Keble College, Oxford facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Keble College |
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Blazon: Argent, a chevron engrailed gules, on a chief azure, three mullets pierced or
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| University | University of Oxford | |||||||||||
| Location | Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PG | |||||||||||
| Coordinates | 51°45′32″N 1°15′28″W / 51.758899°N 1.257715°W | |||||||||||
| Latin name | Collegium Keblense | |||||||||||
| Motto | Plain living and high thinking | |||||||||||
| Established | 1870 | |||||||||||
| Named for | John Keble | |||||||||||
| Architect | William Butterfield | |||||||||||
| Sister college | Selwyn College, Cambridge | |||||||||||
| Warden | Sir Michael Jacobs | |||||||||||
| Undergraduates | 460 | |||||||||||
| Postgraduates | 525 | |||||||||||
| Map | ||||||||||||
 Location in Oxford city centre
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Keble College (pronounced KEE-buhl) is one of the many colleges that make up the famous University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, right across from the University Museum and the University Parks.
Keble College was started in 1870. It was built to honor John Keble, an important person in the Oxford Movement. This movement wanted to highlight the Catholic traditions within the Church of England. Because of this, the college first focused on teaching religious subjects. Today, Keble offers many different subjects, just like the rest of the university. After World War II, more science courses became popular, partly because the college is close to the university's science area.
Originally, only men could attend Keble College. In 1979, like many other Oxford colleges, Keble started accepting both male and female students.
The college is famous for its unique red-brick buildings. These were designed by William Butterfield in a style called Neo-Gothic. The buildings are also special because their rooms are arranged along corridors instead of around staircases. This was different from older colleges in Oxford and Cambridge.
Keble is one of the larger colleges at Oxford. In 2021/22, it had 460 undergraduate students and 525 graduate students. Keble's sister college at the University of Cambridge is Selwyn College.
Contents
Keble College History
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One of Keble's most well-known founders was Edward Pusey. A part of the college, the Pusey quad, is named after him. The college itself is named after John Keble. He was a friend of Pusey and a leader in the Oxford Movement. John Keble passed away four years before the college was founded in 1870.
Right after Keble's funeral, people decided to build a new Oxford college in his memory. William Butterfield was chosen as the architect. Two years later, in 1868, the first stone was laid by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The college opened its doors in 1870 with thirty students. The chapel opened in 1876. Keble College still celebrates this day every year.
Butterfield's design for Keble is a famous example of Victorian Gothic architecture. The college is built with red, blue, and white bricks. The main part is red brick, with patterns made from white and blue bricks.
Keble College is mentioned in John Betjeman's poem "Myfanwy at Oxford." It also appears in the writings of John Ruskin. The college is even in a Monty Python comedy sketch called "Travel Agent." Horace Rumpole, a lawyer in John Mortimer's books, studied law at Keble.
In 2017, a team of former students from Keble College won the University Challenge Alumni Christmas Special. This is a popular quiz show on BBC2. They beat the University of Reading in the final.
Keble College Buildings
The main part of Keble College has five main courtyards, called quads. These are Liddon, Pusey, Hayward, De Breyne, and Newman. Each quad is named after an important person connected to the college.
Original College Buildings
The most recognizable part of Keble is its main brick complex, designed by Butterfield. The Chapel and Hall were built after the student rooms. They were paid for by William Gibbs and also designed by Butterfield.
Modern College Buildings
Later, new parts were added to the college. In the 1950s, a section west of the chapel was built with money from Antonin Besse. More recently, the Hayward and de Breyne extensions were added. These were designed by Ahrends, Burton and Koralek (ABK). These new buildings were made possible by generous donations from businessmen Charles Hayward and André de Breyne.
The ABK buildings include the college's unique "goldfish bowl" bar. This bar opened in 1977 and has been updated since. In 1995, the ARCO building was finished. It was designed by the American architect Rick Mather. In 2002, another building in a similar style, the Sloane Robinson Building, was completed.
The Sloane Robinson Building added more student rooms. It also gave the college the O'Reilly Theatre. This is a large hall that can be used for many things, like lectures. The building also has a music room, seminar rooms, and a café for students.
O'Reilly Theatre
The O'Reilly Theatre is a flexible performance space. It was finished in 2002. The theatre can seat between 128 and 250 people, depending on how it is set up. It is named after Sir Tony O'Reilly, an Irish businessman and former rugby player. He gave most of the money for its construction.
The theatre is part of the Sloane Robinson Building. It was designed by Rick Mather Architects. The theatre has won several awards for its design and construction.
Student groups manage the theatre. They choose the plays and shows that are put on each term. Famous actors also sometimes give talks there.
H B Allen Centre
In 2004, Keble College bought the former Acland Hospital site. This site is very close to the main college buildings. It was planned to house about 100 graduate students. In 2015, Keble College received a large donation from The H B Allen Charitable Trust. This money was used to rebuild the Acland Site to create even more graduate student rooms. This was the biggest single donation in the college's history.
Work on the H B Allen Centre, designed by Rick Mather, began in 2016. The first graduate students moved in during October 2018. Prince William, Duke of Cambridge officially opened the H B Allen Centre on October 3, 2019.
Student Life at Keble
The college publishes a magazine called The Brick for its former students. It shares news about college life. Students used to make a funny version of the magazine, also called The Brick, with college gossip.
Each graduate from Keble College receives a small red brick along with their degree certificates.
Keble College teams have won the television quiz show University Challenge twice, in 1975 and 1987.
The college also has an Advanced Studies Centre. It invites well-known speakers for its Creativity Lecture Series every year.
The Keble Ball is a big event planned by students. It usually happens around graduation time.
Sports at Keble
Keble College has many sports teams. Its rugby teams have been very successful. They have won the intercollegiate league five times in a row. They also won the rugby Cuppers (a college tournament) in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2015, and 2017.
The Keble College Boat Club is the college's rowing club. They compete every year in races called Torpids and Summer Eights. Keble has also done very well in football. The college football team, known as KCFC, recently won a historic "treble." This means they won the Men's first team, second team, and Women's Cuppers in the same season.
The Keble College Sports Ground is on Woodstock Road. It hosts college matches and games between current students and former students. In the 2023/24 season, Keble famously won the first-ever Football Cuppers Treble.
The Light of the World Painting
Keble College owns the original painting of The Light of the World by William Holman Hunt. This famous painting hangs in a side chapel within the college. Hunt finished the picture in 1853 after working on it for eight years. It was first shown at the Royal Academy. Later, it was given as a gift to Keble College.
Hunt wanted the painting to be in the main chapel, but the architect did not agree. So, Hunt painted another version of the picture. This second copy is now in St Paul's Cathedral in London. Hunt painted this copy when he was almost 70 years old.
College Stamps
Keble College was the first college to issue its own stamps. These stamps were used in 1871 to pay for a porter or messenger to deliver mail. This was only one year after the college was founded. Other Oxford colleges then started to issue their own stamps too. However, the post office stopped this service in 1886. Keble also issued a special college stamp in 1970 to celebrate its 100th anniversary.
Notable Conferences at Keble
Keble College has hosted many important meetings and conferences over the years. Some of these include:
- The Conference on New Ideals in Education (1923)
- The J. R. R. Tolkien Centenary Conference (1992), celebrating the famous author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
- The 19th International Radiocarbon Conference (2006)
Famous People from Keble College
Many notable people have studied at Keble College. Here are a few examples:
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Imran Khan, a famous Cricketer who later became a politician and former Prime Minister of Pakistan.
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Ed Balls, a British politician who served as a senior government minister.
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Andrew Adonis, a British politician from the Labour Party.
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David Wilson, who was the former Governor of Hong Kong.
Images for kids
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The Senior Common Room at Keble College.
See also
In Spanish: Keble College para niños
