craven.fr (.ox.ac.uk)

This is an article in my series on Oxford's colleges and PPHs. These 'profiles' are based entirely on my own personal perspective and opinions; prospective students are advised to look rather to the prospectus and alternative prospectus of any college they are considering applying to, rather than place too much stock in my descriptions. Previous articles describe what colleges are, then discuss Nuffield College, the PPHs, All Souls' College, University College, and St. Antony's College.

If somebody had to select one Oxford college as the archetypical "Oxford", there is little argument that Christ Church would be the one to pick. It has the largest quad by far, and abounds with famous alumni and literary associations: The dining hall was used in filming Harry Potter. It appears in Brideshead Revisited, and is closely associated with Alice in Wonderland.

While many Oxford colleges have impressive chapels (New College, All Souls', and Exeter all spring to mind), Christ Church's "chapel" is actually the cathedral of the Anglican diocese of Oxford. Christ Church has produced more prime ministers than every other college put together—and is only two short, on its own, of the total number produced by the entire University of Cambridge. It is the favoured college of the aristocracy—although Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito attended Merton, which accordingly sees itself beset by Japanese tourists to this day. (King Abdullah of Jordan went to Pembroke, but Jordanian tourists are somewhat less commonly seen.) Like its sister college Trinity, Cambridge, Christ Church has long held the reputation as the "it" college, for those who feel the need to identify one.

So much for superlatives. In practice, Magdalen, New, and Balliol are also held by many applicants to be the "it" college, and a dozen more could legitimately protest my not including them on this list. (My own Oriel among them!) The fact is that most students, once admitted, come to realise that their own college is "actually" the best! And as I will describe below, there are plenty of good reasons not to pick Christ Church as well.

Known familiarly as "the House", Christ Church is known for having porters who still wear bowler hats (something more colleges ought to emulate, in my opinion), and for the aforementioned constant swarms of tourists.

In fact, if a tourist asked me "where is the university"—a lot of tourists apparently think that a university can be a single building!—I most often would direct them to Christ Church. (Radcliffe Square, if it was closer, being the other contender.) This is not least because it is the part of the university that is the best equipped to deal with tourists, who are often not allowed elsewhere. (In Oxford, "No tourists" is seen on signs as frequently as one sees "No solicitors" in the US!)

As a college associated with wealth and connections, and with the high-ceilinged, wood panelled rooms of Peckwater Quad being the most luxurious student accommodation in the university, the House has a lot to recommend it. Despite this, I do not think I would have enjoyed being there. Studying at a tourist trap has real disadvantages. (I've heard tales of students being surprised in their bathrobes by tourists, knocking on their door asking if they can take a picture of their room!) Also the enormous size of the college, I suspect, must detract from the sense of community. But of course I am coloured by my clear bias towards Oriel, and so inevitably find Christ Church lacking wherever it differs from my reference point.

In spite of all that, I count being at the black-tie GCR guest dinner, being served high table food in Christ Church's magnificent dining hall at the end of Trinity term, as one of the culminating moments of my Oxford adventure. Raising a glass of port, after a gourmet meal, to toast the Queen, in such an opulent, historical setting, among such distinguished company, truly was a defining Oxford experience.

And so one sees that, while members of other colleges may like to talk down Christ Church, at the end of the day, we are still entirely subject to its magic.