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Worcester College, Oxford. Founded in 1714 by Sir Thomas Cookes, its site was previously home to Gloucester College (est. 1283, dissolved 1539), with surviving medieval cottages regarded as among the oldest residential buildings in Oxford.

lots of architecture in this College. The Chapel is an artistic marvel: its interior was rebuilt and decorated between 1720 and 1791 in an unusual, colourful style by William Burges, featuring pink plaster, carved animals (kangaroos, whales), riotous frescoes (dodos, peacocks), and windows by Henry Holiday.

It does really stand out for its gardens and lake seen above.

 

Interesting facts....

The oldest surviving part—the medieval cottages—date from the fifteenth century and are among Oxford’s oldest residential college buildings. Their preservation is a stroke of luck: they were left standing only because funding ran out before replacement neo-classical structures could be built! Worcester’s site has seen continuous scholarly occupation since at least the 1280s

In 1938, J.R.R. Tolkien delivered a now-famous reading to the Lovelace Club—a student literary society at Worcester—which was formative in the development of ‘The Hobbit.’

Architectural Illustration: Worcester College, Oxford

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