Venue

As well as being The University of Oxford’s largest college, the beautiful college of Christ Church also acts as Cathedral Church for the Diocese of Oxford.

The college was originally founded by Cardinal Wolsey as Cardinal's College in 1524, taking over the site of St. Frideswide's Monastery which dated back to the earliest days of Oxford as a settlement in the 9th Century AD. When Wolsey fell from power in 1529 the College became property of King Henry VIII. Henry re-founded the College in 1546 and appointed the old monastery church as cathedral of the new diocese of Oxford. It is due to its ecclesiastical function that Christ Church's principal, the Dean, is always a clergyman.

During the English Civil War (1642-1646) King Charles I lived at Christ Church. He held his Parliament in the Great Hall and attended services in the Cathedral. After the war and the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the College was rewarded for its loyalty to the House of Stuart by being able to raise enough money to complete the main quadrangle (Tom Quad).

A former student, Sir Christopher Wren (architect behind St Paul’s Cathedral, amongst other great buildings), was commissioned to design a new bell tower in 1682, which houses the bell, Great Tom, from which the tower and the quad get their names.

Famous names that studied at Christ Church include the philosopher John Locke, religious leaders John Wesley and William Penn and the writers W.H. Auden and Lewis Carroll. Albert Einstein studied at Christ Church briefly in the 1930s. The College has also produced 13 Prime Ministers, including William Gladstone who was PM four times during the 19th Century, and numerous Cabinet ministers, bishops and civil servants.

The college is architecturally impressive and was used as the setting for many of the scenes in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter films, with the Great Hall being converted to Hogwart’s Hall, and also the film adaptation of Philip Pullman’s novel Northern Lights.  Christ Church has had a long association with literature - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland were inspired and written here by Lewis Carroll and the college is the setting for parts of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited.