St Peter's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. Located on 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.
As of 2022, the college had an estimated financial endowment of £53.9 million.
History
Medieval halls
Although founded in its current form in the 20th century, St Peter's occupies a central Oxford location on the site of two of the university's medieval halls. The first Master of St Peter's called the acquisition of the site "a chance of ages".
The site was originally the location of Trilleck's Inn, later known as New Inn Hall, and Rose Hall. Trillecks' Inn was founded in the 14th century by Bishop Trilleck and, as New Inn Hall, merged into Balliol College in 1887. Rose Hall was given to New College by William of Wykeham. New College finally sold the site to the rector of St Peter-le-Bailey in 1859 and 1868 as a site for a new church, now the college chapel.
St Peter's Hall
The history of the college in its present form began in 1923 when Francis James Chavasse, former Bishop of Liverpool, returned to Oxford. He was concerned at the rising cost of education in the older universities in Britain, and projected St Peter's as a college where promising students, who might otherwise be deterred by the costs of college life, could obtain an Oxford education. After Francis James died in 1928, his son Christopher Chavasse launched a memorial appeal in his father's name to fund the project, raising £150,000 from donors including Ella Rowcroft to convert and build new buildings on the site. St Peter's was licensed by the university as a hostel that year and opened with 13 residents. The following year, 1929, it was recognised as a permanent private hall and grew to 40 students. A later significant benefactor was William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, who would also found Nuffield College.
During the Second World War, St Peter's Hall became home to evacuated students from Westfield College, a women's college of the University of London, and its students were boarded out to other colleges.
St Peter's College
In 1947, St Peter's was reclassified as a 'new foundation', and was finally recognised as a full college in 1961 with the granting of a royal charter. In 1979, St Peter's started admitting women and became co-educational.
Buildings
St Peter's has a varied set of buildings, many of them much older than the college itself. The college has, in effect, adapted existing buildings to provide the collective facilities needed for college life, and built new ones to provide student accommodation.
Linton Quad
Linton House, a Georgian rectory dating from 1797, stands on the east side of Linton Quad along New Inn Hall Street. It was originally built as the offices for the Oxford Canal Company and called Wyaston House. It was bought in 1878 by Canon Henry Linton who converted it to a rectory for the Church of St Peter-le-Bailey. Now known as Linton House, it serves as the porter's lodge (the entrance to the college) and is also home to the college library.
On the south side of the quad stands the college chapel, the Church of St Peter-le-Bailey. Built in 1874 and incorporating some of the stone of an earlier church, it is the third church of that name on or close to the site since the 12th century. Memorials to members of the Chavasse family in the chapel include Captain Noel Chavasse's original grave cross, a large bas-relief of Bishop Francis Chavasse at prayer and the Chavasse memorial window.
The quad also includes the Latner building.
Hannington Quad
In the Hannington Quad stands Hannington Hall. It dates from 1832 and is the only surviving part of New Inn Hall. The building was originally commissioned by John Cramer, principal of New Inn Hall, as student accommodation and was designed by architect Thomas Greenshields. When New Inn Hall was absorbed by Balliol in 1887 and most of New Inn Hall's buildings were demolished to make room for the Central Girls School building (now part of St Peter's Chavasse Quad), the Cramer building survived. It was bought by Reverend Talbot Rice, rector of St-Peter-le-Bailey, in 1897 and renamed after the Victorian missionary Bishop James Hannington. After the founding of St Peter's it was remodelled to function as the dining hall.