St Anne's College, Oxford


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. Alumnae include Danny Alexander, Ruth Deech, Helen Fielding, Martha Kearney, Simon Rattle, John Robins and Victor Ubogu.

History

What is now St Anne's College began life as part of the Association for the Education of Women, the first institution in Oxford to allow for the education of women. It later became the Society of Oxford Home-Students. Unlike other women's associations, the Society had no fixed site, instead offering lodgings in houses spread across Oxford. This allowed students from a range of financial backgrounds to study at Oxford, as the cost of accommodation in the women's halls was often prohibitive. In 1942, it became the St Anne's Society, which received a university charter to be founded as a women-only college in 1952.

Society of Home Students (1879–1942)

The society allowed access to lectures and tutorials, as would any Oxford college. In 1910, the Society for Home Students, along with the other women's societies, were recognised by the University. In 1912, the society acquired its first tutors, in German, History and English Literature. In the 1920s, the principals of the Women's societies became the first women to receive degrees from the University. By the early 1930s, the society still had no centralised site. However, during this decade, the current location was chosen, and by 1937 construction of Hartland House was under way.

St Anne's Society (1942–1952)

In 1942, the Society of Home Students was renamed the St Anne's Society, and given its coat of arms by Eleanor Plumer .

St Anne's College (1952 onwards)

In 1952, the St Anne's Society acquired a royal charter as St Anne's College and in 1959 full college status along with the other women's colleges. The then Principal, Lady Ogilvie, pressed for a transition from many disparate dining rooms to a common building. This resulted in the construction of the dining hall, which was completed in 1959, and visited by Queen Elizabeth II in 1960. During this period, the student numbers grew to nearly 300, leading to a need for more accommodation. This led to the construction of the Wolfson and Rayne buildings in 1964 and 1968 respectively. In 1977, the decision was made to become coeducational, with the first male undergraduates matriculating in 1979.
Since then, St Anne's has continued to use female words and pronouns to refer to current and former students, as in the word "alumnae". The College explains this: "On 17 June 1979, in the nervous time when the first male Fellows had been elected, and the first male students admitted though they had not yet arrived, a note from the Dean to Governing Body asks hesitantly 'Would Governing Body wish "he" to be substituted for "she" throughout the College Regulations?' Eventually the question was answered with the following carefully worded statement which still stands in the preamble to our Regulations: 'words importing the feminine gender shall include the masculine and vice versa, where the construction so permits and the Regulations do not otherwise expressly provide'."

''The Ship''

The annual magazine for alumnae of the college is known as The Ship. When it was still the Society for Home-Students, the college had its first common room in Ship Street, located in central Oxford. The Ship started to be published, and by the centenary of the college, 1979, there had been 69 issues. The Ship celebrated its centenary 2010/2011 issue with some anniversary content.

Location and buildings

Grounds

The college grounds are bounded by Woodstock Road to the west, Banbury Road to the east, and Bevington Road to the north. The college extends as far south as 48 Woodstock Road, and 27 Banbury Road. These grounds house all of the college's administrative and academic buildings, undergraduate accommodation, as well as the hall, which is among the largest in Oxford. The College formerly owned a number of houses throughout Oxford used for undergraduate accommodation, some of which used to be boarding houses of the Society of Oxford Home-Students. Many of these properties were sold off to fund the building of the Ruth Deech Building, completed in 2005.

Accommodation

St Anne's can accommodate undergraduates on the college site for three years of study. Undergraduates at St Anne's are housed in 14 Victorian houses owned by the college and four purpose-built accommodation blocks. The college also supplies accommodation for some of its graduate students. All undergraduates pay the same amount for their rooms, and every student has access to a communal kitchen in their building.

Victorian houses

The college uses 1–10 Bevington Road, 58/60 Woodstock Road, and 39/41 Banbury Road as undergraduate accommodation, typically for freshers. The junior post room is located in 10 Bevington Road, the college laundry in 58/60 Woodstock Road, and the college bar, including a pool room, in 39/41 Banbury Road. Five additional Victorian houses hold teaching rooms, seminar rooms, music practice rooms, and college offices.

Rayne and Wolfson Buildings

The Rayne and Wolfson Buildings were built in 1964 and are Grade II Listed Buildings; they are virtually identical in design, and house administrative offices on the ground floor as well as student rooms.

Claire Palley Building

The Claire Palley Building, completed in 1992 and named after Claire Palley, was the first accommodation block to have en-suite rooms. It also houses the Mary Ogilvie Lecture Theatre.

Trenaman House

Trenaman House, built in 1995, holds student rooms as well as communal college facilities including the gym and, since 2008, the St Anne's Coffee Shop. It was named after Nancy Trenaman, the sixth Principal of the college.

Ruth Deech Building

The Ruth Deech Building was named after Ruth Deech and completed in 2005. It houses extensive conference facilities on the lower ground floor, in addition to a new Porter's Lodge on the upper ground floor, and 110 en-suite student rooms. One of the notable features of the building is the glass lift, which is the only part of the building to exceed the roof line. The building was awarded the 2007 David Steel sustainable building award by Oxford City Council.

Robert Saunders House

Robert Saunders House, built in 1996, provides 80 rooms for graduate students in Summertown. It was named after a former bursar of the college, who did much to improve its finances.

Eleanor Plumer House

Eleanor Plumer House is named after Eleanor Plumer. It houses the Middle Common Room; facilities include a study area, computer room, and kitchen. It also houses some graduate students.

Hartland House

Hartland House, designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, was the first purpose-built college building, finished in 1937 with an additional wing built in 1973. It now houses the old library, the junior and senior common rooms, and administrative offices. It features the college crest above the main entrance, and engravings of beavers, the college mascot.

Dining Hall

The Dining Hall, built in 1959, is amongst the largest in Oxford with a capacity of 300. Three meals are served daily in hall apart from weekends, when only brunch is served. It is also used for college collections and, on occasion, college 'bops'.

Library

The college library houses over 100,000 volumes, making it one of the largest in Oxford. It is split over two buildings; the original library in Hartland House, and the Tim Gardam building, which opened officially in 2017.
The original college library in Hartland House now houses the law, arts, and humanities collections.
The new library and academic centre, was named after Tim Gardam and completed in 2016. It is on the site of the former Founders' Gatehouse, which was built in 1966 and was the college lodge until 2005. It covers the area previously taken by the 54 Woodstock Road cottage. The centre provides various study and seminar spaces and 1,500 metres of bookshelves for the college's growing book collection. The plans by Fletcher Priest Architects were inspired by Oxford's historic buildings.
The Tim Gardam Building also features two gardens; a roof garden overlooking the dining hall, and a sunken courtyard accessible through the basement.

Traditions

The college has relatively few traditions and is rare amongst Oxford colleges in not having a chapel, due to its secular outlook. Formal hall is typically held fortnightly. Gowns are not usually worn, except for official university occasions such as matriculation and certain college feasts. The college mascot has been a beaver since 1913.

College grace

The college grace was composed by former classics tutor and founding fellow, Margaret Hubbard. It involves the Principal reciting the Latin words Quas decet, gratias agamus. Amen. The inclusion of Deo depends on whether the grace is religious or secular in nature.

Room ballot

The College selects accommodation using a room ballot, with the exception of the first years. Those entering their fourth year select their rooms on the first day, followed by third year rooms on the second day, and second year rooms on the third and final day. Each student is allocated a number denoting their position in the ballot, within their year. This allocation is done on the basis of the quality of their previous year's accommodation. Students then queue, and rooms are allocated one by one. As a room is allocated, it is crossed off a large board listing all available rooms. There is then a period of one week after the ballot where students are allowed to organize mutually agreed swaps.

Sport and societies

The college has teams for all major sports, and competes in inter-collegiate "Cuppers" tournaments. Fixtures are either played in the neighbouring University Parks, or in the college playing fields on Woodstock Road. St Anne's College Boat Club organises the college's involvement in inter-college rowing events, and the college boathouse, situated on the River Isis in Christ Church Meadow is shared with St Hugh's and Wadham colleges. The college has a joint rugby team with St John's College, which won Cuppers in 2014.
There is a lot of music-making in the college, with opportunities for singers and instrumental players to be involved in ensembles. In keeping with its secular outlook, there is no sacred choral singing in St Anne's, but there is an informal a cappella group that rehearses weekly, known as Stacappella. The group performs versions of popular and folk songs arranged by music students, and is currently directed by Livi van Warmelo. The college's Director of Music is Dr John Traill, who runs a regular professional recital series and a string orchestra in the college.
The college's geology society, STAGS, is a hub of social gatherings for the college's Earth Sciences students. The college's classics society organises a joint symposium with Brasenose College every term, as well as a biennial trip to Lamledra, Cornwall.

Notable people

Alumnae

As a former women's college, St Anne's continues to refer to former students, male or female, as alumnae, even though in Latin, the masculine gender is routinely used for general references, while feminine nouns with corresponding masculine forms are gender-specific.