Mansfield College

Mansfield College stands on Mansfield Road near the centre of Oxford, close to the University Parks and the River Cherwell. It began in 1838 as Spring Hill College in Birmingham for students who did not conform to the Church of England. In 1886 it moved to Oxford and was renamed after George Mansfield and his sister Elizabeth. The college received its royal charter in 1995 and now has about 245 undergraduates, 145 graduates and 40 visiting students. Helen Mountfield has been principal since 2018. The college’s Nonconformist roots remain visible in portraits and chapel fittings. A portrait of Oliver Cromwell hangs in the Senior Common Room, while the library and corridors display dissenters from 1662. The chapel is unconsecrated and contains stained glass of Nonconformist leaders such as Cromwell, Sir Henry Vane and William Penn. Services continue in the Nonconformist tradition, though attendance has declined. The college once trained United Reformed Church ordinands until 2007. The main building by Basil Champneys encloses a quadrangle with a circular lawn. Inside are the main library, law library and theology library, along with Junior, Middle and Senior Common Rooms. The Hands Building, designed by Rick Mather Architects, provides 74 en-suite study bedrooms and a 160-seat auditorium. The college shares a boundary wall with Wadham College and maintains an open atmosphere without a traditional porter’s lodge.