Gloucester College, Oxford, was a Benedictine institution of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, from the late 13th century until the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century. It was never a typical college of the University; in that there was an internal division in the college, by staircase units, into parts where the monasteries sending monks had effective authority.David Knowles, The Religious Orders in England vol. II (1955) p. 14 calls it "something of a patchwork" and (p. 17) "a loose confederation of small groups rather than a college". The overall head was a Prior, later changed to a Prior Studentium, and finally a Principal.Appointed by the Abbot of Malmesbury, but there was a regent master appointed by the provincial Benedictine presidents. (Knowles p. 14)
It later became Gloucester Hall, an academic hall and annexe of St John's College and was again refounded in 1714 as Worcester College by Sir Thomas Cookes.
History
In 1283, John Giffard gave a house in Stockwell Street, Oxford, to the Benedictine order of the Province of Canterbury, which the province allocated to St. Peter's Abbey, Gloucester to operate as a cell for thirteen student monks.Stockwell Street no longer exists, but it "ran northwards from the Castle along the line of the present Worcester and Walton Streets" (Nicholas de Stockwell, Oxford History). There was early friction with the local Carmelites, who had also claimed the land, and brought an assize of novel disseisin in 1288.This persisted into the 16th century.The House of White Friars, Victoria County History, 1907.
In 1291 Giffard granted further property, and general chapters of 1290 and 1291 decided to expand the establishment into an independent priory, to take student monks from all the priories of the province, with Gloucester renouncing its claim over the property.Houses of Benedictine monks: Gloucester College, Oxford', A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 2 (1907), pp. 70–71 Date accessed: 23 January 2007. Henry de Heliun was appointed the first prior.
Pope Benedict XII in 1337 laid down, in the bull Pastor bonus, that 5% of Benedictine monks should be university students.Knowles p.15. The bull also led to the title of Prior being changed to Prior Studentium, elected by the students themselves. But from the middle of the 14th century onwards there was an alternative, at the University of Cambridge.Knowles p. 17. There were also the Benedictine Durham College, Oxford, and Canterbury College, Oxford. Even though the catchment area after 1337 included the Province of York, numbers of students were never high, one reason being the cost of living in Oxford (which the home monastery had to meet). After the Black Death, Gloucester College was closed for a time. In 1537 it was found to have 32 students.
At the Dissolution the property passed to the English Crown, then to the Bishop of Oxford in 1542,Jericho Echo Online. who sold it to Sir Thomas White. White was the founder of St John's College, Oxford, and Gloucester Hall, as it then became, was treated as an Annexe to St John's College.
The penultimate Principal of Gloucester Hall, Benjamin Woodroffe, established a "Greek College" for Greek Orthodox students to come to Oxford, part of a scheme to make ecumenical links with the Church of England. This was active from 1699 to 1705, although only 15 Greeks are recorded as members.
The status of Gloucester Hall changed in the 18th century, when it was refounded in 1714 by Sir Thomas Cookes as Worcester College, Oxford. Oxford's Gloucester Green, which was opposite the old College, and the Gloucester House building within the current college preserve the name.
Head of House
Prior fl. 1283–1292 Henry de Heliun/Helm 1302 William de Camme 1356 Walter de Cham Prior Studentium
1366 Adam Easton 1376 –1377 Everard 1381 John Welles 1389 Simon Suthereye 1393 William Barwe 1401–1407 John Fordham (resigned c. 1410) c. 1414–1417John Wethamstede c. 1417–1423 Thomas Ledbury c. 1425–1426 Edmund Kirton fl. 1429–1431 John Bevere c. 1439–1442 Thomas Knyght (alleged) 1446 William Wroughton 1451 Magister Tully 1452 Richard Ryngstede 1492 John Kyllyngworth 1502 Dr. Stanywell c. 1512 John Wynchecombe 1522 Thomas Barton 1522–1528 John Newbolde fl. 1526–1529 Anthony Dunston/Kitchin c. 1530 Humphrey Webley 1534–1535 Andrew Alton 1537 Robert Joseph 1538 Thomas Wellys
Principal 1560–1561 William Stocke 1561–1563 Richard Eden 1563–1564 Thomas Palmer 1564–1576 William Stocke 1576–1580 Henry Russell 1580–1581 Christopher Bagshawe 1581–1593 John De la Bere 1587-1588 Philip Randall 1593–1626 John Hawley 1626–1647 Degory Wheare 1647–1647 John Maplett 1647–1660 Tobias Garbrand 1660–1662 John Maplett 1662–1692 Byrom Eaton 1692–1711 Benjamin Woodroffe 1711–1714 Richard Blechynden
Alumni Those who studied at the college and hall include:
Gloucester College (1283–1542) Henry Bradshaw Adam Easton John Feckenham John Lydgate (supposed) Richard of Wallingford
Gloucester Hall (1542–1714) Robert Catesby Kenelm Digby Richard Lovelace Thomas Coryate Edward Kelley
Notes and references