1.
Merton College, Oxford
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Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The important feature of Walters foundation was that this college was to be self-governing, the hall and the chapel and the rest of the front quad were complete before the end of the 13th century. Notable alumni and academics past and present include four Nobel Laureates and writer J. R. R. Tolkien who was Merton Professor of English Language, Merton is one of the wealthiest colleges in Oxford and had a financial endowment of £212.8 million as of July 2014. Merton has a reputation for academic success, having regularly ranked first in the Norrington Table in recent years. Merton College was founded in 1264 by Walter de Merton, Lord Chancellor and it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford, although this claim is disputed between Merton College, Balliol College and University College. The substance of Mertons claim is that it was the first college to be provided with statutes, Mertons statutes date back to 1264, whereas neither Balliol nor University College had statutes until the 1280s. Merton was also the first college to be conceived as a community working to achieve academic ends, Merton has an unbroken line of wardens dating back to 1264. Of these, many had great influences over the development of the college, Henry Savile was one notable leader whose vision led the college to flourish in the early 17th century. St Alban Hall was an independent academic hall owned by the convent of Littlemore until it was purchased by Merton College in 1548 following the dissolution of the convent and it continued as a separate institution until it was finally annexed by the college in 1881. During the English Civil War, Merton was the only Oxford college to side with Parliament, the reason for this was Mertons annoyance with the interference of their Visitor William Laud, the Archbishop of Canterbury. This included the Kings French wife, Queen Henrietta Maria, who was housed in or near what is now the Queens Room, the room above the arch between Front and Fellows Quads. Differences were quickly settled after the war, however, and a portrait of Charles I hangs near the Queens Room as a reminder of the role it played in his court. The college was consolidated on this site by 1274, when Walter made his final revisions to the college statutes, the initial acquisition included the parish church of St John and three houses to the east of the church which now form the north range of Front Quad. Walter also obtained permission from the king to extend from these properties south to the old city wall to form a square site. The college continued to other properties as they became available on both sides of Merton Street. At one time, the college owned all the land from the site that is now Christ Church to the eastern corner of the city. The land to the east eventually became the current Fellows garden, by the late 1280s the old church of St John the Baptist had fallen into a ruinous condition, and the college accounts show that work on a new church began in about 1290. The present choir, with its enormous east window, was complete by 1294, the window is an important example of how the strict geometrical conventions of the Early English Period of architecture were beginning to be relaxed at the end of the 13th century
2.
Quadrangle (architecture)
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In architecture, a quadrangle is a space or courtyard, usually rectangular in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building. The word is probably most closely associated with college or university campus architecture, most quadrangles are open-air, while a few have been roofed over, to provide additional space for social meeting areas or coffee shops for students. The word quadrangle was originally synonymous with quadrilateral, but this usage is now relatively uncommon, some modern quadrangles resemble cloister gardens of medieval monasteries, called garths, which were usually square or rectangular, enclosed by covered arcades or cloisters. However, it is clear from the oldest examples which are plain and unadorned with arcades, grander quadrangles that look like cloisters came later, once the idea of a college was well established and benefactors or founders wished to create more monumental buildings. In North America, Thomas Jeffersons design for the University of Virginia centered the housing, later, some American college and university planners imitated the Jeffersonian plan, the Oxbridge idea, Beaux-Arts forms, and other models. The University of Chicagos Gothic campus is notable for its innovative use of quadrangles. All five barracks at The Citadel feature quadrangles with red-and-white squares, quadrangles are also found in traditional Kerala houses and is known as the Nadumittam
3.
Oxford
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Oxford is a city in the South East region of England and the county town of Oxfordshire. With an estimated 2015 population of 168,270, it is the 52nd largest city in the United Kingdom, the city is situated 57 miles from London,69 miles from Bristol,65 miles from both Southampton and Birmingham and 25 miles from Reading. The city is known worldwide as the home of the University of Oxford, buildings in Oxford demonstrate notable examples of every English architectural period since the late Saxon period. Oxford is known as the city of dreaming spires, a term coined by poet Matthew Arnold, Oxford has a broad economic base. Its industries include motor manufacturing, education, publishing and a number of information technology and science-based businesses. Oxford was first settled in Saxon times and was known as Oxenaforda, meaning Ford of the Oxen. It began with the establishment of a crossing for oxen around AD900. In the 10th century, Oxford became an important military frontier town between the kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex and was on several occasions raided by Danes, Oxford was heavily damaged during the Norman Invasion of 1066. Following the conquest, the town was assigned to a governor, Robert DOyly, the castle has never been used for military purposes and its remains survive to this day. DOyly set up a community in the castle consisting of a chapel. The community never grew large but it earned its place in history as one of Britains oldest places of formal education and it was there that in 1139 Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote his History of the Kings of Britain, a compilation of Arthurian legends. Mary at Oseney and to the canons serving God in that place and we have made this concession and confirmation in the Common council of the City and we have confirmed it with our common seal. These are those who have made this concession and confirmation, a grandson of King John established Rewley Abbey for the Cistercian Order, and friars of various orders all had houses of varying importance at Oxford. Parliaments were often held in the city during the 13th century, the Provisions of Oxford were instigated by a group of barons led by Simon de Montfort, these documents are often regarded as Englands first written constitution. Richard I of England and John, King of England the sons of Henry II of England, were born at Beaumont Palace in Oxford, on 8 September 1157 and 24 December 1166 respectively. A plaque in Beaumont Street commemorates these events, the University of Oxford is first mentioned in 12th century records. Of the hundreds of Aularian houses that sprang up across the city, what put an end to the halls was the emergence of colleges. Oxfords earliest colleges were University College, Balliol and Merton and these colleges were established at a time when Europeans were starting to translate the writings of Greek philosophers
4.
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
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Corpus Christi College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. With around 250 undergraduates and 200 postgraduates, it also has the second smallest student body of the colleges of the University. The College has traditionally one of the more academically successful colleges in the University of Cambridge. The colleges average position between 2003 and 2012 was 9th, and in the most recent rankings, placed in 10th, Corpus ranks among the wealthiest Cambridge colleges in terms of fixed assets, being exceptionally rich in silver. The Colleges endowment valued at £97. 4M at the end of June 2016 and its freehold land, the guild of Corpus Christi was founded in Cambridge in 1349 by William Horwode, Henry de Tangmere, and John Hardy in response to the Black Death. They determined to found a new college in the University of Cambridge, later the same year the new guild merged with an older guild, the Guild of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which had been decimated by the Plague. The united guilds acquired land in the centre of town and their patron, the Duke of Lancaster, applied to King Edward III for a licence to found a new college, which was granted in 1352. Construction began immediately of a single modest court near the church and in 1356 it was ready to house the Master. The colleges statutes were drawn up in 1356, the united guild merged its identity with the new college, which acquired all the guilds lands, ceremonies, and revenues. The parade continued until the English Reformation, when the Master, William Sowode, the college continues to have a grand dinner on the feast day of Corpus Christi, the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. The newly constructed court could house 22 fellows and students, the statutes laid down the rules governing the behaviour of fellows only. Students were not part of the foundation at this stage and would not come within the scope of the statutes for another 200 years. In its early centuries, the college was relatively poor and so could not construct new buildings and it had no chapel, so the members worshipped in St Benets Church next door. For many years, particularly during the Reformation when Catholic references were discouraged, Corpus was the only University college, although by no means the only University building, to be attacked. The revolt, which took place during the Corpus Christi week. The college claimed £80 in damages, in 1460 during the Wars of the Roses, the college paid for armaments including artillery and arrows, and protective clothing to defend the colleges treasures from a tempestuous riot. As a monument a talbot, the supporter of the Talbot family, was placed on the gable of Old Court. At the same time the Master, Thomas Cosyn, built the colleges first chapel, over the next few centuries, garret rooms were added in Old Court increasing student numbers
5.
Cambridge
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Cambridge is a university city and the county town of Cambridgeshire, England, on the River Cam about 50 miles north of London. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, its population was 123,867, there is archaeological evidence of settlement in the area in the Bronze Age and in Roman Britain, under Viking rule, Cambridge became an important trading centre. The first town charters were granted in the 12th century, although city status was not conferred until 1951, the University of Cambridge, founded in 1209, is one of the top five universities in the world. The university includes the Cavendish Laboratory, Kings College Chapel, the citys skyline is dominated by the last two buildings, along with the spire of the Our Lady and the English Martyrs Church, the chimney of Addenbrookes Hospital and St Johns College Chapel tower. Anglia Ruskin University, evolved from the Cambridge School of Art, Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology Silicon Fen with industries such as software and bioscience and many start-up companies spun out of the university. More than 40% of the workforce has a higher education qualification, the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, one of the largest biomedical research clusters in the world, is soon to be home to AstraZeneca, a hotel and the relocated Papworth Hospital. Parkers Piece hosted the first ever game of Association football, the Strawberry Fair music and arts festival and Midsummer Fairs are held on Midsummer Common, and the annual Cambridge Beer Festival takes place on Jesus Green. The city is adjacent to the M11 and A14 roads, settlements have existed around the Cambridge area since prehistoric times. The earliest clear evidence of occupation is the remains of a 3, the principal Roman site is a small fort Duroliponte on Castle Hill, just northwest of the city centre around the location of the earlier British village. The fort was bounded on two sides by the lines formed by the present Mount Pleasant, continuing across Huntingdon Road into Clare Street, the eastern side followed Magrath Avenue, with the southern side running near to Chesterton Lane and Kettles Yard before turning northwest at Honey Hill. It was constructed around AD70 and converted to use around 50 years later. Evidence of more widespread Roman settlement has been discovered including numerous farmsteads, evidence exists that the invading Anglo-Saxons had begun occupying the area by the end of the century. Their settlement—also on and around Castle Hill—became known as Grantebrycge, Anglo-Saxon grave goods have been found in the area. During this period, Cambridge benefited from good trade links across the hard-to-travel fenlands, by the 7th century, the town was less significant and described by Bede as a little ruined city containing the burial site of Etheldreda. Cambridge was on the border between the East and Middle Anglian kingdoms and the settlement slowly expanded on both sides of the river, the arrival of the Vikings was recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 875. Viking rule, the Danelaw, had been imposed by 878 Their vigorous trading habits caused the town to grow rapidly. During this period the centre of the town shifted from Castle Hill on the bank of the river to the area now known as the Quayside on the right bank. In 1068, two years after his conquest of England, William of Normandy built a castle on Castle Hill, like the rest of the newly conquered kingdom, Cambridge fell under the control of the King and his deputies
6.
Muniment
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A Muniment or Muniment of Title is a legal term for a document, title deed or other evidence, that indicates ownership of an asset. The word is derived from the Latin noun munimentum, meaning a fortification, bulwark, thus muniments of title means the written evidence which a land owner can use to defend title to his estate. An example of Muniment of Title is the use of a certificate of a joint tenant to prove that title resides with the surviving joint tenant. In the USA the definition of muniment may differ in statutes state by state, a muniment of title is any documentary evidence upon which title is based. Muniments of title are deeds, wills, and court judgments through which a land title passes. Muniments of title do more than merely affect title, they must carry title, in the medieval period substantial landowners made use of dedicated chambers known as muniments rooms for the secure storage of muniments of title. Before the advent of capitalism and the investment, the ownership of land. For example, if a royal charter survived granting a manor to person X, many gentry families in England held particular estates for many centuries, generating a large volume of documents of title as the estate passed down the generations of the family. Security needed to not only against theft, but also against destruction of the parchment and ink by fire, excessive heat, sunlight, water, mould. Thus in certain monasteries the muniments room was situated above the warming house. Special chests were used, designed specifically to aid preservation, rapid portability of muniments was also a consideration, in case of fire or armed attack of the building. The intact muniments room of an ancient mansion house or castle was found by modern historians. Westminster Abbey Muniments Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Muniment
7.
Purbeck Marble
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Purbeck Marble is a fossiliferous limestone found in the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in south-east Dorset, England. It is a variety of Purbeck stone that has been quarried since at least Roman times as a building stone. Stratigraphically these limestone beds lie towards the top of the Durlston Formation of the Purbeck Group and they were deposited during the Berriasian age of the Early Cretaceous epoch. Purbeck Marble is not a rock, like a true marble. Its characteristic appearance comes from densely packed shells of the freshwater snail Viviparus, sussex Marble is similar in type. The marble is properly classified as a biomicrudite, as it consists of large clasts in a fine-grained limestone mud matrix, the individual marble beds, lie between layers of softer marine clays and mudstone, laid down during repeated marine ingressions. Some of the beds contain iron minerals, such as hematite or limonite, giving red or brown varieties. Purbeck Marble is found at outcrop, or beneath superficial cover, the marble beds are never more than 1.2 m thick and are often much thinner. The outcrops lie within the Purbeck Monocline, with the beds dipping moderately steeply to the north, there is a single example of Purbeck Marble being used during the Bronze Age, in a cist at Langton Matravers. During the Romano-British period, Purbeck Marble was used for inscriptions, architectural mouldings and veneers, mortars and pestles, Purbeck Marble was also quarried in medieval times and can be seen in virtually all the cathedrals of the south of England, in columns and slab panels and flooring. For example, it is used in the Exeter, Ely, Norwich, Chichester, Salisbury, Lincoln, Llandaff, Southwark and Canterbury Cathedrals and in Westminster Abbey. It has been used in modern times, but a remarkable example is the church at Kingston, Purbeck. Though other strata of Purbeck Limestone are being quarried at the present time, however Purbeck Marble is required from time to time for restoration work, and some was extracted in 1993. Purbeck Marble is used by a number of sculptors, such as Emily Young
8.
Cotswolds
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The area is defined by the bedrock of Jurassic limestone that creates a type of grassland habitat rare in the UK and that is quarried for the golden coloured Cotswold stone. It contains unique features derived from the use of this mineral, the well-established boundaries of the Cotswolds have expanded considerably since moving out of the cities and into the countryside gained popularity. Now the Cotswolds boundaries are roughly 25 miles across and 90 miles long, stretching south-west from just south of Stratford-upon-Avon to just south of Bath. It lies across the boundaries of several English counties, mainly Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, the hills give their name to the Cotswold local-government district in Gloucestershire, which administers a large part of the area. The highest point of the region is Cleeve Hill at 1,083 ft, there is evidence of Neolithic settlement from burial chambers on Cotswold Edge, and there are remains of Bronze and Iron Age forts. Later the Romans built villas, such as at Chedworth, settlements such as Gloucester, the area still preserves numerous large, handsome Cotswold Stone wool churches. The affluent area in the 21st century has attracted wealthy Londoners and others who own homes there or have chosen to retire to the Cotswolds. The name Cotswold is popularly attributed the meaning sheep enclosure in rolling hillsides, incorporating the term, wold, compare also the Weald from the Saxon/German word Wald meaning wood. Cod was interpreted as an Old English personal name, which may be recognised in further names, Cutsdean, Codeswellan, the spine of the Cotswolds runs southwest to northeast through six counties, particularly Gloucestershire, west Oxfordshire and south western Warwickshire. The northern and western edges of the Cotswolds are marked by steep escarpments down to the Severn valley and this feature, known as the Cotswold escarpment, or sometimes the Cotswold Edge, is a result of the uplifting of the limestone layer, exposing its broken edge. This is a cuesta, in geological terms, the dip slope is to the southeast. On the eastern boundary lies the city of Oxford and on the west is Stroud, to the southeast, the upper reaches of the Thames Valley and towns such as Lechlade, Tetbury and Fairford are often considered to mark the limit of this region. To the south the Cotswolds, with the uplift of the Cotswold Edge, reach beyond Bath. The area is characterised by small towns and villages built of the underlying Cotswold stone. This limestone is rich in fossils, particularly of fossilised sea urchins, Cotswold towns include Bourton-on-the-Water, Broadway, Burford, Chipping Norton, Dursley, Moreton-in-Marsh, Northleach, Stow-on-the-Wold, Stroud and Winchcombe. Bath, Cheltenham, Cirencester, Gloucester and Stroud are larger urban centres that border on, or are surrounded by. The town of Chipping Campden is notable for being the home of the Arts and Crafts movement, founded by William Morris at the end of the 19th, William Morris lived occasionally in Broadway Tower, a folly, now part of a country park. Chipping Campden also is known for the annual Cotswold Olimpick Games, Cotswold stone is a yellow oolitic Jurassic limestone
9.
Chimney
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A chimney is a structure that provides ventilation for hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the stack, the space inside a chimney is called a flue. Chimneys may be found in buildings, steam locomotives and ships, in the United States, the term smokestack is also used when referring to locomotive chimneys or ship chimneys, and the term funnel can also be used. The height of a chimney influences its ability to transfer flue gases to the environment via stack effect. Additionally, the dispersion of pollutants at higher altitudes can reduce their impact on the immediate surroundings, in the case of chemically aggressive output, a sufficiently tall chimney can allow for partial or complete self-neutralization of airborne chemicals before they reach ground level. The dispersion of pollutants over an area can reduce their concentrations. Romans used tubes inside the walls to draw out of bakeries. The earliest extant example of an English chimney is at the keep of Conisbrough Castle in Yorkshire, however, they did not become common in houses until the 16th and 17th centuries. Smoke hoods were a method of collecting the smoke into a chimney. Another step in the development of chimneys was the use of built in ovens which allowed the household to bake at home, industrial chimneys became common in the late 18th century. Chimneys in ordinary dwellings were first built of wood and plaster or mud, since then chimneys have traditionally been built of brick or stone, both in small and large buildings. Early chimneys were of a brick construction. Later chimneys were constructed by placing the bricks around tile liners, to control downdrafts, venting caps with a variety of designs are sometimes placed on the top of chimneys. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the used to extract lead from its ore produced large amounts of toxic fumes. Lead and silver deposits formed on the inside of these long chimneys, todays central heating systems have made chimney placement less critical, and the use of non-structural gas vent pipe allows a flue gas conduit to be installed around obstructions and through walls. In fact, most modern high-efficiency heating appliances do not require a chimney, such appliances are generally installed near an external wall, and a noncombustible wall thimble allows a vent pipe to run directly through the external wall. On a pitched roof where a chimney penetrates a roof, flashing is used to seal up the joints, the down-slope piece is called an apron, the sides receive step flashing and a cricket is used to divert water around the upper side of the chimney underneath the flashing. Industrial chimneys are commonly referred to as flue gas stacks and are generally external structures and they are generally located adjacent to a steam-generating boiler or industrial furnace and the gases are carried to them with ductwork
