North · Founded 1879
Somerville College
A pioneering women's college with an extraordinary roll of alumnae — from prime ministers to Nobel laureates — set among pleasant gardens off the Woodstock Road.
The college
A closer
look.
Woodstock Road, North Oxford
Founded 1879. Founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of Oxford's first colleges for women, named after the mathematician and scientist Mary Somerville; it became fully coeducational in 1994.
A spacious North Oxford site of Victorian red-brick and later ranges set around lawns and gardens, including its chapel and a notably strong library.
On the same walk
Closest to
this one.
On a visit
Don’t miss.
- 01Garden quadrangles and lawns
- 02Somerville College Library
- 03Non-denominational chapel
- 04Heritage of pioneering women's education
Connected to
Notable
names.
- Margaret Thatcher
- Indira Gandhi
- Dorothy Hodgkin, Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Dorothy L. Sayers
- Iris Murdoch
- Vera Brittain
Before you go
Visiting Somerville College
Open to Public (Limited Hours). Published visitor access: 09:00–12:00 and 14:00–16:00; no admission outside term time except for University members and Alumni Card holders. Admission: Free; donations welcome. College events, services and exams can still close areas at short notice.
Opening hours, admission and access change often — check the official site before you travel.
- Founded
- 1879
- Area
- Woodstock Road, North Oxford
- Type
- College
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