VISIT TO TRINITY COLLEGE OXFORD BY COBBETT’S WEY DFAS

5TH SEPTEMBER 2009

Cobbett’s Wey DFAS members enjoyed a rare treat when we toured Trinity College, Oxford on a sunny September day.  One of our members, John Helmsley, is a Trinity man and told fascinating anecdotes about the history of the college, which was originally known as Durham College and was built for the Benedictine Monks in 1286.  We looked at old paintings of the early students, whose masters taught seated on a raised chair, which is where the term “professorial chair” originates.  Trinity College was founded in 1555 by Sir Thomas Pope, following the abolition of Durham College during the Reformation.  It is a particularly beautiful college with a chapel designed by Christopher Wren, where John had fond memories of candlelit services listening to the choir sing Evensong.  He also showed us a slide of the Turkish carpet in the common room as it was in his student days, before and after a visit from Balliol students.  There is an ongoing rivalry between Trinity and Balliol College, which is next door.  On one occasion while the quad was being turfed Balliol students sneaked in and took the turf , laying it in the common room over the Turkish carpet and artistically planting it with daffodils.  John explained that they have an arrangement that each college pays for its students’ rags, so Balliol had to pay the considerable cost of cleaning the carpet.

The high spot of our tour was a visit to the Old Library, which dates from 1421 and contains very rare original books, some dating from the 14th century.  There is also a unique stained glass image of Saint Thomas Becket with a dagger protruding from his forehead.

We then had a superb lunch in the Dining Hall, served by the award winning chef and his team. 

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