Editing Somerville College, Oxford (section)

==Buildings and grounds==
[[File:Somerville College, Oxford - House.JPG|thumb|right|House seen from the Quad]]
The college and its main entrance, the Porters' Lodge, are located at the southern end of [[Woodstock Road, Oxford|Woodstock Road]], with [[Little Clarendon Street]] to the south, [[Walton Street, Oxford|Walton Street]] to the west and the [[Radcliffe Observatory Quarter]] to the north. The front of the college runs between the [[Oxford Oratory]] and the [[Faculty of Philosophy, Oxford|Faculty of Philosophy]]. Somerville has buildings of various architectural styles, many of which bear the names of former principals of the college, located around one of Oxford's biggest [[quadrangle (architecture)|quads]]. Five buildings are [[listed building#England and Wales|Grade II]]-listed.

A 2017 archaeological evaluation of the site shows that in the medieval period the area now occupied by Somerville lay in fields beyond the boundary of Oxford. There is evidence of 17th-century building and earthworks beneath the site, some of which almost certainly relates to the defensive network placed around the city by [[Cavalier|Royalists]] during the [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms|Civil War]]. There are also remains of some 19th-century buildings, including a stone-lined well.<ref name=hughes>{{Cite web |url=http://www.some.ox.ac.uk/about-somerville/the-catherine-hughes-building/ |title=The Catherine Hughes Building |access-date=30 August 2018 |website=some.ox.ac.uk |archive-date=30 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830174201/http://www.some.ox.ac.uk/about-somerville/the-catherine-hughes-building/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Walton House===
[[File:Walton House, Somerville College, Oxford.jpg|thumb|right|House seen from the east]]
The original building of Somerville Hall, Walton House (commonly called House) was built in 1826 and purchased from [[St John's College, Oxford|St John's College]] in 1880 amid fears that the men's colleges might, in the future, repossess the site for their own purposes.{{sfn |Batson |2008 |p=26}} The house could only accommodate seven of the twelve students who came up to Oxford in the first year.<ref name="british-history.ac.uk">{{Cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63899#n43 |title=Somerville College – British History Online |website=british-history.ac.uk |access-date=15 September 2014 |archive-date=18 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140818225752/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63899#n43 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1881, Sir [[Thomas Graham Jackson]] was commissioned to build a new south wing which could accommodate eleven more students. In 1892, [[Walter Cave]] added a north wing and an extra storey. He also installed a gatehouse at the Woodstock Road entrance. In 1897/98, the Eleanor Smith Cottages were added, adjoining Walton House.{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=11}}

Today House is home to only one or two students, and, until 2014, it housed the college bar. It also contains Green Hall, where guests to college are often greeted and in which prospective students are registered and wait for interviews; some of the college's paintings by [[Roger Fry]] are located here.<ref name=artuk/> Most of the administration of college, and the academic [[pigeon-hole messagebox|pigeon-holes]] are in House, as is the Mary Somerville Room, a reception room featuring paintings by Mary Somerville, [[George Romney (painter)|George Romney]] and [[George Frederic Watts]].<ref name=artuk/>

===Park===
[[File:Park Building, Somerville College, Oxford University.jpg|thumb|right|Park Building]]
Originally known as West, from its location in the college, the idea of building a second self-contained hall was inspired by [[Newnham College, Cambridge]]. It was designed by [[Harry Wilkinson Moore]] and built in two stages. The 1885–1887 phase saw the construction of rooms for 18 students with their own dining-room, sitting rooms and vice-principal. This was a deliberate policy aimed at replicating the family environment that the women students had left.{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=11}} It had the effect of turning House and West into rivals.{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=12}} The second building stage (1888–1894) created two sets of tutors' rooms, a further 19 rooms and the West Lodge (now Park Lodge).<ref name="british-history.ac.uk"/>{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=113}} In 2004 it was renamed Park in honour of [[Daphne Park]], Principal from 1980 to 1989.{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=12}}

Today there are over 60 student and fellows' rooms in the building along with a music room and a computer room. Park is a Grade II-listed building.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1369711 |desc=Somerville College, West Building |access-date=16 September 2018}}</ref>

===Library===
{{Main|Somerville College Library}}
[[File:Somerville College Library.jpg|thumb|right|[[Somerville College Library]]]]
The Grade II-listed library designed by [[Basil Champneys]] in 1903 was opened by [[John Morley]] the following year. Specially for the opening, ''Demeter'' was written by [[Robert Bridges]] and performed for the first time. Somerville Library was the first purpose-built library in the women's colleges of the university. With some foresight it was designed to contain 60,000 volumes, although the college only possessed 6,000 when it opened. It now holds around 120,000 items (95,000 on open shelves), as one of the largest college libraries in the university.{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=16}}

[[Amelia Edwards]], [[John Stuart Mill]], [[John Ruskin]] and Vera Brittain have been notable benefactors to the library.{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=16}} It contains paintings by Mary Somerville, [[John Constable]], [[Maud Sumner]] and [[Patrick George]].<ref name=artuk/>

The John Stuart Mill room contains what was Mill's personal library in London at the time of his death, with annotations in many of the books.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.some.ox.ac.uk/library-it/special-collections/john-stuart-mill-collection/ |title=John Stuart Mill Collection – Somerville College Oxford |publisher=University of Oxford |access-date=8 June 2016 |archive-date=24 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424091306/http://www.some.ox.ac.uk/library-it/special-collections/john-stuart-mill-collection/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

The library dominates the north wing of the main quadrangle, having been designed to bring the college together, and is open 24 hours, with access to college-wide wifi, a group study room, and computing and printing facilities. It gives full satisfaction according to several annual student surveys.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://public.tableau.com/views/UniversityofOxford-StudentBarometer/RanksCollege?%3Aembed=y&%3Adisplay_count=yes&%3AshowTabs=y&%3AshowVizHome=no |title=Student Survey |access-date=31 March 2020 |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407161823/https://public.tableau.com/views/UniversityofOxford-StudentBarometer/RanksCollege?%3Aembed=y&%3Adisplay_count=yes&%3AshowTabs=y&%3AshowVizHome=no |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Hall and Maitland===
[[File:Somerville College, Oxford - Main quad, summer.JPG|thumb|right|View of Hall and Maitland (right) from the quad]]
[[File:Somerville College Oxford, Hall from High Table.jpg|thumb|right|Hall]]
There was no hall large enough to seat the entire college until 1911, when Maitland Hall and Maitland, designed by [[Edmund Fisher (architect)|Edmund Fisher]] in [[Queen Anne style architecture|Queen Anne style]] and [[Edwardian Baroque architecture|Edwardian Baroque]], were opened by [[H. A. L. Fisher]], the Vice-Chancellor of the university and [[Gilbert Murray]].{{sfn|Manuel|2013|p=22}} Murray, whose translations of Greek drama were performed at Somerville in 1912 and 1946, supported Somerville in many ways, including endowing its first research fellowship. A fund was raised as a memorial to [[Agnes Catherine Maitland|Miss Maitland]], Principal of Somerville Hall (College from 1894) from 1889 to 1906, and the money was used to pay for oak panelling in Hall. The panelling of the south wall was designed to frame a portrait of [[Mary Somerville]] by [[John Jackson (painter)|John Jackson]].{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=19}} The buildings were constructed on the site of an adjoining building gifted to Somerville by E. J. Forester in 1897 and bought from [[University College, Oxford|University]] and [[Balliol College, Oxford|Balliol]] Colleges for £4,000 and £1,400 respectively.<ref name="british-history.ac.uk"/> There was difficulty in constructing the buildings, now thought to have resulted from the outer limit of the Oxford city fortifications running under the site. In 1935, [[Percy Richard Morley Horder|Morley Horder]] reconstructed the archway connecting Maitland Hall and the south wing of Walton House, creating a Reading Room off the main hall; in 1947, [[André Gide]] gave a lecture that filled both these rooms and the staircase and quadrangle outside.{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=22}}

Somerville's is the one Oxford dining hall where all portraits show women. They were painted by [[Michael Noakes]], [[Herbert James Gunn]], [[George Percy Jacomb-Hood]], [[William Coldstream]], [https://www.artuk.org/discover/artists/whittall-john-b-1947-9605/ John Whittall], [[Francis Helps]], [[Claude Rogers (artist)|Claude Rogers]], [[Humphrey Ocean]], [[Thomas Leveritt]] and [[Richard Twose]].<ref name=artuk>{{Cite web |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/search/venue:somerville-college-university-of-oxford-7538/page/4 |title=Somerville College, University of Oxford |website=[[Art UK]] |access-date=30 March 2019 |archive-date=30 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330220934/https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/search/venue:somerville-college-university-of-oxford-7538/page/4 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Hall and Maitland form the east face of the main quad, as Grade II-listed buildings. The Senior Common Room is situated on the ground floor. The first floor holds the pantry and the hall, in which Formal Hall (called guest night) is held weekly in term time.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Maitland now houses few students, being mainly occupied by fellows' offices and the college IT office. The building, named after Principal Agnes Maitland, stands to the south of Hall.<ref name="blogs.some.ox.ac.uk"/>

===Penrose===
The Penrose block was designed by Harold Rogers<ref>{{Cite web |title=Harold Sydney Rogers |url=https://www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/mayors/1836_1962/rogers_harold_1937.html/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926153232/http://www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/mayors/1836_1962/rogers_harold_1937.html |archive-date=September 26, 2021 |website=Oxford History}}</ref> in 1925 and its first students were installed in 1927. A row of poplars had to be removed in 1926 to construct the south-western end of the main quadrangle on the site of 119 and 119A Walton Street.<ref name="british-history.ac.uk"/>{{sfn |Manuel|2013 |p=35}} It was refurbished in 2014, with carpets replacing the bare wooden floorboards, and new furniture. Penrose is named after Dame [[Emily Penrose]], third Principal of the college. It contains mainly first-year accommodation in about 30 rooms.<ref name="blogs.some.ox.ac.uk"/>

===Darbishire===
[[File:Somerville College, Oxford UK.png|thumb|right|Darbishire Quad]]
Darbishire Quad was the culmination of a long-standing project to absorb Woodstock Road properties above the Oxford Oratory. In 1920, three houses (29, 31 and 33) were bought by the college from the vicar of [[St Giles' Church, Oxford]] for £1,300. The three had been constructed in 1859 and rented by the college before the purchase. The adjoining ''Waggon and Horses'' pub was purchased from St John's College in 1923. These buildings were demolished in 1932–1933 together with the old Gate House.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Morley Horder was commissioned to build a quadrangle that would fill the space left by the demolished structures, using a loan of £12,000 from [[Christ Church, Oxford|Christ Church]]. The porters' lodge and New Council Room were constructed at the entrance to the quad, which housed undergraduates and fellows.<ref name="british-history.ac.uk"/> The coat of arms of Somerville and of co-founder [[John Percival (bishop)|John Percival]], first Principal [[Madeleine Shaw-Lefevre]] and Helen Darbishire were carved by [https://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib2_1208276253/ Edmund Ware] inside the quadrangle. The archway leading to Hall was added in 1938.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Originally the East Quadrangle, it was opened in June 1934 by [[Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Lord Halifax]] as "a notable addition to buildings of varying styles" (''varii generis aedificiia additamentum nobile'') in the [[Creweian Oration]] during the [[Encaenia]]. Darbishire was renamed in 1962 in honour of the principal of the college during its construction, [[Helen Darbishire]].{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=26}}

Today Darbishire contains some 50 student rooms, along with tutors' offices, the college archive and a medical room.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The offices of the [[Global Ocean Commission]], co-chaired by [[José María Figueres]], [[Trevor Manuel]] and [[David Miliband]], were housed in Darbishire as part of a partnership with Somerville in 2012–2016, when the organisation completed its work.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Darbishire Quad is described on the opening page of ''[[Gaudy Night]]'' by alumna Dorothy L. Sayers. The clock was donated by alumna [[Eleanor Rathbone]].{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=28}}

===Chapel===
{{Main|Somerville College Chapel}}
[[File:Chapel and Vaughan, Somerville College, Oxford.jpg|thumb|right|[[Somerville College Chapel]] with Vaughan on the right]]
Built largely with funds provided by alumna [[Emily Georgiana Kemp]] in 1935, [[Somerville Chapel]] reflects the non-denominational principle on which the college was founded in 1879. No religious tests were used for admission and non-denominational Christian prayers were said in college.<ref>[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17432200.2017.1418478 A House of Prayer for all Peoples? The Unique Case of Somerville College Chapel, Oxford] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412183303/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17432200.2017.1418478 |date=12 April 2023}} 5 March 2018</ref>

Instead of a chaplain, there is a "Chapel Director", in keeping with its non-denominational tradition. The chapel provides opportunities for Christian worship in addition to hosting speakers with a multiple range of religious perspectives.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.some.ox.ac.uk/living-here/the-chapel/ |title=The Chapel |access-date=31 March 2020 |archive-date=13 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200413045839/https://www.some.ox.ac.uk/living-here/the-chapel/ |url-status=live}}</ref> It holds an excellent mixed-voice [[Choir of Somerville College, Oxford|Choir of Somerville College]], which tours and issues occasional recordings.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.somervillechoir.com/ |title=Home |website=The [[Choir of Somerville College, Oxford]] |access-date=8 June 2016 |archive-date=18 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218174403/http://www.somervillechoir.com/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Hostel and Holtby===
Hostel is a small block between House and Darbishire completed in 1950 by [[Geddes Hyslop]].{{sfn |Fair |2014 |p=357}} It houses 10 students on three floors. The Bursary is on the ground floor.<ref name="blogs.some.ox.ac.uk">{{Cite web |url=https://blogs.some.ox.ac.uk/mcr/freshers-guide-2/college-map/ |title=College Map |access-date=18 March 2021 |archive-date=25 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025131543/https://blogs.some.ox.ac.uk/mcr/freshers-guide-2/college-map/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Holtby, designed in 1951 and completed in 1956 by Hyslop,{{sfn |Fair |2014 |p=357}} lies above the library extension, adjacent to Park. It has ten rooms for undergraduates and is named after the alumna [[Winifred Holtby]].<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web |title=Somerville JCR – Welcome! |url=https://blogs.some.ox.ac.uk/jcr/ |website=Somerville JCR |access-date=6 September 2021 |archive-date=6 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906182728/https://blogs.some.ox.ac.uk/jcr/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Vaughan and Margery Fry & Elizabeth Nuffield House===
Designed by [[Sir Philip Dowson]] between 1958 and 1966, [[Janet Vaughan|Vaughan]] and [[Margery Fry]] & [[Elizabeth Nuffield]] House (commonly shortened to Margery Fry) are both named for former principals of the college, while Elizabeth Nuffield was an important proponent of women's education and along with her husband [[Lord Nuffield]], a financial benefactor of the college. Margery Fry was opened in 1964 by [[Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit]] and Vaughan in 1966. Constructed in the same architectural style, with an exterior concrete frame standing away from the walls of the interior edifice, the two buildings overlie a podium of shops and an arcaded walkway in Little Clarendon Street.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Vaughan is the larger of the two, with eleven rows to its concrete frame compared to eight.<ref name="manchesterhistory.net">{{Cite web |url=http://manchesterhistory.net/architecture/1960/somerville.html |title=Somerville College 1960s, Oxford, UK |website=manchesterhistory.net |access-date=15 September 2014 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402090747/http://manchesterhistory.net/architecture/1960/somerville.html |url-status=live}}</ref> It is Grade II-listed and contains some 60 undergraduate rooms, smaller than those of Margery Fry and used exclusively for first-year students, along with the junior deans.<ref name=thetab>{{Cite web |url=https://thetab.com/uk/oxford/2016/01/19/somerville-first-choice-25551 |last=Haberfield |first=Catrin |title=Somerville should have been your first choice |publisher=[[The Tab]] |year=2015 |access-date=1 September 2018 |archive-date=1 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180901215710/https://thetab.com/uk/oxford/2016/01/19/somerville-first-choice-25551 |url-status=live}}</ref> Vaughan was refurbished in 2013, with new bathroom facilities, including, for the first time, sinks. Beneath the two buildings, a tunnel provides access to Somerville from Little Clarendon Street.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Margery Fry serves as the centre of the postgraduate student community at Somerville, with 24 graduate rooms. Other accommodation for graduate students is provided in buildings adjacent to the college.<ref name="Accommodation">{{Cite web |title=Accommodation |url=https://www.some.ox.ac.uk/life-here/accommodation/ |access-date=8 August 2022 |website=Somerville College Oxford |date=16 June 2021 |language=en-GB |archive-date=2 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702141711/https://www.some.ox.ac.uk/life-here/accommodation/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Wolfson===
[[File:Wolfson Building, Somerville College, Oxford.jpg|thumb|right|Wolfson building]]
Sir Philip Dowson was commissioned to design a building at the back of the college to house undergraduates and offices for fellows and Wolfson. Like his other work in Somerville, it is constructed largely of glass and concrete; it is also Grade II listed.<ref name="manchesterhistory.net"/> A four-storey building with five bays on each floor, Wolfson has impressive views of Walton Street from the rear and Somerville's main quadrangle from the front.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Wolfson is named after the building's main benefactor, [[Sir Isaac Wolfson]], and was opened in 1967 by Principal [[Barbara Craig]], with [[Harold Macmillan]], Dorothy Hodgkin and Lord Wolfson giving speeches.{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=45}}

The ground floor contains the Flora Anderson Hall (FAH) and Brittain-Williams Room, named after Vera Brittain and [[Shirley Williams]], the college's most famous mother-daughter alumnae. The room was designed in 2012 by the architect [[Niall McLaughlin]] and opened on 29 November 2013 by Williams at an event that included her unveiling a portrait of herself, which now hangs in the room.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.some.ox.ac.uk/news/shirley-williams-opens-brittain-williams-room-at-somerville/ |title=Brittain-Williams Room |date=6 August 2015 |access-date=31 March 2020 |archive-date=13 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113211926/https://www.some.ox.ac.uk/news/shirley-williams-opens-brittain-williams-room-at-somerville/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The FAH is used for lectures and events, notably college parties (or bops) and mock exams, known as [[Collection (Oxford colleges)|Collections]].{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

===Margaret Thatcher Centre and Dorothy Hodgkin Quadrangle===
Named after the [[Margaret Thatcher|alumna-Prime Minister]], the MTC comprises a lecture room, ante room and lobby used for meetings, conferences and other internal college events. The lecture room has full AV facilities and for 60 seated patrons.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://conference-oxford.com/venues/conference/somerville-college |title=Somerville College – Conference Oxford |website=conference-oxford.com |access-date=15 September 2014 |archive-date=8 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108205249/http://conference-oxford.com/venues/conference/somerville-college |url-status=live}}</ref> A bust of Margaret Thatcher stands in the lobby and the meeting room has portraits of Somerville's two prime-minister alumnae: of Margaret Thatcher by [[Michael Noakes]] and Indira Gandhi by Sanjay Bhattacharyya.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Indira Gandhi (1917–1984) {{!}} Art UK |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/indira-gandhi-19171984-223418 |access-date=8 August 2022 |website=artuk.org |language=en |archive-date=18 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118080101/https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/indira-gandhi-19171984-223418 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Dorothy Hodgkin Quad (DHQ) was conceived in 1985, completed in 1991 and named after Somerville's Nobel Prize-winner.{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=47}}<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The quadrangle is above the MTC and designed around self-contained flats of two and four bedrooms with communal kitchens, housing mainly finalists and some second-year students.<ref name="Accommodation"/>

Architect Geoffrey Beard's scheme was submitted to [[Oxford City Council]] in 1986 and the energies of Sir [[Geoffrey Leigh]] and alumna and former principal Baroness [[Daphne Park]] brought support from around the world. The buildings were opened in 1991 by Margaret Thatcher, Dorothy Hodgkin, Principal [[Catherine Hughes (civil servant)|Catherine Hughes]] and College Visitor Baron [[Roy Jenkins]].{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=48}}

===St Paul's Nursery===
Somerville College was the first Oxford college to provide a [[nursery school|nursery]] for children of Fellows and staff and is still one of the few colleges to do so. Alumna Dorothy Hodgkin donated much of her Nobel Prize money to the project.{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=49}} St Paul's Nursery is also open to families unconnected with the college and cares for 16 children between the ages of three months and five years.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.some.ox.ac.uk/living-here/st-pauls-nursery/ |title=St Paul's Nursery |website=some.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 August 2018 |archive-date=30 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830174130/https://www.some.ox.ac.uk/living-here/st-pauls-nursery/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Radcliffe Observatory Quarter===
[[File:Somerville College, Oxford - ROQ.JPG|thumb|right|ROQ East from outside the college]]
ROQ East and West flank the north side of Somerville and overlook the site of the university's new [[Blavatnik School of Government]] and [[Mathematical Institute]]. Completed in 2011, they were the first new buildings in the university's [[Radcliffe Observatory Quarter]] and have won four awards for their architect Niall McLaughlin. The project was also awarded Oxford City Council's David Steel Sustainable Building Award, being commended for balancing Somerville's collegiate heritage with the need for energy efficiency. Energy-efficiency measures include renewable technologies such as solar thermal energy and ground source heat pumps.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.some.ox.ac.uk/news/roq-accommodation-wins-sustainable-building-award/ |title=ROQ awards |date=6 August 2015 |access-date=31 March 2020 |archive-date=13 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113184036/https://www.some.ox.ac.uk/news/roq-accommodation-wins-sustainable-building-award/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

The buildings house 68 students in en-suite rooms. There are several rooms and facilities designed to help those with disabilities, including lifts and adjoining carer rooms. The buildings were funded by donations of over £2.7&nbsp;million from over 1,000 alumni and friends of the college and by a significant loan.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> There is now an unimpeded view of the [[Radcliffe Observatory]].

===The Terrace===
The bar and café of the college, The Terrace, opened in 2013 (replacing the old bar in House) and is attached to the Vaughan building. It is housed in a mainly glass structure, with seating in the college colours of red and black. It has an open-air [[terrace (building)|terrace]] looking down on [[Little Clarendon Street]]. The Terrace has the usual pool table and bar facilities and serves the college drink, "Stone-cold Jane Austen", consisting of blue [[alcopop|VK]], [[Southern Comfort]], and [[Magners]] cider,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://cherwell.org/2007/06/01/drink-the-bar-dry-worcester-st-hughs-sommerville/ |title=Drink the bar dry: Worcester, St Hugh's, Sommerville |author=Cherwell |date=1 June 2007 |author-link=Cherwell (newspaper) |access-date=28 August 2018 |archive-date=29 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180829000717/http://cherwell.org/2007/06/01/drink-the-bar-dry-worcester-st-hughs-sommerville/ |url-status=live}}</ref> as well as the "College Triple" and the non-alcoholic "Somerville Sunset".

===Catherine Hughes Building===
Named after Somerville's late principal in 1989–1996, the [[Catherine Hughes (civil servant)|Catherine Hughes]] Building was completed in October 2019 and provides 68 additional bedrooms. Designed by [[Niall McLaughlin Architects]], it includes en suite bathrooms, kitchens and accessible rooms on every floor and a new communal study area for graduate students.<ref name=hughes/>

The red-brick building has a frontage onto Walton Street and additional access from the college gardens, aligning with key levels on the adjacent Penrose Building. The bedrooms are arranged in clusters with kitchens and circulation spaces forming social focal points.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

The building's construction has given Somerville sufficient accommodation to be one of three Oxford colleges which can allow all students applying from 2017 to live in college for the entirety of their three or four-year undergraduate degree courses.<ref name=Oxfordwebsite>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/colleges/college-listing/somerville-college?wssl=1 |title=Somerville College &#124; University of Oxford |website=ox.ac.uk |access-date=17 August 2018 |archive-date=17 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817161512/https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/colleges/college-listing/somerville-college?wssl=1 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=whychoose/>

===Gardens===
[[File:Park Lawn, Somerville College, Oxford.jpg|thumb|]]
Somerville is one of few Oxford colleges where students may walk on the grass. An unassuming frontage opens onto a vast green space looked after by two gardeners.<ref name="SU Green spaces">{{Cite web |url=http://apply.oxfordsu.org/colleges/compare/green-spaces/ |title=Green spaces |publisher=oxfordsu.org |access-date=12 December 2018 |archive-date=15 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215223516/http://apply.oxfordsu.org/colleges/compare/green-spaces/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=gardens>{{Cite web |url=https://www.some.ox.ac.uk/living-here/gardens/ |title=Gardens |website=Somerville College Oxford |date=3 March 2022 |access-date=30 August 2018 |archive-date=22 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822181703/http://www.some.ox.ac.uk/living-here/gardens/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The original site consisted of a paddock, an orchard and a vegetable garden and was bounded by large trees. It was home to a donkey, two cows, a pony and a pig.{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=11}} The paddock was soon transformed into tennis courts, where huge tents were erected during World War I. During World War II, large water tanks were dug in the Main Quad and in Darbishire Quad in case of firebombing, and the lawns dug up and planted with vegetables.{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=35}}

In the Main or Library Quad has a cedar planted by [[Harold Macmillan]] in 1976, after an earlier cedar fell victim to a winter storm. Another tree, a ''[[Picea likiangensis]]'' (var. ''rubescens''), was planted in 2007 on the chapel lawn, providing Somerville with an outdoor Christmas tree.{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=35}} The library border of lavender and ''[[Agapanthus]]'' references the [[bluestocking]] reputation of Somerville. The [[Conservative Party (UK)|tory]] blue ''[[Ceratostigma willmottianum]]'' stands outside the Margaret Thatcher Centre. The garden outside the Thatcher Centre, now dedicated to Lisa Minoprio, was originally designed by the former director of the [[University of Oxford Botanic Garden|Oxford Botanic Garden]] and Lecturer in Plant Sciences [[Timothy Walker (botanist)|Timothy Walker]], and retains yellow and blue as its theme colours.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

There are nods to Somerville's long-standing links with [[India]], the most notable being a large specimen of the Indian horse chestnut, ''[[Aesculus indica]]'', planted on the Library lawn in 2019. Features of interest include a narrow bed of low-growing Mediterranean plants in front of Wolfson in a modernist style, a varied selection of mature trees in the Library Quad, and large herbaceous borders containing emblematic Somerville thistles (''[[Echinops]]'').<ref name=gardens/>{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=36}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.some.ox.ac.uk/news/ever-green-robert-washington-celebrates-30-years-at-somerville/ |title=Ever Green – Robert Washington celebrates 30 years at Somerville |date=11 June 2014 |website=some.ox.ac.uk |access-date=30 August 2018 |archive-date=16 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916202139/http://www.some.ox.ac.uk/news/ever-green-robert-washington-celebrates-30-years-at-somerville/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

The annual summer and winter bedding plants in Darbishire Quad, the beds outside the SCR, and those in pots around site have traditionally been in the Victorian style, to reflect the era of inception of the college. However, this is evolving due to a change in garden management in late 2019, with aims of following more environmentally friendly growing principles and developing a more contemporary style. The western wall of Penrose and the northern wall of Vaughan form a secluded area, historically known as the Fellows' Garden (currently in a transitional phase). It is distinct from the main quad and separated from it by a hedge and a wall, and which were previously kitchen gardens. This walled garden is home to a sundial, commissioned in 1926 and commemorating first principal [[Madeleine Shaw-Lefevre]], and a garden roller gifted by the parents of tutor [[Rose Sidgwick]].{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=29}}{{sfn |Manuel |2013 |p=27}}

In 1962, [[Henry Moore]] lent his work ''Falling Warrior'' to the college and [[Barbara Hepworth]] lent ''Core'' shortly afterwards. There are also permanent sculptures by [[Wendy Taylor]], [[Friedrich Werthmann]] and [[Somervillian]] [[Polly Ionides]]. The most striking sculpture on site is Taylor's ''Triad'' (1971), situated on the Chapel Lawn in front of Maitland building.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Triad |url=http://www.wendytaylorsculpture.co.uk/work/triad/ |access-date=8 August 2022 |website=Wendy Taylor |language=en-GB |archive-date=8 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808013254/http://www.wendytaylorsculpture.co.uk/work/triad/ |url-status=live}}</ref>