Bodleian Library

AN INVENTORY OF THE ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL MONUMENTS IN THE CITY OF OXFORD

ACCREDITED TO A DATE BEFORE 1714

(Unless otherwise stated the dimensions given in the Inventory are internal. The key-plans of those churches which are not illustrated by hatched plans are drawn to a uniform scale of 48 ft. to the inch, with the monumental portions shown in solid black.)

UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS

The Bodleian Library

(1) The Bodleian Library and the Schools Quadrangle stand to the S. of the Sheldonian Theatre and the Old Clarendon Building. The walls are of local rubble, ashlar-faced, and the roofs are lead-covered. There is evidence that the Divinity School was contemplated by the year 1424 but the work proceeded very slowly. Richard Wynchecombe was mastermason in 1429 and Thomas Elkyn in 1439; on the appointment of the latter certain restrictions in the matter of ornament were imposed, from motives of economy; the decision to add an upper storey as a library seems to have been taken in 1444, after a gift of books by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester; after an interval building was resumed but the school was not declared finished till 1490. In 1478 Thomas Kemp, Bishop of London, promised 1000 marks towards the completion of the school and this was applied to the insertion of the stone vault erected between the years 1480–3 and probably under William Orchard as master-mason. Duke Humphrey's Library was restored and rearranged by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1598–1602. The Arts End or W. range of the Schools Quadrangle was built in 1610–12 and in 1613 the rest of the Schools Quadrangle was begun, John Akroyd and the Bentleys being the masons; the work was not finally completed till 1624. The Selden End or W. cross-wing of the building was erected between 1634 and 1637. The N. doorway was inserted in the Divinity School in 1669 by Christopher Wren, and the building repaired and strengthened in 1701–2. In 1831 the roof of the Picture Gallery was replaced by the existing plaster ceiling and in 1877 the floor of Duke Humphrey's Library was re-built and raised and the W. window of the Selden Wing re-built. Much of the external stonework of the Schools Quadrangle has been refaced in recent years. The Radcliffe Library was finished in 1749 from the designs of James Gibbs. Since 1860 it has formed part of the Bodleian Library. The new building of the library, on the N. side of Broad Street, was begun in 1937.

The Schools Quadrangle (109½ ft. by 102 ft.) is entered by a gate-house with a tower above in the middle of the E. range. The E. Range (Plate 54) was begun in 1613 and is of three storeys with the tower rising two storeys above it. The restored outer archway has moulded jambs and round arch in a square head with a label and stops carved with angels holding blank shields; the spandrels have arabesque ornament and shields, one plain and one with the arms of the University; the oak door (Plate 53), in two leaves, has five ranges of moulded panels with jewel-ornament and shields-of-arms of the University and the colleges founded before 1613, the royal Stuart arms and the Prince of Wales' feathers; the wicket in each leaf is similarly panelled but the shields are blank; the back of the door is also panelled and has jewel-ornament. The second and third storeys of the tower have a two-stage oriel-window, almost completely restored and resting on moulded and carved corbelling; the lights are ogee-headed, except the front lights of the upper window which have elliptical heads; below the sills are ranges of ogee-headed panels. The third storey of the tower has a restored window of four double transomed lights and the top storey has a similar window with one transom. The tower is finished with a completely restored pierced parapet with angle and intermediate pinnacles. The W. face of the tower has been almost completely restored; it is flanked by coupled columns of the five Classical orders, superimposed, standing on pedestals and supporting entablatures which are carried across the front of the tower. The inner archway is original and has moulded jambs, imposts and a round arch with a label; the key-stone is carved with leopardfaces and the soffit has jewel-ornament. The second storey has a six-light transomed window with a band of ornament below and a central panel with the royal Stuart arms; the third storey has a similar window with two transoms. The fourth storey has a canopied niche with a modern figure of James I flanked by subsidiary figures; on a panel below is the inscription "Regnante d. Jacobo regum doctissimo munificentissimo optimo hæ musis extructæ moles congesta bibliotheca et quæcunque adhuc deerant ad splendorem academiæ feliciter tentata cœpta absoluta, soli Deo gloria." The top storey has a window of six transomed lights and the parapet has an ornamental centre-piece with the royal Stuart arms. The N. and S. walls of the tower, above the adjoining range have a four-light transomed window in each stage. The gate-hall has a ribbed lierne-vault (Plate 2) of stone springing from shafts, except in the N.W. angle, with moulded capitals and plain bases; the ribs are moulded and have bosses or pendants at the intersections carved with foliage, cartouches and cherub-heads, beasts' heads, monsters, etc.; the middle boss has a cartouche of the arms of the University. Above the doorway to the staircase is a decayed shield perhaps of the Royal Arms. The Mason Room, in the second storey, has a plaster vault and the window recesses have trefoiled or ogee-headed panelling on the soffits. The windows in the third storey have similar panelling on the soffits. The E. window has a series of shields-of-arms and panels in painted glass as follows—arms of (1) Wadham College, (2) Villiers, (3) Merton College, (4) St. John's College, (5) Exeter College, (6) Brockman impaling Clark, (7) Herbert, (8) Balliol College, (9) Pigot, (10) Dormer, (11) Tudor royal arms with a label, for Edward, Prince of Wales, (12) Williams of Cornwall, (13) Magdalen College, (14) Prideaux impaling Reynell, with the initials P.R. and the date 1637, (15) Fletcher, (16) Tudor royal arms, (17) Crewe, (18) Edwin Sandys as Archbishop of York (1577–89), (19) Francis Godwin as Bishop of Llandaff (1601–18), (20) royal arms with a differenced label, perhaps for John, Duke of Bedford; (21) Richard Bancroft as Archbishop of Canterbury (1604–10), (22) Sheldon; all 16th or 17th-century; panels or quarries, (1) St. Martin and the beggar, 14th-century, (2) a leopard with a collar, foreign, (3) huntsman with dog, Flemish, (4) crane on a bough, Flemish, (5) ship with flags, Flemish, (6) eagle, Flemish, (7) two deer, Flemish, (8) floral spray, (9) frogs and a pool, Flemish, (10) figure subject, Flemish, with inscription, (11) red rose, (12) figure of Fortitude, (13) figure of St. Judas Thaddæus, (14) double rose, (15) man's head, (16) the prodigal son with the swine, with inscription, Flemish, (17) man beside a stream, Flemish, (18) man with staff and pack, Flemish; mostly 16th or 17th-century. In the W. window is a series of 16th and 17th-century panels and quarries, many of them Flemish, as follows— (1) allegorical figure-subject probably representing love and religion, (2) angels with candlesticks, (3) the Entry into Jerusalem, (4) the Entombment, (5) the harvest-field, (6) the Virgin and Child, (7) battle-scene with angelic host above, (8) the Descent from the Cross, (9) funeral procession, (10) St. Anthony, (11) three youths, (12) three men in caps and hoods with a devil and inscription, (13) Esther and Ahasuerus, with inscription and date 1596, (14) a goat, (15) St. Sebastian with a merchant's mark, (16) the Child Christ, donor and two saints, (17) man and woman with burnt sacrifice, (18) pastoral scene, (19) St. Augustine, (20) bust of man with hooded gown and date 1627, (21) the Presentation in the Temple, (22) man with sword, (23) blacksmith with the name and date Gheert de Kuenick, 1579, (24) the Virgin and Child, (25) Samson and Delilah, (26) three men walking, (27) St. Gregory, (28) group of friars, bishops and abbots, (29) Christ at Emmaus, (30) St. Paul, (31) Judas Maccabeus, (32) martyrdom of two old men, (33) martyrdom of a female saint, (34) St. Anne with the Virgin and Child, (35) hunting scene with lake and castle, (36) visiting a prisoner (?), (37) mounted man with attendants, inscription and date 1596, (38) St. John the Baptist, (39) house interior with figures, (40) St. John the Baptist, (41) similar scene to No. 1, with merchant's mark, (42) angels with candle and crucifix, (43) the Nativity, (44) Abraham and Isaac, (45) hunting scene, (46) Truth, (47) the Presentation in the Temple, (48) Lot and two daughters. The side-wings of the E. range are symmetrical and are finished with an embattled parapet with pinnacles; this and the whole of the third or top storey have been refaced. The three storeys have, on each side of the central doorway, three windows each of four cinque-foiled lights, those in the two lower storeys are partly restored and those of the top storey are modern externally. The W. face is similarly treated but there is only one window on each side of the tower in each storey; in the ground floor there are two doorways with moulded jambs and four-centred arch in a square head with beasts' heads and foliage in the spandrels; the N. doorway was that of the School of Metaphysics and that on the S. of the School of Logic. In the angles of the quadrangle are square projecting staircase-towers of the same height as the main building; they have windows of three cinque-foiled lights; the doorway of the N.E. staircase is similar to those in the main range but has a thistle and fleur-de-lis in the foliated spandrels; it was that of the Schools of Languages, Geometry and Arithmetic; the doorway of the S.E. staircase has roses in the spandrels and was that of the Schools of Astronomy and Rhetoric; both doorways have original panelled doors. Inside the E. range, the Cataloguing Room at the N. end of the ground floor has a ceiling divided into five bays by moulded tiebeams with curved and moulded braces forming four-centred arches, with traceried spandrels; they rest on moulded corbels; each bay is divided by three moulded cross-beams. The Logic Room at the S. end has a similar ceiling but with a pendant in the middle of each beam and resting on stone corbels; the room now has a modern partition. On the first floor, the N. part has been divided into three rooms; it has a ceiling of five bays divided by moulded beams with curved brackets, traceried spandrels and wooden corbels; the S. room has a modern partition and ceiling-beams similar to those in the N. room. On the second floor, the modern ceiling incorporates, towards the S. end, two original painted panels, one (Plate 57) with the arms of the University with a scrolled frame and figures and the other a portrait of Sir Thomas Bodley (Plate 57) with a border of trophies-of-arms and armed men. The original staircases have been removed from both the staircase-wings.

The N. Range of the quadrangle is treated similarly to the side portions of the E. range, with windows, parapet and pinnacles. Near the middle of the N. wall is a doorway with moulded jambs and round arch in a square head with foliage in the spandrels; the label has defaced head-stops and the soffit is panelled. The corresponding doorway in the S. wall is similar and above it is a panel with a blank shield with women as supporters. The subsidiary doorways on this side are similar to those in the E. range and were those of the Schools of Grammar and History and of Moral Philosophy. Inside the range, the central corridor has a stone vault of three bays of star-form with moulded ribs springing from moulded corbels; there are pendants and bosses, carved with shields, beasts and foliage, at the intersections. The rooms on the ground and top floors have no ancient features. The E. part of the first floor retains its original moulded ceiling-beams.

The S. Range of the quadrangle is generally uniform with the N. range; the outer doorway has been renewed except for part of the head. Above the middle doorway on the N. face is a panel with a blank shield, garter, helm and two leopards as supporters; a second panel above has the painted inscription "Guil. Herbert Pembrochiæ comes, Regii hospitii Camerarius, honoratissimus Academiæ Cancellarius." The smaller doorways were those of the Schools of Music and Natural Philosophy. A rain-water pipe on this wall has lugs with the initials and dates I.B., T.B., 1617, 1618. Inside the range is a central passage similar to that in the N. range. The first floor retains two original moulded ceiling-beams. On the second floor the W. window in the N. wall has the following panels and quarries of painted glass—(1) a crown, (2) a pope's head, (3) made-up panel with various heads, etc., (4) a pope with nimbus, (5) cherub holding crowned monogram, scroll with motto, (6) allegorical subject with inscription, Flemish, (7 and 8) figures of men, Flemish, (9) hunting-scene, Flemish, (10 and 11) birds on trees; (2), (4) and parts of (3) are 15th-century, the rest is 16th or 17th-century. The fourth window in the S. wall has two panels, mainly of 15th-century materials, the first has a scene described in an 18th-century inscription as William of Scotland paying homage to Henry II; it is more probably St. Thomas of Canterbury with the King of France; the second panel represents the penance of Henry II before the shrine of St. Thomas and is so described in the 18th-century inscription. The fifth window has two 15th-century panels and a crowned Tudor rose; the first panel has a figure of a bishop or abbot with the head of another figure; the second panel has a marriage-scene, ascribed in a modern inscription to the marriage of Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou. In the sixth window are (1) a 15th-century panel with the bust of a bishop with the initials W.A. on the mitre, (2) a 16th-century shield-of-arms of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, with a garter, (3) 16th-century Tudor royal arms, (4) shield-of-arms of Fitzherbert of Begbroke impaling Mounteney, (5–7) quarries with birds, early 18th-century, (8) bearbaiting scene, Flemish, (9) gardeners with inscription, Flemish, (10 and 11) figures of men, one reading, Flemish, (12) sheep and raven with inscription, Flemish, (13) man having leg amputated, with date 1660, (14) donkey addressing animals, with inscription, Flemish, (15) boys playing game, with inscription, Flemish, (16) man and woman, with inscription, Flemish; most of the above are of the 17th century. The modern ceiling incorporates twelve original wooden panels each painted with the arms of the University in a strapwork frame, the twelve letters of Thomas Bodley's name and the date 1618.

The W. Range (Plate 56) of the quadrangle is of two storeys and has the E. wall finished with four ranges of trefoil-headed panels and divided by string-courses; this treatment is continued round the staircase-towers in the W. angles of the quadrangle, the whole of the top storey with the embattled parapet and pinnacles being largely modern restorations. In the middle of the front is a doorway with moulded jambs and round arch in a square head with foliage in the spandrels; the rear-arch has trefoil-headed panels; above the doorway is a panel inscribed "Quod feliciter vortat, academici Oxoniens. Bibliothecam hanc vobis reipublicæque literatorum T.B.P."; it is enclosed in an ogee crocketted head with two panels enclosing shields-of-arms of the University and Bodley. On the first floor is a window of seven cinque-foiled lights with tracery in a four-centred head and moulded reveals. The doorways in the staircase-towers are similar to the other doorways and have original panelled doors; they now lead to the Library, but were formerly those of the Schools of Jurisprudence and Medicine. The N. and S. ends of the range were treated with panelling similar to that of the E. wall but only the heads remain and rest on small corbels, probably an 18th-century alteration. The ground floor, at each end, has a window of four cinque-foiled lights with tracery in a four-centred head; the first floor has a window of four transomed lights, both being entirely modern externally. The parapet-string at the S. end retains some much-weathered bosses. The W. wall of the range has or had a similar panelled treatment to the other faces. Towards the N. end is a doorway with plain jambs, two-centred arch and labels; the soffit has trefoil-headed panels; an inner member of the jambs is finished with small scrolls and on it is hung the early 18th-century door of two panelled leaves with scrolled ironwork in the head of the arch. The parapet retains some much-weathered bosses and on the plinth are some 17th-century scratchings. Inside the range, the ground floor forms an open corridor or vestibule called the Proscholium. It is covered by a ribbed lierne-vault (Plate 3) in five bays springing from vaulting-shafts with moulded capitals and bases; the ribs are moulded and have bosses and pendants, carved with grotesque beast-heads, foliage, Tudor rose and shields-of-arms of Bodley quartering Hone. Under the N. window is a plain recess or cupboard. At the S. end are preserved a defaced 17th-century achievement-of-arms and a mutilated carving of the royal Stuart Arms. The first floor forms the 'Arts End' (Plate 55) of the Bodleian Library. The doorways from the W. staircases have moulded jambs and four-centred arches in square heads. In the E. window is a collection of borders, panels and quarries of painted glass as follows—(1) royal arms of Queen Elizabeth, (2) late 17th-century shield of the See of Canterbury impaling Kemp, (3) 17th-century shield of Bodley quartering Hone, (4) achievement-of-arms of the University, c. 1700, (5) quarries with double roses, (6 and 7) two panels with borders made up of fragments of 15th-century glass, each enclosing a crown made up of similar glass, three quarries with figures and a shield-of-arms of Fitzherbert impaling Giffard, reversed. In the N. window is a 17th or early 18th-century bearded head. The opening in the W. wall to Duke Humphrey's Library has a wide four-centred arch of wood and of late 17th-century date; it has a moulded architrave, key-block, panelled spandrels and soffit and a frieze and cornice on the W. side; on the N. respond is a monument to Charles I, presented by Archbishop Laud in 1636; it consists of a rounded and enriched niche of stone with framing, side-brackets, cornice and pediment; in the niche is a bronze bust of the king; on the S. respond is a monument to Sir Thomas Bodley (Plate 31), presented by Thomas Sackville, Earl of Dorset, in 1605; it consists of a round-headed niche with cornice and pediment and contains a painted bust. The roof (Plate 57) is low-pitched and of seven bays divided into panels by moulded timbers; the tie-beams have curved braces forming elliptical arches and dwarf king-posts under the ridge; the braces spring from stone corbels, mostly plain but some with carved angels; the tie-beams are painted with scrolls, swags, figures and arabesques and one has the initials I.W.; the panels are painted with the arms of the University in varying framework and on the intersections are shields of the quartered arms of Bodley; the stone cornices on the side walls are painted and have carved bosses of grotesque faces, beast-heads, beasts, foliage, fruit, a bearded man and Tudor badges. The E. and W. walls are lined with book-shelves with galleries; the latter are carried on columns and pedestals and have a balustrade of small columns and panelled and painted soffits with metal bosses of foliage and roses; the panels, where ancient, have each five stars; the benches have moulded top-rails with turned balusters and the desks are attached to the book-cases, with shaped brackets. The two staircasewings in the W. angles of the quadrangle are evidently additions to the original design of 1610–2 as the panelling of the W. face of the range is continued behind them. The staircases (Plate 46) are of late 17th-century date and of well-type, with twisted balusters, moulded strings and square newels, continued up as columns to the floor above; the doorways, at the top, have square heads and are fitted with original nail-studded and panelled doors.

The Divinity School (Plate 54) (86½ ft. by 31 ft.), with Duke Humphrey's Library over, forms a two-storeyed building, ashlar-faced and of five bays divided by fourstage buttresses with restored pinnacles and finished with an embattled parapet; the N. side has a panelled quatre-foiled plinth and the buttresses have trefoil-headed panelling in the three lower stages; the quatrefoils enclose bosses or blank shields except on the ends of the buttresses where they enclose half-angels holding shields-of-arms of the University and Thomas Chace, Chancellor (1426–31), a paly coat, etc.; on the S. side the quatre-foiled plinth is carried round, but the buttresses otherwise are plain and have extensions added in 1700–1. Each bay of the side-walls of the Divinity School has an original window of six cinque-foiled lights with vertical tracery in a four-centred head and moulded reveals; cutting into the middle N. window is an inserted doorway of 1669, with moulded and shafted jambs and trefoiled four-centred arch in an ogee head with crockets and a finial; in the spandrel is a monogram; on the soffit of the arch is a book with a repainted inscription; on the panelled reveals are some early 18th-century scratchings; the door, of the same date, has foiled panelling, with blank shields in the lower panels; the window-lights round the doorway have been rearranged when the doorway was inserted and now terminate in cusped tracery with blind panels below; on the wall above the window is an early 18th-century cartouche of the arms of the University. The E. wall, now incorporated in the W. range of the quadrangle, has the panelling of the original buttresses continued along the wall-face for some distance; beyond this, on each side, is a blocked half-arch with a four-centred head, corresponding to the outer parts of the blind window-recesses on the inner face of the wall; the W. doorway has moulded and shafted jambs and two-centred arch in a segmental-pointed and panelled head; the jambs have pedestals and canopies for images; the door is now of two leaves with traceried panels and an embattled rail; the arrangement of the head of the doorway together with the marks of a flat-pitched roof above it, seems to imply that there either was, or was intended to be, a porch at this end of the building, with a stone vault; the side-walls and vaulting-ribs, if they were actually erected were cut back when the existing vault of the Proscholium was built; the blocked arches flanking the supposed porch probably indicate an alteration in design in the course of the actual erection. On the inner face, the wall is divided into three bays divided by shafts supporting two tiers of canopied niches with figures of the Virgin, St. John, St. Peter and St. Paul; the middle bay, above the doorway, has blind window-tracery of four lights in a four-centred head above which is a panelled wall-surface and an empty niche; the inner jambs of the doorway, above the springing-level, have the springers of a vault which was apparently abandoned during the progress of the work. The side-bays have each a blind window of three cinque-foiled ogee lights with tracery in a four-centred head; the spandrels under the vault have sub-cusped quatrefoils enclosing figures holding shields. The arrangement of the internal W. wall of the Divinity School is uniform with that of the E. end, but the central niche has a figure of the Virgin and Child and the side niches figures of the four evangelists. There are no original features on the outward face of the wall.

The stone vault (Plate 58) is of five bays divided by moulded four-centred arches springing from moulded and shafted responds; above the haunches of these arches is open 'window-tracery' under the vault itself. The vault, in each bay, consists of a square central portion springing from pendants flanking the cross-arches and rectangular side-portions against the side-walls; the vault has moulded ridge, diagonal, subsidiary and liesne ribs, with cusped heads to the panels and carved bosses at the intersections. The bosses include a large number of minor ones with foliage only, a number of bosses with separate words forming inscriptions such as "Ihc. m'cy Ladi help," "Da Deo gratias," "Ihc be my sped," "Da gratias Deo tuo," "Kemp me fieri fecit," "Edwardus Quartus Rex," "Loy soit Dieu" (or Dyew), "Ben fet" and "Thank God of al"; in the W. bay are some bosses with similar inscriptions painted on scrolls including "Da gloriam Deo," the motto of Thomas Kemp. The other bosses are as follows—E. bay, central portion (Plate 2), (a) personal arms of Thomas Kemp, Bishop of London (1450–89) with inscribed scroll, (b) monogram perhaps of John Russell, Bishop of Lincoln (1480–94), (c) two dogs, (d) a rebus for the name Lionel, probably for Sir Lionel Woodville, Chancellor (1479–83), (e) eagle and child, (f) mutilated initials T.K., (g) mutilated initials and cardinal's hat, possibly for John Kemp, Archbishop of Canterbury (1452–4), (h) monogram R.F., probably for Richard Fitzjames, Vice-chancellor (1481), (i) monogram E.L., (j) bearded head, (k) monogram I.B. (? John Bettys, Proctor 1476), (1) monogram W.S. (? William Southworth, Proctor 1476) and doctor's cap, (m) Stafford knot, (n) wheatsheaf, (o) monogram W.O. probably for William Orchard, (p) monogram T.K.; in N. sidebay, (a) mitre with the words "Sanctu~. nome~. ejus," (b) shield-of-arms two candles saltirewise, for Thomas Chaundler, Chancellor (1472–9), (c) shield-of-arms ascribed to John Chedworth, Bishop of Lincoln (1452–72), (d) shield-of-arms of the See of London, (e) wheatsheaf, (f) monogram T.K., (g) shield-of-arms of Thomas Kemp as Bishop of London, with angel-supporters, (h) shield-of-arms of John Kemp as Archbishop of Canterbury, with angel-supporters, (i) monograms E.L., I.B., and L.W. (for Lionel Woodville) on separate bosses; in S. side-bay, (a) mitre with motto of William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester (1447–86), (b) shield with three wheels (? Roet-Chaucer), (c) shield with the five wounds, (d) shield-of-arms a bend coticed charged with three wolves' heads, (e) shield-of-arms of Richard, Lord Beauchamp of Powyk, (f) shield-of-arms of Thomas Kemp as Bishop of London, (g) shield-of-arms of John Kemp as Archbishop of Canterbury, (h) shield-of-arms of the University with angel-supporters, (i) shield of the personal arms of Waynflete, with angel-supporters, (j) rebus of Lionel. In second bay, central portion, (a) shield-of-arms of John Kemp as cardinal and archbishop, (b) initial T. with two crossed candles, for Thomas Chaundler, (c) monogram T.K., (d) monogram L.W., (e) monogram G.S. (Geoffrey Simeon, Proctor 1478), (f) monogram W.P. (William Porter, Proctor 1481), (g) monogram G.S., (h) monogram L.W., (i) wheatsheaf, (j) rebus of Lionel, (k) monogram G.S., (l) fox carrying off goose, (m) Samson and the lion; in N. side-bay, (a) Agnus Dei on book, (b) shield-of-arms of Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury (1414–43), (c) shield-of-arms of Waynflete, (d) shield of the arms of the University, (e) shield of the personal arms of Walter Lyhert, Bishop of Norwich (1446–72), (f) shield-of-arms of John Kemp as archbishop, (g) shield-of-arms of Thomas Kemp as Bishop of London, (h) shield-of-arms of Kemp with angel-supporters, (i) shield-of-arms of Russell (? John Russell, Bishop of Lincoln 1480–94) with angel-supporters, (j) initials W.O., (k) monogram J.K., (l) man with bear, (m) initials W.S., (n) foliage and two dragons; in S. side-bay, (a) rose, (b) shield-of-arms of the See of London, (c) shield-of-arms of Kemp, (d) shield-of-arms of Kemp as Bishop of London, (e) Bourchier knot, (f) shield of the personal arms of Thomas Beckington, Bishop of Bath and Wells (1443–65), (g) shield probably of the personal arms of Marmaduke Lumley, Bishop of Lincoln (1450), (h) shield-of-arms of Kemp, with angel-supporters, (i) shield of the arms of the University, with angel-supporters, (j) monogram G.S. In third bay, central portion, (a) Royal arms with lion and bull supporters, (b) monogram J.M.P. perhaps for John Martin, Proctor (1480), (c) monogram W.M., (d) monogram N.H., perhaps for Nicholas Halswell, Proctor (1480), (e) monogram N.K., (f) shield-of-arms of Exeter College, (g) shield of the arms of Strangways and Darcy quarterly quartering Meynell, (h) shield-of-arms of James, Lord Audley (Audley impaling Holland), (i) shield-of-arms of Ralph, Lord Greystock, (j) man picking grapes, (k) bear-baiting, (l) monogram W.O., (m) monogram J.K. with cardinal's hat, (n) initial T. with two candles, for Thomas Chaundler, (o) monogram T.K., (p) jester, (q) horse and foliage; in N. sidebay (Plate 2), (a) the Virgin and Child, (b) shield-of-arms, three wheels, (c) shield of the arms of the University, (d) shield-of-arms of Kemp, (e) shield-of-arms a lion, (f) shield-of-arms of Exeter College, (g) monogram T.K., (h) shield-of-arms of Kemp as archbishop, (i) shield-of-arms of Kemp as Bishop of London, (j) shield-of-arms of Lionel Woodville, (k) monograms W.S., L.W. and J.K. on separate bosses; in S. sidebay, (a) figures of the Trinity, (b) two angels with book, (c) two angels holding cap, (d) two angels holding closed book, (e) shield-of-arms of Kemp, (f) two angels holding cap, (g) shield-of-arms of Kemp as Bishop of London, with angel-supporters, (h) shield-of-arms of Kemp as archbishop, with angel-supporters, (i) initial C. or G., (j) monograms T.K. and G.S. In fourth bay, central portion, (a) shield-of-arms of Thomas Bourchier (Bourchier quartering Lovaine) as Cardinal and Archbishop of Canterbury (1454–86), with angel-supporters, (b) G.S. monogram, (c) the name J. Kemp with a cardinal's hat, (d) W.M. monogram, (e) T. Kemp monogram, (f) shield-of-arms probably for John Russell as Bishop of Lincoln (1480–94), (g) shield-of-arms of Waynflete, (h) shield-of-arms of Peter Courtenay as Bishop of Exeter (1478–87), (i) quartered shield-of-arms of Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, (j) M.R. monogram, (k) O.R. (?) monogram, (l) G.S. monogram, (m) monogram of the name William (?), (n) T.K. monogram, (o) a bull or calf, (p) a fret, (q) J.K. monogram with hat, (r) rayed rose; in N. side-bay, (a) St. Veronica with the vernicle, (b) shield-of-arms of Chichele, (c) shield-of-arms of See of London, (d) W.P. monogram, (e) shield-of-arms of Beckington, (f) shield-of-arms of Russell, (g) shield of the arms of the University, (h) shield-of-arms of Kemp, (i) shield-of-arms of John Chedworth, Bishop of Lincoln, (j) shield-of-arms of Kemp as archbishop, (k) three interlaced dolphins, (l) owl and other birds, (m) T.K. monogram, (n) initial T and crossed candles; in S. side-bay, (a) the words "pater unde filius spiritus sanctus," (b) Bourchier knot, (c) shield-of-arms of Exeter College, (d) rose, (e) shield-of-arms of See of London, (f) shield with a double-armed cross, (g) quartered shield of John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, (h) shield-of-arms of Waynflete, (i) quartered shield-of-arms of Lionel Woodville, (j) shield-of-arms of Lumley, as before, (k) monkey and priest's head. In W. bay, central portion, (a) shield-of-arms of Lionel Woodville, with angel-supporters and book, (b) shield-of-arms probably for Richard Fitzjames, Vice-chancellor (1481), (c) the name Kemp, (d) composite shield-of-arms perhaps for Richard May, (e) shield-of-arms of Willoughby (Bek quartering Ufford), (f) shield-of-arms probably for John Arundel (Arundel quartering Carminow), Bishop of Chichester (1459–77), (g) W.M. monogram, (h) T.K. monogram, (i) G.S. monogram, (j) T.S. (? Thomas Stephen, Vice-chancellor 1470–80) monogram, (k) shield-of-arms of Portugal, (l) geometrical design, (m) a knot, (n) the name Ruer, (o) the name Row, (p) Orel monogram, (q) W.C. monogram, (r) double Stafford knot, (s) the name Lee with a cap above, (t) W.P. monogram, (u) R.F. monogram; in N. side-bay, (a) foliage, (b) shield-of-arms of Richard, Lord Beauchamp (1475–96), (c) shield-of-arms of Kemp, (d) a dove with a painted scroll inscribed "God save mi lorde of London," (e) shield-of-arms, probably for Chaundler, (f) shield-of-arms, three wheels, (g) shield-of-arms of See of London, (h) an eagle with a scroll inscribed with Waynflete's motto, (i) shield-of-arms of Kemp, with angel-supporters, (j) shield-of-arms of Kemp as Bishop of London, (k) shield-of-arms of Waynflete, (l) a winged lion with a painted scroll inscribed "Ihs est amor meus," (m) a falcon on another bird, (n) a running horse, (o) a pelican in her piety, (p) a wheatsheaf with two angels, (q) a winged ox with a scroll inscribed "Dominus illuminatio mea," (r) inscribed scrolls; in S. side-bay, (a) vine and grapes, (b) shield-of-arms probably of Chaundler, (c) shield-of-arms of Kemp as archbishop, (d) dogs attacking deer or boar, (e) shield-of-arms of Kemp as Bishop of London, (f) shield with double-armed cross, (g) shield-of-arms of Waynflete, (h) lily-flowers and scrolls, (i) shield-of-arms of Beauchamp of Powyk, (j) shield of the arms of the University, (k) shield-of-arms of Kemp as Bishop of London, (l) shield-of-arms of Kemp with angel-supporter, (m) spread eagle, (n) shield of a fesse between three Bourchier knots, (o) angel with two candles and inscribed scroll, (p) a squirrel, (q) angel with scroll, (r) shield-of-arms of May (?), (s) foliage and two animals, (t) a rose. The pendants have a canopied niche in each face, some empty and some containing small figures of the four Evangelists and the four Doctors. At each end of the building there is a wall-arch with moulded and shafted jambs supporting figures and with niches, canopies and figures in the arch. The figures on the E. wall represent a cardinal and a bishop and in the arch are figures of a religious and a priest, angels and seraphim; on the W. side are an archbishop and a bishop, and in the arch two religious, angels and seraphim.

The two western bays of the building are fitted with platforms of 1660–70 against the side and end walls; the arrangement has been somewhat altered but the materials are old. The fronts of the platforms are panelled and project to form seating and have a balustrade of symmetrically turned balusters. On the platforms at the E. end are three-sided pulpits or rostra with panelled sides and enriched cappings.

Duke Humphrey's Library (Plate 57) forms the upper storey of the Divinity School building and appears to have been completed c. 1470. The side-bays have each two windows divided by a small subsidiary buttress standing on the offset at the floor-level; the windows are each of two cinque-foiled and transomed lights in a four-centred head with moulded reveals and label. High up in the E. wall are two square-headed doorways, probably inserted in 1692–3 to give access to the galleries, and now blocked. The side-walls are finished with stone cornices with carvings at intervals of the heads of a king and queen, women's heads, an elephant and castle, animals, masks and foliage. The 15th-century roof is low-pitched and of five bays with moulded main timbers, tie-beams with curved braces and curved braces forming subsidiary trusses without tie-beams; the stone corbels are carved with angels holding a shield with a book, angels supporting a bishop's head and heads of men, women and a king. The soffit is finished with square panels painted with 17th-century shields of the arms of the University with strapwork; at the intersections of the ribs are shields of the quartered arms of Bodley; nearly a quarter of the panels have been renewed; the main timbers are painted with scroll-work of the same period. The library is fitted with 17th-century bookcases, projecting from the side-walls, between the windows; the cases have moulded cornices and desks supported on shaped brackets; the second bay has double doors and the end bays have panelled doors with pierced upper panels, each with fluted Doric and Ionic columns; flanking the doors of the E. bays are similar panels; the doors in the W. bays are modern copies. The galleries erected in 1692–3 have been removed. The W. wall has a wide four-centred arch of wood inserted when the Selden Wing was added c. 1636; it has panelled responds and soffit, architraves, imposts and key-blocks; the E. face has a moulded cornice and pediment.

The Selden Wing was added 1634–6 and contains the Convocation House and the Chancellor's Court Room on the ground floor and the Selden Library above. The building is ashlar-faced and finished with a restored embattled parapet and pinnacles. The ground storey has three windows in the W. wall and one in the end walls, each of four cinque-foiled lights with vertical tracery in an elliptical head with moulded reveals. In the N. part of the E. wall is a window of two cinque-foiled lights in a square head and further N. is a rusticated doorway with a round arch, scrolled key-stone and flanking pilasters supporting an entablature and segmental pediment; against the pediment is a cartouche-of-arms of Bodley quartering Hone, with swags; the doorway is fitted with panelled doors of two leaves with cherub-heads in the upper panels. The library has a window in the N. and S. walls originally of four cinque-foiled lights with vertical tracery in an elliptical head with moulded reveals; the traceried head of the S. window has been altered and the N. window is modern externally; the W. wall has been refaced and contains a restored window of four cinque-foiled lights with tracery in an elliptical head with moulded reveals; flanking it are two blocked windows. Inside the building the Chancellor's Court, formerly the Apodyterium, is a square apartment at the N. end of the ground floor. It is covered with a stone fan-vault with cusped and panelled cones and a circular panel in the middle; the vault springs from moulded corbels. In the S. wall is a doorway with an eared architrave, side-pilasters, brackets, entablature and pediment; it is fitted with panelled doors. The walls are lined to a height of 12½ ft. with bolection-moulded panelling of c. 1640, finished with an entablature with panels at intervals; covering the E. doorway is a panelled lobby (Plate 49) of the same character with an eared architrave to the doorway, entablature with a central panel and a pediment. Against the panelling are benches with panelled fronts and against part of the W. wall is a raised dais on which is a bench with turned legs and a desk in front; in front of the desk is a panelled enclosure with square posts and ballterminals; within it are benches and a table with turned legs. The Convocation House (Plate 56) occupies the rest of the ground floor. It has a stone fan-vault (Plate 4) in two bays similar to that in the Chancellor's Court. The walls are lined to about half this height with panelling (Plate 47) divided into bays by Ionic pilasters supporting a bracketed and panelled entablature; each bay has a perspective arched panel with an eared architrave, cornice and pediment; set against the panelling are benches, those at the S. end having shaped arm-rests; in the middle of the S. end (Plate 47) is the Vice-chancellor's seat, raised above the others and having a hexagonal canopy resting on two shafts; the back of the seat is panelled and the canopy has a moulded and panelled entablature with pierced pendants, strapwork cresting and vases; the soffit of the canopy has radiating panels and a pendant and the top has a low ribbed dome with a central feature. Above the N. doorway is an entablature and pediment with a cartouche of the arms of the University supported by two angels. The northern portion of the room has three rows of benches interrupted by passages from the doorways; the fronts are panelled and the bench-ends have shouldered tops and ball-terminals. At the S. end in front of the ViceChancellor's seat is a platform enclosed on the E. and W. sides with a single bench returned along the S. end to a central passage. The benches have panelled fronts and the backs have balusters with round arches between them. The Selden End (Plate 55), forming the first floor of the same building, is lined with bookshelves, access to the upper shelves being by wooden galleries. The eastern galleries are approached by two staircases in the archway opening into Duke Humphrey's Library; these staircases are encased and have doors with enriched panels; above the doors the casing has a cornice with shaped brackets and a pediment. The former staircases to the W. galleries have been removed and modern bridges carried across the windows in the N. and S. walls. The galleries are supported by circular columns on pedestals, elliptical arches and a continuous entablature with a panel in the middle of each bay; above the entablature is a balustrade with square posts, ball-terminals and turned balusters; the soffits of the galleries have bolection-moulded panelling. Above the archway in the E. wall is a large eared panel surmounted by a continuous cornice with panels and brackets; on the cornice is an inscription now overpainted, but still legible, as follows:—"Codices MSS diversi generis codices MSS. Graeci; Bibliothecae Baroccianae codices MSS. p.m. MCCC Hebraici, Syriaci, Chaldaici, Aegypti, Aethiopi, Armeniaci, Arabici, Persici, Turcici, Russiaci, Chinenses, Japan, Graeci, Latini, Italici, Gallici, Saxonici, Anglici, Hibernici." The ceiling is flat and is divided by moulded cross-beams into square panels; it has been partly repaired. The windows are framed with panelling similar to that over the eastern arch and have a blank cartouche in place of a key-block. In the N. window is some re-set painted glass including (a) 17th-century roundel with Prince of Wales' feathers; (b) 15th-century quatrefoil with beast-heads; (c) made-up panel including 16th-century shield-of-arms of Oriel College (reversed) and a crowned fleur-de-lis; (d) 15th-century foliage in octofoil; (e) two quarries with heads of Charles I and Henrietta Maria; (f) 15th-century quatrefoil with leaves; (g) 15th or 16th-century rose; (h) 15th or 16th-century roundel with seated man with organ; etc. In the W. window is a collection of panels and roundels mainly of Flemish or German glass of the 16th or 17th century; they include, however, an early 16th-century roundel, with a figure of St. Dunstan and the devil and a 15th-century roundel possibly of the Raising of Lazarus, both English; the foreign panels include various figure subjects, birds, beasts, fish, etc., a subject of Elijah and Ahab with the date 1638, two representations of the Annunciation, a Visitation, a Flagellation and a Crucifixion. In this wing is a bell by William Yare, 1611, given by Bodley.

The Radcliffe Camera, begun in 1737 and opened in 1749, stands in the middle of Radcliffe square. It is of three main stages and of two storeys internally. It is ashlar-faced and is finished with a lead-covered dome and cupola. The ground-stage is rusticated and has a series of eight pedimented projections, the cornices of which are carried round the building. The main stage is divided into bays by coupled Corinthian columns supporting the main entablature; the bays have a lower range of square windows or recesses and an upper range of square-headed windows with pediments alternating with round-headed niches. The main entablature is surmounted by a balustraded parapet with vases. The ashlar-faced drum of the dome has segmental-headed windows and projecting pilasters and is finished with a continuous cornice, parapet and vases. The dome has eight panelled ribs and lunette-lights; the octagonal cupola has a round-headed opening in each face. The interior of the building has on both floors a series of eight piers and arches forming a circular central area with an ambulatory, except on the N. side which is occupied by the staircase. This is of oval form with a wrought-iron balustrade. The upper piers have Ionic pilasters and half-round arches with cartouches in the spandrels and a continuous entablature. The drum has panelled pilasters and swags and the dome itself is panelled.

Condition—Good.