South · Founded 1893
St Hilda's College
The draw is its calm riverside setting and gardens on the Cherwell, just across the water from the tourist bustle, with a lively musical culture and punts moored below the lawns.
Official site ↗Founded 1893. Founded by Dorothea Beale, principal of Cheltenham Ladies' College, as a hall for women; it was the last single-sex Oxford college, admitting men only from 2008.
Rather than one historic quad, it spreads as a run of Victorian villas and 20th-century blocks down the east bank of the River Cherwell, with lawns and gardens reaching the water and the modern Jacqueline du Pre Music Building alongside.
Don’t miss
- Riverside gardens sloping to the River Cherwell
- Jacqueline du Pre Music Building concert venue
- College boathouse and punts
- Heritage as Oxford's last women-only college
Notable names
Barbara Pym (novelist) · Val McDermid (crime writer) · Wendy Cope (poet) · Zeinab Badawi (broadcaster)
Visiting
Set slightly apart from the central college cluster on the far bank of the Cherwell; the grounds can sometimes be walked, but access depends on the college's current visitor policy and term-time restrictions.
Opening hours, admission and current access change often — check the official site before you go.