)

Henry Bradshaw
Adam Easton
John Feckenham
John Lydgate (supposed)
Richard of Wallingford

Gloucester Hall (1542–1714)

Robert Catesby
Kenelm Digby
Richard Lovelace
Thomas Coryate
Edward Kelley

Notes and references

↑ David Knowles, The Religious Orders in England vol. II (1955) p. 14 calls it "something of a patchwork" and (p. 17) "a loose confederation of small groups rather than a college".
↑ Appointed by the Abbot of Malmesbury, but there was a regent master appointed by the provincial Benedictine presidents. (Knowles p. 14)
↑ Stockwell Street no longer exists, but it "ran northwards from the Castle along the line of the present Worcester and Walton Streets" (Nicholas de Stockwell, Oxford History).
↑ This persisted into the 16th century.The House of White Friars, Victoria County History, 1907.
↑ Houses of Benedictine monks: Gloucester College, Oxford', A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 2 (1907), pp. 70–71 Date accessed: 23 January 2007.
↑ Knowles p.15.
↑ Knowles p. 17.
↑ Leach, Arthur Francis (1911). "Schools". in Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 365.
↑ Jericho Echo Online.
↑ Tappe, E. D. (1954). "The Greek College at Oxford, 1699–1705". Oxoniensia 19: 92–111. http://oxoniensia.org/volumes/1954/tappe.pdf.
↑ Pantin, William Abel (1946). "Gloucester College". Oxoniensa 11-12: 65-75. https://www.oxoniensia.org/volumes/1946-7/pantin.pdf.
↑ "Houses of Benedictine monks: Gloucester College, Oxford". https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol2/pp70-71#p15.
↑ "Gloucester Hall and Worcester College", A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 3: The University of Oxford (1954), pp. 298–309. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63890 Date accessed: 17 April 2012.

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[1] David Knowles, The Religious Orders in England vol. II (1955) p. 14 calls it "something of a patchwork" and (p. 17) "a loose confederation of small groups rather than a college".

[2] Appointed by the Abbot of Malmesbury, but there was a regent master appointed by the provincial Benedictine presidents. (Knowles p. 14)

[3] Stockwell Street no longer exists, but it "ran northwards from the Castle along the line of the present Worcester and Walton Streets" (Nicholas de Stockwell, Oxford History).

[4] This persisted into the 16th century.The House of White Friars, Victoria County History, 1907.

[5] Houses of Benedictine monks: Gloucester College, Oxford', A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 2 (1907), pp. 70–71 Date accessed: 23 January 2007.

[6] Knowles p.15.

[7] Knowles p. 17.

[8] Leach, Arthur Francis (1911). "Schools". in Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 365.

[9] Jericho Echo Online.

[10] Tappe, E. D. (1954). "The Greek College at Oxford, 1699–1705". Oxoniensia 19: 92–111. http://oxoniensia.org/volumes/1954/tappe.pdf.

[11] Pantin, William Abel (1946). "Gloucester College". Oxoniensa 11-12: 65-75. https://www.oxoniensia.org/volumes/1946-7/pantin.pdf.

[12] "Houses of Benedictine monks: Gloucester College, Oxford". https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol2/pp70-71#p15.

[13] "Gloucester Hall and Worcester College", A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 3: The University of Oxford (1954), pp. 298–309. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63890 Date accessed: 17 April 2012.

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