Fictional colleges are found in many modern novels, films, and other works of fiction, probably because they allow the author greater licence for invention and a reduced risk of being accused of libel, as might happen if the author depicted unsavoury events as occurring at a real-life institution. Below is a list of some of the fictional colleges of the University of Oxford.
His Dark Materials Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials novels feature a number of fictional Oxford colleges, most notably Jordan College, including:His Dark Materials series, Philip Pullman Cardinal's College Foxe College Gabriel College Jordan College Queen Philippa's College St Michael's College St Scholastica's College St Sophia's College Wordsworth College Wykeham College
Inspector Morse The Inspector Morse series of books by Colin Dexter is predominantly set within Oxford and its environs, including the University. Consequently, many fictional colleges are named. The derived television series, Inspector Morse, Lewis and Endeavour, continued this practice.
T=TV series NameSourceDetailsFilmed(College)Alfreda's CollegeEndeavour T: "Fugue" TrinityArnold CollegeInspector Morse T Baidley CollegeEndeavour T: "Home"Last episode of Season 1KebleBeaufort CollegeInspector Morse T; Endeavour T: "Girl"Named after Henry Beaufort, a Plantagenet royal and Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 1397 to 1399Beaumont CollegeInspector Morse novels Inspector Morse episode ”The Last Enemy” Series 3 Episode 2 Beaumont Street is a short street in central Oxford. One end emerges opposite Balliol's side entrance, and it extends to the front of Worcester. Beaumont Street was formerly the site of Beaumont Palace, perhaps the "location" of the college.Benison CollegeLewis, episode "Intelligent Design" Series 7 episodes 5/6 Carlyle CollegeLewis, episode "The Soul of Genius" ExeterChaucer CollegeLewis Based on Merton College. Named after Geoffrey Chaucer, whose son Thomas also managed the affairs of Henry Beaufort, Oxford's Chancellor.Courtenay CollegeInspector Morse TBased on Oriel. Nuneham Courtenay is a village 5 miles south-east of Oxford; in the 14th century, the village belonged to the influential Courtenay family. Nuneham House now belongs to the University.Gresham CollegeLewis, episode "Dark Matter" Stand-in for Lincoln. The "Invisible College" was a group of Oxford scientists (including Robert Boyle, Robert Hooke and Christopher Wren) who went on to establish the Royal Society. The group met at Gresham College in London.The Radcliffe Observatory at Green CollegeHescott CollegeEndeavour T: "Confection" OrielLady Matilda's CollegeLewis episode "Old, Unhappy, Far-Off Things"; Endeavour episode "Home"Amalgamation of Lady Margaret Hall and St Hilda'sLady Margaret HallLonsdale CollegeInspector Morse novels and subsequent Lewis T College attended by Endeavour Morse.BrasenoseLovelace CollegeEndeavour TV series; "Game", the first episode of Season 4 St Catherine'sMayfield CollegeLewis episode "Life Born of Fire"Mayfield Press is based in Cowley Road; the nearest college would be Greyfriars on Iffley Road.In and around BrasenosePenvilleLewis episode "Old School Ties"The leader of the Oxford Union says she usually lives here; this is presumably a reference to her fictional college.St Gerard's HallLewis episode "Wild Justice" Fictional permanent private hallExterior of college filmed at New College, with a barn entrance in New College Lane.St Edmund Hall and Christ ChurchSt Jude's CollegeLewis episode "Generation of Vipers" St Saviour's CollegeInspector Morse, episode "Fat Chance" New CollegeSt Sebastian's CollegeLewis episode "Lions of Nemea" St Edmund HallSavile CollegeLewis In and around TrinityTrevelyan CollegeLewis Wolsey CollegeInspector Morse novels and Endeavour Based on Christ Church: Cardinal Wolsey founded Christ Church.
Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy's novel Jude the Obscure is set in Christminster, "Wessex", a thinly fictionalised version of Oxford, and mentions the following colleges of Christminster University: Biblioll CollegeHardy 1994 Part 2 Chapter 6 (Balliol) Cardinal CollegeHardy 1994 Part 6 Chapter 9 (Christ Church) Crozier College (Oriel?) Oldgate CollegeHardy 1994 Part 6 Chapter 11 (New College) Rubric College (Brasenose?) Sarcophagus College Tudor College
Loss and Gain Loss and Gain by St John Henry Newman tells the story of the conversion of Charles Reding, an Oxford student, to Catholicism. In the novel, Newman creates the following colleges: Saint Saviour's (the college of the main character, Charles Reding) All Saints Leicester College Nun's Hall
Other works NameDetailsAll Saints CollegeNorth and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. Stand-in for All Souls CollegeApocalypse CollegePrivate's Progress by Alan HackneyBaillie CollegeYes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, attended by successive Cabinet Secretaries, Sir Arnold Robinson and Sir Humphrey Appleby. A very thinly veiled stand-in for Balliol; in several episodes Sir Humphrey Appleby is seen wearing a Balliol tie, and in the 2011 stage play version, Appleby is stated as having gone to Balliol, not "Baillie"Bartlemas CollegeKate Ivory detective novels by Veronica Stallwood. Takes its name from St Bartholomew's Chapel, which belonged to Oriel CollegeBede CollegeOperation Pax by Michael Innes (pseudonym of J. I. M. Stewart). Allusion to the Old English polymath Bede, whose histories give us the account of St Hilda, from whom St Hilda's College, Oxford takes its nameSt Hilda's College History , st-hildas.ox.ac.ukBrazenface CollegeVerdant Green by Cuthbert Bede. Very thinly veiled reference to Brasenose CollegeCandlin College In Young Sherlock, the college attended by James Moriarity, and where Sherlock Holmes works as a scout. Canterbury College The Mezzotint by M. R. James, which is set in a thinly-veiled version of Oxford, "Bridgeford". Cardinal CollegeA Yank at Oxford. Based on Christ Church, which was founded by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey as "Cardinal College" in 1525Episcopus CollegeWhere the Rivers Meet and Comedies by John WainHacker CollegeThe Complete Yes MinisterJudas CollegeZuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm. Based on Merton College. Referenced in William Peter Blatty's 1960 semi-autobiographical comic novel Which Way to Mecca, Jack?The King's College(Known as "Dick's" after its founder Richard II) – Colonel Butler's Wolf and Our Man in Camelot by Anthony Price."The King's College" is another name for Oriel College; Richard II has no historically significant involvement with OxfordKingsbridge CollegeWorld Without End and A Column of Fire by Ken FollettLancaster CollegeIncense for the Damned, a Peter Cushing horror film set partially in Oxford, based on Doctors Wear Scarlet by Simon RavenLazarus CollegeBarchester Towers by Anthony TrollopeSeveral novels by Angela Thirkell, beginning with Summer Half (1937)The Secret World massively multiplayer online role-playing gameMagog CollegeA Study in Sorcery by Michael Kurland/Randall GarrettMandeville College"The Crime of the Communist", a Father Brown story by G. K. ChestertonCollier's Weekly 14 July 1934; repr. in The Scandal of Father Brown (1935).Mortarhouse CollegeGhost Light (Doctor Who) serialOld CollegeLot No. 249 by Arthur Conan DoylePelham CollegeThe It Girl by Ruth WarePentecost CollegeMontague Egg short story "Murder at Pentecost", in Hangman's Holiday by Dorothy L. Sayers. On the north side of Broad Street, to the east of TrinityPersephone CollegeDeath on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay. Women's college based on St Hilda's, Hay's old collegeIntroduction by Stephen Booth to 2014 edition.Pitt CollegeBlack Chalk by Christopher J. YatesPlymouth CollegeNorth and South by Elizabeth Gaskell; alludes to Exeter CollegeRaleigh CollegeThe Oxford Inheritance by Ann A. McDonald, and Sophomore Switch (published as Life Swap in the UK) by Abby McDonaldSt Ambrose's CollegeTom Brown at Oxford by Thomas Hughes. Probably based on Oriel CollegeSt Bride's CollegeMichaelmas Term at St Bride's, by Brunette Coleman (Philip Larkin), St Bride's is recognisably based on Somerville CollegeSt Christopher's CollegeThe Case of the Gilded Fly and The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin. Located on the north side of St John's (Crispin's old college) at the junction of St Giles' and Banbury RoadSt David's CollegeA Study in Sorcery by Michael Kurland/Randall GarrettSt Ervan's CollegeAn Oxford University Chest by John BetjemanSt Frideswide's CollegeWhat Men Say by Joan SmithSt George's CollegeYes Minister television series. There was a late-medieval establishment of this nameSt Jerome's CollegeEndymion Spring by Matthew Skelton: on St Giles', with echoes of Somerville College (Skelton's alma mater)The Reluctant Cannibals by Ian Flitcroft (south of the High Street)St Joseph's CollegeRumpole series by John Mortimer (in "Rumpole and the Younger Generation", Rumpole is said to have attended the real-life Keble College)St Jude's CollegeFormosa by Dion Boucicault; August Folly by Angela Thirkell (also in Lewis; see above)St Margaret's CollegeFire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones. Probably based on Lady Margaret HallSt Mark's CollegeThe Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford; Patrick Grant crime novels by Margaret Yorke; The Stars' Tennis Balls by Stephen FrySt Mary's CollegeSinister Street by Compton Mackenzie (based closely on Magdalen College, Mackenzie's old college, named after St Mary Magdalene)The Poison Tree by Tony Strong (based on St Peter's College); and Rough Justice by Charles Edward MontagueSt Matthew's CollegeThe Dimension Riders by Daniel BlytheSt Paul's CollegeRavenshoe by Henry KingsleyAugust Folly by Angela ThirkellSt Sebastian's CollegeArden St Ives books by Alexis Hall; Hut 33St Severin's CollegeThe Late Scholar by Jill Paton Walsh using Dorothy L. Sayers' characters. On Parks Road, next to WadhamSt Simeon's CollegeDeath on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay. Located approximately on the site of Lady Margaret HallSt Thomas' CollegeAn Oxford Tragedy and The Case of the Four Friends by John Cecil Masterman. St Thomas the Martyr's Church is located near Osney, and belongs to Christ ChurchScone CollegeDecline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh; Something Nasty in the Woodshed and The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery by Kyril Bonfiglioli, in whose novels Scone College represents Balliol College. John de Balliol was crowned king at Scone, Scotland in 1292Shrewsbury CollegeGaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers. Women's college, based on Somerville College, Sayers' old college, but located on the site of Balliol's cricket ground in Jowett WalkSomerville Stories – Dorothy L Sayers , Somerville College, University of Oxford, UK.Simon Magus CollegeLet Dons Delight and The Footsteps at the Lock by Ronald KnoxStendell CollegeThe Gentlemen directed by Guy Ritchie. Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) attends the college on a Rhodes Scholarship and begins selling marijuana while thereWarlock CollegeLandscape with Dead Dons by Robert Robinson An unnamed college in A Staircase in Surrey, a quintet of novels by J. I. M. Stewart, based on Christ Church, but never named; Surrey is the name of a quadrangle within the fictional college
Fictional library In Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series, Oxford's Bodleian Library has a secret part, known and accessible only to practitioners of Magic and containing among other things the secret writings of Isaac Newton on this subject.
See also Colleges of the University of Oxford List of fictional Cambridge colleges List of fictional Oxbridge colleges List of books about Oxford List of fictional University of Oxford people
References