It also hosts the Simonyi Professorship of the Public Understanding of Science, currently held by Marcus du Sautoy. The city suffered two serious fires in 1644 and 1671.[19]. It contains over 8,000 different plant species on 1.8 ha (4 1⁄2 acres). Oxford City F.C. [127][128] The renovation is designed to better showcase the library's various treasures (which include a Shakespeare First Folio and a Gutenberg Bible) as well as temporary exhibitions. Two university proctors, elected annually on a rotating basis from two of the colleges, are the internal ombudsmen who make sure that the university and its members adhere to its statutes. [49] There were also 25 women students living at home or with friends in 1879, a group which evolved into the Society of Oxford Home-Students and in 1952 into St Anne's College. Some of the more prominent members of the association were George Granville Bradley, T. H. Green and Edward Stuart Talbot. [119], The university maintains the largest university library system in the UK,[15] and, with over 11 million volumes housed on 120 miles (190 km) of shelving, the Bodleian group is the second-largest library in the UK, after the British Library. Oxford has a maritime temperate climate (Köppen: Cfb). Oxford's earliest colleges were University College (1249), Balliol (1263) and Merton (1264). [24] At about the same time, private benefactors established colleges as self-contained scholarly communities. Their most famous player was arguably Michael James Parsons known as Jim Parsons who was capped by England. Where is one most likely to find rocks that have become smooth and rounded? [112][113] The city is home to a BBC TV newsroom which produces an opt-out from the main South Today programme broadcast from Southampton. What is the disadvantage of using component method? Reflecting the collegiate nature of the University of Oxford itself, OUSU is both an association of Oxford's more than 21,000 individual students and a federation of the affiliated college common rooms, and other affiliated organisations that represent subsets of the undergraduate and graduate students. Naipaul, Philip Pullman,[16] Dorothy L. Sayers, Vikram Seth,[16] J. R. R. Tolkien,[218] Evelyn Waugh,[219] Oscar Wilde,[220] the poets Percy Bysshe Shelley,[221] John Donne,[222] A. E. Housman,[223] Gerard Manley Hopkins, W. H. Auden,[224] T. S. Eliot, Wendy Perriam and Philip Larkin,[225] and seven poets laureate: Thomas Warton,[226] Henry James Pye,[227] Robert Southey,[228] Robert Bridges,[229] Cecil Day-Lewis,[230] Sir John Betjeman,[231] and Andrew Motion.[232]. For a category of people, see. A fourth station, Oxford Parkway, is just outside the city, at the park and ride site near Kidlington. [102] There have also been a number of local railway stations, all of which are now closed. The site has been the seat of local government since the Guild Hall of 1292 and though Oxford is a city and a Lord Mayoralty, the building is still called by its traditional name of "Town Hall". Knowledge of Ancient Greek was required for admission until 1920, and Latin until 1960. The greatest known snow depth was 61.0 cm (24.0 in) in February 1888. The presence of the university has also led to Oxford becoming a centre for the education industry. The rapid expansion of Oxford and the development of its railway links after the 1840s facilitated expansion of the brewing trade. [11] The two English ancient universities share many common features and are often jointly called Oxbridge. John Colet, Christian humanist, Dean of St Paul's, and friend of Erasmus, studied at Magdalen College. The only exceptions are applicants for organ scholarships[98] and those applying to read for a second undergraduate degree. The list of distinguished scholars at the University of Oxford is long and includes many who have made major contributions to politics, the sciences, medicine, and literature. In so doing, it has enhanced and strengthened its traditional role as an international focus for learning and a forum for intellectual debate. There are two small shopping malls in the city centre: The Clarendon Centre[61] and the Westgate Centre. If you are 13 years old when were you born? Significant focus is given to annual varsity matches played against Cambridge, the most famous of which is The Boat Race, watched by a TV audience of between five and ten million viewers. In 1844, the Great Western Railway linked Oxford with London via Didcot and Reading,[20][21] and other rail routes soon followed. is a semi-professional football club, separate from Oxford United. In 1916 women were admitted as medical students on a par with men, and in 1917 the university accepted financial responsibility for women's examinations. [16], At least 30 other international leaders have been educated at Oxford. Congregation, the "parliament of the dons", comprises over 3,700 members of the university's academic and administrative staff, and has ultimate responsibility for legislative matters: it discusses and pronounces on policies proposed by the University Council. This image comes from Oxford University Images, Browse through some historical pictures in the Oxford University Image library, Oxford University Images - historic images of Oxford, Prospective Continuing Education students, Prospective online/distance learning students. [239], Oxford's philosophical tradition started in the medieval era, with Robert Grosseteste[240] and William of Ockham,[240] commonly known for Occam's razor, among those teaching at the university.