England Guide
Oxfordshire, the Chilterns and the Cotswolds
Merton College
Opening time: Mon– Fri 2–4pm, Sat & Sun 10am–4pm
Price: Free
Address: Merton Street
Telephone: 01865/276 310
Website: www.merton.ox.ac.uk
Historically, Merton is the city's most important college. Balliol and University colleges may have been founded earlier, but it was Merton – opened in 1264 – which set the model for colleges in both Oxford and Cambridge, being the first to gather its students and tutors together in one place. Furthermore, unlike the other two, Merton retains some of its original medieval buildings, with the best of the thirteenth-century architecture clustered around Mob Quad, a charming courtyard with mullioned windows and Gothic doorways to the right of the Front Quad. From the Mob Quad, an archway leads through to the Chapel, which dates from 1290. The chapel has never had a nave, leaving the choir as the main body of the church and the transepts as ante-chapels. In the latter is the curious funerary plaque of Thomas Bodley – founder of Oxford's most important library – his bust surrounded by ungainly, boyish-looking women in classical garb. Famous Merton alumni include T.S. Eliot, Angus Wilson, Louis MacNeice and Kris Kristofferson.