Merton College, Oxford facts for kids

Merton College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1264 by Walter de Merton, who was the Chancellor to Henry III and Edward I. It claims to be the oldest college in Oxford, although Balliol College and University College also claim to be the oldest.

Mob Quad from Chapel Tower

Construction of the college at its present location began in the 1270s. Its buildings are among the oldest in Oxford. Mob Quad at Merton College was built in the 14th Century. It is often said to be the oldest quadrangle at Oxford or Cambridge. Other quadrangles at Oxford and Cambridge, however, may be older.

J.R.R. Tolkien was a professor of English Language and Literature at Merton College.

Images for kids

Walter de Merton, (c. 1205 – 27 October 1277), founder of Merton
St Alban Hall, pictured in 1837, engraving by John Le Keux from a drawing by F. Mackenzie.
Merton as seen from Broad Walk
Merton College Chapel interior
Front quad, view opposite the chapel
The Sundial Lawn
St Alban's quad
Merton Street
A Graduate of Merton College ca. 1754/55 attributed to George Knapton
The college boathouse on Boathouse Island, on the northern bank of the Isis
Merton viewed from the north from St Mary's Church
Merton College Chapel from just north of the Christ Church Meadow
Merton viewed from across the Christ Church Meadow to the south
View of the chapel tower
Fellows' quad
The front quad and the main entrance to the College
Mob quad
The south wing of the Upper Library
Old book bindings at the Merton College Library
Bookshelves in the Library
Globe dating from the 16th century
Library
Merton in 1865
Merton College Library
William of Ockham, major figure of medieval thought, commonly known for Occam's razor
John Wycliffe, early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century
Thomas Bodley, diplomat, scholar, founder of the Bodleian Library
John Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury and Anglican divine
William Harvey, the first to describe in detail the systemic circulation
José Gutiérrez Guerra, President of Bolivia between 1917 and 1920
Lord Randolph Churchill, British statesman, father of Winston Churchill
Max Beerbohm, essayist and caricaturist (self-caricature from 1897)
F.E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, Conservative statesman and friend of Winston Churchill
Francis Herbert Bradley, British idealist philosopher
Frederick Soddy, awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1921
Nikolaas Tinbergen, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973
Anthony James Leggett, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2003
Wilder Penfield, neurosurgeon, once dubbed "the greatest living Canadian".
Andrew Wiles, mathematician notable for proving Fermat's Last Theorem. Winner of the 2016 Abel Prize
Dana Scott, computer scientist known for his work on automata theory and winner of the 1976 Turing Award
Tony Hoare, computer scientist known for Quicksort, Hoare logic and CSP. Winner of the 1980 Turing Award
Alec Jeffreys, geneticist known for his work on DNA fingerprinting and DNA profiling
Artur Ekert, Cryptographer and one of the inventors of quantum cryptography
T. S. Eliot, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948
J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion
Andrew Irvine, English mountaineer who took part in the 1924 British Everest Expedition
Roger Bannister, former athlete, doctor and academic, who ran the first sub-four-minute mile
Naruhito, Emperor of Japan
Bob Krueger, former U.S. Senator from Texas
Arthur Mutambara, Zimbabwean politician and former Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe
Howard Stringer, former CEO of Sony Corporation
Liz Truss, British politician serving as Secretary of State for International Trade
Alison Blake, British diplomat and ambassador to Afghanistan
Ulrike Tillmann, mathematician specializing in algebraic topology
Princess Akiko of Mikasa, member of the Imperial House of Japan
Leana Wen, Rhodes Scholar, physician, and writer