Stephen Blundell is a Professor of Physics at Oxford University and Professorial Fellow of Mansfield College, Oxford, where he has been Tutor in Physics since 1997. Michael Freeden is Emeritus Professor of Politics at Oxford University and Emeritus Professorial Fellow of Mansfield College, Oxford.
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I imagine it is the same for everyone arriving at Mansfield for the first time. The beauty of Champneys’ buildings, and the expansive open quad, meeting tutorial partners, receiving reading lists, exploring the town. In those first weeks, nothing about Oxford failed to match up to my dream. I loved reading English, and the experience has remained with me ever since. Donald Macdonald – 1984, English
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Blundell Freeden
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PORTRAIT OF AN OXFORD COLLEGE
This is the fascinating story of an ecclesiastical institution, rooted in the Dissenting and Nonconformist movements of the 19th century, which grew to become a fully-fledged Oxford college, and recently celebrated its 125th anniversary. Its earliest incarnation was as Spring Hill College in Birmingham, but it soon moved to Oxford in 1886 when the University began to accept students from the Free Churches. Mansfield has always possessed a distinctive character: its ethos of openness and social liberalism dares to be different in a place of great tradition. As a theological college in the late 1880s it was remarkable for the size of its chapel – intended as a magnet for Oxford Dissident and Nonconformist congregations – and the meagreness of its student facilities. Yet the elegant Gothic architectural designs of Basil Champneys gave it from the beginning a clearly Oxfordian presence. Led by determined Principals and governing councils, Mansfield eventually acquired permanent private hall status in 1955, and became a full member of the University community 40 years later.
PO RTRAIT OF AN OXFORD COLLEGE
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MANSFIELD
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MANSFIELD PORTRAIT OF AN OXFORD COLLEGE Edited by Stephen Blundell and Michael Freeden Photography by Keiko Ikeuchi
Today, Mansfield can celebrate over 30 years as a co-educational institution, and has developed from being a theological college preparing ordinands of any dissenting denomination for ministry to an Oxford college teaching a wide range of academic subjects. The College has always been an energetic pioneer in opening up access to Oxford University to an increasingly diverse body of students – many the first members of their family to attend university. It has built on its strong links abroad, and particularly with the United States – the 1980 movie Heaven’s Gate even saw Mansfield standing in for Harvard of the 1870s. Beautifully illustrated with archive and specially commissioned contemporary images, this book strikes a chord with all Mansfield alumni, whose reminiscences incorporated in the text bear witness to a rich collegiate culture marked by warmth and friendliness as well as academic distinction.