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Balliol College

One of the three oldest colleges, with an outsized political and intellectual reputation and a long roll of prime ministers and thinkers.

Official site ↗

Founded 1263. Founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol as an act of penance and endowed after his death by his widow Dervorguilla of Galloway, making it one of Oxford's oldest colleges.

Largely Victorian Gothic Revival after 19th-century rebuilding by Alfred Waterhouse and William Butterfield, though it retains a 15th-century library and medieval roots; the main range fronts Broad Street.

Don’t miss

  • chapel
  • dining hall
  • Front Quad
  • Garden Quad
  • 15th-century library
  • gates linked to the Oxford Martyrs

Notable names

Adam Smith · Prime Ministers H.H. Asquith, Harold Macmillan and Edward Heath · Gerard Manley Hopkins · Aldous Huxley · Graham Greene · Boris Johnson

Visiting

Open to visitors at certain times, but access is not guaranteed and can close for college business.

Opening hours, admission and current access change often — check the official site before you go.