Editing Brasenose College, Oxford

{{Short description|College of the University of Oxford}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2012}}
{{Infobox residential college
| name           = Brasenose College
| university     = [[University of Oxford]]
| photo          = Brasenose College Lodge (cropped).jpg
| caption        = The main gate of Brasenose College,<br />with the [[Radcliffe Camera]] behind
| scarf          = {{Scarf/University of Oxford |Brasenose}}
| full_name      = The Principal and Scholars of the King's Hall and College of Brasenose in Oxford
| named_after      = Bronze door knocker
| previous_names = Brazen Nose College
| latin_name     = Aula regia et collegium aenei nasi
| established    = {{start date and age|1509}}
| sister_college = [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]]
| principal      = [[John Bowers (lawyer)|John Bowers]]
| undergraduates = 375<ref name=tableau>{{cite web|title=Student statistics|publisher=University of Oxford|url=https://public.tableau.com/views/UniversityofOxford-StudentStatistics/CollegeBreakdown?%3Aembed=y&%3Adisplay_count=yes&%3AshowTabs=y&%3AshowVizHome=no#3|date=2021|access-date=19 April 2022}}</ref> (2021)
| graduates      = 235<ref name=tableau/> (2021)
| endowment =  £177.9&nbsp;million <small>(2021)</small><ref name="brasenose1718">{{cite web|url= https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/downloads/official_information/Brasenose_College_-_2021_Signed_Accounts_PUBLISHED.pdf |title=Brasenose College : Trustee Report and Accounts : For the year ended 31 July 2021|website=ox.ac.uk |page=12|access-date=27 November 2022}}</ref>
| location       = [[Radcliffe Square]], [[Oxford]] OX1 4AJ
| coordinates    = {{coord|51.753206|-1.254731|display=inline,title}}
| location_map   = Oxford (central)
| shield         = Brasenose College Oxford Coat Of Arms.svg
| blazon         = see [[#Coat of arms|below]]
| homepage       = {{URL|https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/|bnc.ox.ac.uk}}
| boat_club      = [[Brasenose College Boat Club]]
| visitor        = [[Stephen Conway]], [[Bishop of Lincoln]] ''[[ex officio]]''{{r|bnc-ox-statutes}}
|founders=The [[Bishop of Lincoln]], [[William Smyth]] and [[Richard Sutton (lawyer)|Sir Richard Sutton]]
}}

'''Brasenose College''' ('''BNC''')<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/official-information |title=Official Information |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website= |publisher=Brasenose College |access-date=1 March 2022 |quote=}}</ref> is one of the [[Colleges of the University of Oxford|constituent colleges]] of the [[University of Oxford]] in the [[United Kingdom]]. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mid-17th century and the new quadrangle in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

For 2020–21, Brasenose placed 4th in the [[Norrington Table]] (an unofficial measure of performance in undergraduate degree examinations).<ref>{{cite web |title=Undergraduate Degree Classifications |url=https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/facts-and-figures/undergraduate-degree-classifications |publisher=[[University of Oxford]]}}</ref> In a recent Oxford Barometer Survey, Brasenose's undergraduates registered 98% overall satisfaction.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/news/1780-applying-to-brasenose1|title=Applying to Brasenose this Autumn? – Brasenose College, Oxford|last=Organ|first=Joe|website=www.bnc.ox.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-05-10}}</ref> In recent years, around 80% of the UK undergraduate intake have been from state schools.<ref>{{cite web |title=Applying to Oxford? Read about our admissions statistics |url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/news/2364-applying-to-oxford-read-about-our-admissions-statistics |website=Brasenose College |access-date=26 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=A-Level Admissions: Brasenose College admits 9% more undergraduates than normal, 79% from state schools |url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/news/2294-a-level-admissions-brasenose-college-admits-9-more-undergraduates-than-normal-79-from-state-schools |website=Brasenose College |access-date=26 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Thinking of Applying to Brasenose? |url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/news/2252-thinking-of-applying-to-brasenose-2 |website=Brasenose College |access-date=26 March 2021}}</ref>

Brasenose is home to one of the oldest [[rowing (sport)|rowing]] clubs in the world, [[Brasenose College Boat Club]].

==History==
{{main|History of Brasenose College, Oxford}}

===Foundation===
[[File:The Brazen Nose knocker.jpg|thumb|left|The original door knocker, now hanging in the college's dining hall. (A copy is on a door in [[Stamford School]].)]]

The history of Brasenose College, Oxford stretches back to 1509, when the college was founded on the site of Brasenose Hall, a medieval [[Academic halls of the University of Oxford|academic hall]] whose name is first mentioned in 1279.<ref name="bncwebhistory">{{cite web | title=A concise history of Brasenose | url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/history/212-college-history/397-a-brief-history-of-brasenose | access-date=26 May 2021 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113161201/https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/history/212-college-history/397-a-brief-history-of-brasenose | archive-date=13 January 2021}}</ref> Its name is believed to derive from the name of a brass or bronze knocker that adorned the hall's door.<ref>{{cite web | title= The Oddest Name in Oxford | url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/history/212-college-history/396-the-oddest-name-in-oxford-7318115 | publisher=Brasenose College | access-date=6 October 2024}}</ref>

The college was associated with Lancashire and Cheshire, the county origins of its two founders – the [[Bishop of Lincoln]], [[William Smyth]] and [[Richard Sutton (lawyer)|Sir Richard Sutton]] – a link which was maintained strongly until the latter half of the twentieth century.<ref name="bncwebhistory"/><ref>Buchan (1898). pp.&nbsp;1–6.</ref><ref>Crook (2008). p.&nbsp;422.</ref> The first principals navigated Brasenose, with its Catholic sympathisers, through the [[Reformation]] and continuing religious reforms.<ref>Crook (2008) pp.&nbsp;27–29.</ref>

Most of Brasenose favoured the [[Cavalier|Royalist]] side during the [[English Civil War]], although it produced notable generals and clergy on both sides.<ref>Crook (2008). p. 50.</ref>

The library and chapel were completed in the mid-17th century, despite Brasenose suffering continuing financial problems.<ref>Crook (2008). pp.&nbsp;45–9.</ref><ref>Buchan (1898). p.&nbsp;81.</ref>
[[File:Brasenose College from Loggan's Oxonia Illustrata.jpg|left|thumb|An illustration of Brasenose in 1674]]

===Nineteenth century===
After 1785 the college prospered under Principal [[William Cleaver]].<ref>Buchan (1898). p.&nbsp;31.</ref> The college began to be populated by gentlemen, its income doubling between 1790 and 1810,<ref>Crook (2008). pp.&nbsp;162–163.</ref> and achieved considerable academic success.<ref>Buchan (1898). p.&nbsp;32.</ref> But the reconstruction of Brasenose was not completed until the end of the 19th century with the addition of New Quad between 1886 and 1911.<ref name="victoriahistory">{{cite book |editor1-last=Salter |editor1-first=H. E. |editor2-last=Lobel |editor2-first=Mary D. |year=1954 |series=A History of the County of Oxford |title=The University of Oxford |chapter=Brasenose College |volume=3 |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63882 |pages=207–219}}</ref> Brasenose's financial position remained secure, although under the tenure of Principal Edward Hartopp Cradock Brasenose's academic record waned greatly, with much of its success focused on sport, where it excelled most notably in cricket and rowing.<ref>Crook (2008). pp.&nbsp;248–249,&nbsp;260–261.</ref>

The mid-century Royal Commissions were navigated; although they were initially opposed, some recommendations were welcomed, including the election of fellows on merit rather than by their place of birth.<ref name="victoriahistory"/> The election of [[Charles Heberden]] as principal in 1889 led to a gradual improvement in Brasenose's academic fortunes, although its sporting performance suffered.<ref>Crook (2008). pp.&nbsp;307–309.</ref> As the first [[laity|lay]] principal, Heberden presided over an increasingly secular college, which opened up the library to undergraduates, instituted an entrance exam for the first time and accepted [[Rhodes scholar]]s.<ref>Crook (2008). pp.&nbsp;311–316.</ref>

===Early twentieth century===
Brasenose lost 115 men in the [[First World War]] (including a quarter of the 1913 year), with its undergraduate numbers greatly reduced.<ref>Crook (2008). pp.&nbsp;321–322.</ref>

[[Lord Curzon]]'s post-War reforms were successfully instituted. The inter-war period was defined by [[William Stallybrass]], who as fellow and eventual principal (until 1948) dominated college life.<ref>Crook (2008). pp.&nbsp;324–326.</ref> Brasenose once again produced top sportsmen – cricketers, rowers, and others.<ref>Crook (2008). pp.&nbsp;348–349.</ref> This came at the cost of falling academic standards and poorly performing finances, which would see Stallybrass' authority challenged. He died in a railway accident before he could be forced out, however.<ref>Crook (2008). pp.&nbsp;359–383.</ref>

After the war, sporting achievements waned (although there were notable exceptions) but academic success did not improve significantly, in what was now one of Oxford's largest colleges.<ref>Crook (2008). pp.&nbsp;396–402.</ref>

===Since 1970===
The 1970s saw considerable social change in Brasenose, with more post-graduate members and fewer domestic staff.<ref>Crook (2008). pp.&nbsp;403–405, 418–420.</ref> In 1974 Brasenose became one of the first men's colleges to admit women as full members, bringing an end to 470 years of the college as a men-only institution. The other previously all-male colleges to begin admitting women in 1974 were [[Jesus College, Oxford|Jesus College]], [[Hertford College, Oxford|Hertford]], [[St Catherine's College, Oxford|St Catherine's]], and [[Wadham College, Oxford|Wadham]].<ref name="Women_at_Oxford">{{cite web |url=http://www.ox.ac.uk/about/oxford-people/women-at-oxford |title=Women at Oxford |publisher=[[University of Oxford]] |access-date=12 June 2016}}</ref> The College's first female Governing Body Fellow, lawyer Mary Stokes, was elected in May 1981 and took up her Fellowship in October 1982.

There was also considerable construction work to ensure that undergraduates could be housed for the entirety of their degree on the main site and on the Frewin site;<ref>Crook (2008). pp.&nbsp;403–405.</ref> this objective was finally achieved in 1997 with the opening of the St Cross annexe and Frewin extension.<ref name="crook430">Crook (2008). p.&nbsp;430.</ref> Brasenose's finances were secured, and it thus entered the twenty-first century in a good position as regards financial, extracurricular and academic success.<ref>Crook (2008). pp.&nbsp;400–402,&nbsp;430–432.</ref>

As of 2022 the college admits undergraduates for most major courses in 17 subject groups across science, humanities, social science and arts.<ref>{{cite web |title=Undergraduate Courses |url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/prospective-students/undergraduate-admissions/undergraduate-courses |website=Brasenose |access-date=27 April 2022}}</ref>

==Location and buildings==
[[File:Brasenose College from St Marys.jpg|thumb|Brasenose College, seen from [[University Church of St Mary the Virgin|St Mary's]]. The entrance to [[Brasenose Lane]] is just right of the photo's center.]]
[[File:Brasenose College from the High Street.jpg|thumb|Brasenose College on the [[High Street, Oxford|High Street]], with [[University Church of St Mary the Virgin|St Mary's]] behind it.]]
[[File:The western building of Brasenose College from St Marys.jpg|thumb|left|The High Street (south) end courtyard of Brasenose College, as seen from [[University Church of St Mary the Virgin|St Mary's]] (to the east), looking towards [[All Saints Church, Oxford|All Saints]].]]

Brasenose faces the west side of [[Radcliffe Square]] opposite the [[Radcliffe Camera]] in the centre of Oxford. The north side is defined by [[Brasenose Lane]], while the south side reaches the [[High Street, Oxford|High Street]]. To the west is [[Lincoln College, Oxford|Lincoln College]]. At its south-east end, the college is separated from the [[University Church of St Mary the Virgin|University Church]] by St Mary's Passage. The main entrance of the college can be found on Radcliffe Square. Although not located on [[Turl Street]] the college has informal links{{clarify|date=April 2025}} with the three [[Turl Street]] colleges ([[Lincoln College, Oxford|Lincoln]], [[Jesus College, Oxford|Jesus]], and [[Exeter College, Oxford|Exeter]]). The college is also physically linked to Lincoln College through a connecting door, through which Brasenose College members are permitted to enter Lincoln College on [[Feast of the Ascension|Ascension Day]] each year. The door is opened for five minutes and it is the only time during the year that this door is unlocked. Brasenose members are then served an ale by Lincoln College, which is traditionally flavoured with ground ivy.<ref name=lincolndoor>{{cite web | title=Ascension Day festivities | url=http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/288/about-brasenose-31/news-152/ascension-day-festivities-816.html | access-date=18 August 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609065208/http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/288/about-brasenose-31/news-152/ascension-day-festivities-816.html | archive-date=9 June 2011}}</ref>

The main college site comprises three [[Quadrangle (architecture)|quads]], the original Old Quad, a small quad known as the Deer Park, and the large New Quad, as well as collection of smaller houses facing Radcliffe Square and the High Street.<ref name=bncwebbuildings>{{cite web | title=A History of Brasenose: The Buildings | url=http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/345/brasenose-college-archives-and-history-38/college-buildings-217.html | access-date=18 August 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120619202303/http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/345/brasenose-college-archives-and-history-38/college-buildings-217.html | archive-date=19 June 2012}}</ref> The original college buildings comprised a single two-storey quad, incorporating the original kitchen of Brasenose Hall on the south side. In the 17th century a third floor was added to the quad to form the current Old Quad. A separate chapel was also built to the south, connected to the quad by a library built over a [[cloister]] as shown in a 1670 print, thus enclosing the Deer Park. The cloister was for a time the college burial ground, and evidence suggests there were at least 59 people buried there, with the last recorded burial being in 1754. The cloister was filled in to make two or three chambers in around 1807, used as student bedrooms or administrative offices until 1971, when the space was converted into the graduate common room.<ref name="Deer Park">{{cite web |url=http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/345/brasenose-college-archives-and-history-38/college-buildings-217/deer-park-403.html |title=Deer Park |access-date=30 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130329175405/http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/345/brasenose-college-archives-and-history-38/college-buildings-217/deer-park-403.html |archive-date=29 March 2013}}</ref> More recently the graduate common room moved to the Old Quad, and the space, still known as the "Old Cloisters" has been used as a library overspill area, a teaching room and, in 2010–11, as the temporary Senior Common Room. In January 2015, archaeological investigations began as a prelude to a major building project that will restore the stone work and integrate the lower and upper reading rooms, greatly enhancing the college's library provision. The nickname for the Chapel Quad is often thought to be a friendly jibe at [[Magdalen College, Oxford|Magdalen College]] which has a genuine deer park known as The Grove.<ref name="Deer Park"/>

===Dining hall===
In the 16th century the dining hall was heated by an open fire in the centre of the room, supplemented by movable braziers. In the 1680s the hall was renovated, with a raised floor to accommodate a wine cellar below and a reconstructed roof. Another renovation phase in the mid-18th century included a new chimneypiece, a new ceiling to cover the original timber beams and two gilded [[chandelier]]s. The original brazen nose was placed above high table in 1890.<ref name="JMCBook">Crook (2008).</ref>

===Chapel and library===
{{main|Chapel of Brasenose College, Oxford}}
[[File:Photograph of New Quad, Brasenose College, Oxford in 1900.jpg|thumb|New Quad photographed by [[Henry Taunt]] in 1909 with the chapel at left.]]
Building began on the [[Chapel of Brasenose College, Oxford|current chapel]] in 1656, and it replaced an old chapel which was located in a space now occupied by the Senior Common Room. An inscription commemorates this above the door to Staircase IV. Building materials were taken from a disused chapel at the site of [[St Mary's College, Oxford|St Mary's College]] (now Frewin Hall), transported piece by piece by horse-and-cart to Brasenose College. The chapel, a mix of [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] and [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] styles, features a hanging fan vault ceiling of wood and plaster, and was consecrated in 1666.<ref name="JMCBook"/> The internal fittings are largely 18th and 19th century, and include chandeliers presented to the college in 1749. These were donated to a parish church and later converted to gas but then returned to Brasenose when the church switched to electric lights. The chandeliers were then converted back to their original state so that candles could be used in them once again.<ref name="BNC500booklet">Brasenose College 1509–2009: pamphlet viewed September 2010</ref>

Various alterations were made to the Chapel after completion. Although repairs were undertaken in the meantime, the interior of the Chapel was renovated (having fallen into a poor state) in 1819, and the exterior beginning in 1841. In 1892–3 a new organ was purchased and fitted, paid for by the then Principal [[Charles Buller Heberden]]; the current organ was installed in 1973, and rebuilt in 2001–2.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/current-students/college-life/chapel/the-organ|title=The Organ – Brasenose College, Oxford|website=www.bnc.ox.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2022-12-15}}</ref>

The current library was begun in 1658 and received its first books in 1664. It replaced a smaller library on Staircase IV, which is now used as a meeting room. The books in the current library were fixed by chains, which were only removed in the 1780s, over a hundred years later.<ref name="JMCBook"/>

In May 2018 author [[Philip Pullman]] opened the extensively renovated Greenland Library following a £4 million project to provide a better working space for students (architects - Lee/Fitzgerald). The library works were funded by three college alumni, Duncan Greenland, James Del Favero and Gerald Smith. Two reading rooms are named in honour of Del Favero and Smith respectively with the overall library taking Greenland's name<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/news/1939-greenland-library|title=The Grand Opening of the Greenland Library: Saturday 5th May 2018 – Brasenose College, Oxford|website=www.bnc.ox.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-05-10}}</ref> The renovations won an RIBA regional RIBA Conservation award in 2019.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.architecture.com/awards-and-competitions-landing-page/awards/riba-regional-awards/riba-south-award-winners/2019/greenland-library |title=Greenland Library by Lee/Fitzgerald Architects |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website= |publisher=[[Royal Institute of British Architects]] |access-date=26 July 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

===New Quad===
[[File:Mediaeval Kitchen at Brasenose College.jpg|thumb|The modernised Medieval Kitchen which was renovated in 2010–12, along with other changes to dining and some living rooms, in a series of building work known as "Project Q"<ref name="newdiningfacilities">{{cite book |url= http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/downloads/brazen_notes/the_brazen_nose_2010.pdf |title=The Brazen Nose 2012|publisher=Brasenose College |page=173 |access-date=11 July 2012}}</ref>]]

New Quad was designed by [[Thomas Graham Jackson|TG Jackson]] and finished in 1911, replacing a number of existing buildings. The current site was completed in 1961 with new buildings, used largely for first year undergraduate accommodation, designed by the architects [[Philip Powell (architect)|Powell]] and [[Hidalgo Moya|Moya]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sherwood |first1=Jennifer |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |date=1974 |title=Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) |publisher=Yale University Press |page= |isbn=}}</ref>

In 2010 a project was begun to renovate the kitchens, servery, dining hall and some other areas of college. The project included the installation of under floor heating and a new timber floor in the dining hall, new kitchen equipment, a new servery area, additional dining and meeting places, and disabled access to the dining hall.<ref name="newbuildingproject">Brasenose College Building Project Explained: Flyer viewed August 2010</ref> During the project, the Old Quad housed a temporary dining hall and kitchen, while the New Quad was used to store building materials.<ref name="newdiningfacilities"/>

The dining hall refurbishment was completed by September 2010, whilst the remaining work was completed around Easter 2012. The new catering facilities were unveiled during a ceremony on 14 March 2012. During the ceremony, college members gathered in a restored 15th century building in the heart of college, originally the college kitchens and most recently used as the servery. This room, to be known as the Mediaeval Kitchen, will be used as a new dining space in addition to the main dining hall, which will remain the usual location for student meals. The temporary kitchen and builder's yard were removed and the Quads restored to their normal state during the Easter 2012 vacation.<ref name="cateringfacilitiesunveiled">[http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/288/about-brasenose-31/news-152/new-catering-facilities-unveiled-969.html New Catering Facilities Unveiled] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031141210/http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/288/about-brasenose-31/news-152/new-catering-facilities-unveiled-969.html |date=31 October 2012 }}: Retrieved 2012-04-13</ref>

In recent years the Junior Common Room (JCR) and Bar have also been renovated.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

[[File:Brasenose Frewin Annexe.jpg|thumb|The entrance to the undergraduate Frewin Annexe.]]

===Annexes===
The college has a large undergraduate annexe situated on [[St Michael's Street, Oxford|St Michael's Street]], developed from [[St Mary's College, Oxford|Frewin Hall]] in the 1940s. Frewin Hall had previously housed a number of tenants from outside the college, including [[Edward VII|King Edward VII]].<ref>{{cite web |title=College buildings, Brasenose College |url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/history/217-college-buildings |access-date=15 December 2022}}</ref>

Second, Third and Fourth year undergraduates typically choose to live in bedrooms at Frewin.<ref>{{cite web |title=Brasenose Undergraduate Prospectus |url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/downloads/prospectus/Brasenose_FP_2019_Digital_reduced.pdf |website=Brasenose College |access-date=20 April 2022}}</ref> A recent building project at Frewin, aimed to increase the undergraduate bedroom provision and improve facilities, has unearthed some significant archeological finds including a 4,000-year-old prehistoric burial mound,<ref>{{cite news |title=Oxford University excavations: Prehistoric burial mound found under college |work=BBC News |date=24 February 2022 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-60509311 |access-date=20 April 2022}}</ref> a limestone wall foundation, butchered animal bones, decorated floor tiles, a stone flagon, a bone comb and a medieval long cross silver penny<ref>{{cite news |title=Oxford University 'lost' college discovered during excavations |work=BBC News |date=February 2022 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-60214083 |access-date=20 April 2022}}</ref>

There is also a graduate annexe shared with [[St Cross College, Oxford|St Cross College]], which was completed in 1995. The St Cross annexe is laid out in clusters of five bed-sitting rooms, sharing two shower rooms and a kitchen. A second graduate annexe, Hollybush Row, was opened in September 2008 and is located close to the railway station and [[Said Business School]]. It consists of single rooms with en-suite bathrooms and shared kitchens.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate-admissions/1112-facilities |title=Facilities |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=Graduate Admissions |publisher=Brasenose College, Oxford |access-date=20 April 2022 |quote=}}</ref>

==Traditions==

===Coat of arms===
[[File:Brasenose College Oxford Coat Of Arms.svg|thumb|upright|The coat of arms of Brasenose College]]
Brasenose College's [[coat of arms]] is quite complex, since it incorporates the personal arms of the founders and the arms of the [[Diocese of Lincoln|See of Lincoln]].
<ref name=bncwebarms>{{cite web |title=A History of Brasenose: The College Coat of Arms |url= http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/345/brasenose-college-archives-and-history-38/college-history-212/the-college-coat-of-arms-395.html |access-date=18 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110201034101/http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/345/brasenose-college-archives-and-history-38/college-history-212/the-college-coat-of-arms-395.html |archive-date=1 February 2011}}</ref>

Its [[blazon]] (description in formal [[heraldry|heraldic]] terms) is: ''Tierced in pale: (1) Argent, a chevron sable between three roses gules seeded or, barbed vert (for Smyth); (2) or, an escutcheon of the arms of the [[Diocese of Lincoln|See of Lincoln]] (gules, two [[Lion (heraldry)|lions of Englan]]d in pale or, on a chief azure Our Lady crowned seated on a tombstone issuant from the chief, in her dexter arm the Infant Jesus, in her sinister arm a sceptre, all or) ensigned with a mitre proper; (3) quarterly, first and fourth argent, a chevron between three bugle-horns stringed sable; second and third argent, a chevron between three crosses crosslet sable (for Sutton)''.
<ref>''Oxford University Calendar 2001–2002'' (2001) p.217. [[Oxford University Press]] {{ISBN|0-19-951872-6}}.</ref>

A simpler form has occasionally been used where the central tierce contains the arms of the See of Lincoln, rather than displaying them on a mitred escutcheon.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Brasenose College {{!}} Le College du Nez de Bronze|url=https://www.sandersofoxford.com/shop/product/le-college-du-nez-de-bronze-1/|access-date=2021-04-19|website=Sanders of Oxford|language=en}}</ref> Because of the complexity of the arms they are not suitable for use on items such as the college crested tie, where the brazen nose is used instead.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Brasenose College Tie – Silk : University of Oxford Shop|url=https://www.oushop.com/brasenose-college-tie-silk|access-date=2021-04-19|website=www.oushop.com|language=EN}}</ref>

===College prayer===
The college prayer is read by the principal or a fellow at evensong on Sundays during term and at [[gaudy|gaudies]].<ref name="OofS">''Order of Service for use at the College Gaudy'', The King's Hall and College of Brasenose.</ref>

Individual benefactors are commemorated in an annual pattern, with the founders being commemorated (as shown above) on the first Sunday of [[Michaelmas term|Michaelmas Term]], and at all gaudies.<ref name="OofS"/>

===Graces===
The following preprandial [[Grace (prayer)|grace]] is read by the Bible Clerk at [[Formal Hall]]:<ref name="graces">{{cite book |last=Adams |first=Reginald |title=The College Graces of Oxford and Cambridge |publisher=Perpetua Press |year=1992 |place=Oxford |pages=54–55 |isbn=1-870882-06-7}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
! Latin !! English
|-
|{{blockquote|{{lang|LA|Oculi omnium spectant in te, Deus! Tu das illis escas tempore opportuno. Aperis manum tuam et imples omne animal tua benedictione. Mensae caelestis nos participes facias, Deus, Rex aeternae gloriae.}}}}
|{{blockquote|The eyes of all look to thee, O God! Thou givest them meats in due season. Thou openest Thy hand and fillest every living thing with thy blessing. Make us participants at the heavenly banquet, O God, King of eternal glory.}}
|}

The grace after dinner is only read on special occasions, and the list of benefactors included in this grace is quite variable.
{| class="wikitable"
! Latin !! English
|-
|{{blockquote|{{lang|LA|Qui nos creavit, redemit et pavit, sit benedictus in aeternum. Deus, exaudi orationem nostram. Agimus Tibi gratias, Pater caelestis, pro Gulielmo Smyth episcopo et Ricardo Sutton milite, Fundatoribus nostris; pro Alexandro Nowel, Jocosa Frankland, Gulielmo Hulme, Elizabetha Morley, Mauritio Platnauer, aliisque benefactoribus nostris; humiliter te precantes ut eorum numerum benignissime adaugeas. Ecclesiam Catholicam, et populum Christianum custodi. Haereses et errores omnes extirpa. Carolum Regem nostrum et subditos eius defende. Pacem da et conserva, per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.}}}}
|{{blockquote|May he who hath created, redeemed and provided for us be blessed for ever. Hear our prayer, Lord. We give thee thanks, heavenly Father, for [[William Smyth]], Bishop, and [[Richard Sutton (lawyer)|Richard Sutton]], Knight, our Founders; for [[Alexander Nowell]], [[Joyce Frankland]], [[William Hulme]], Elizabeth Morley, [[Maurice Platnauer]] and for our other benefactors, humbly beseeching thee that thou wilt add to their number in goodness.
Safeguard the Catholic Church and all Christian people. Root out all heretical waverings. Defend [[Charles III|Charles our King]] and his subjects. Grant peace and preserve it, through Christ our Lord. Amen.}}
|}

==Student life==
The JCR plays a central part in the life of the undergraduate community. Offering social, recreational and welfare support to the students, the elected committee addresses many aspects of student life and liaises with the governing body and graduate student representatives.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Unlike most Oxford colleges, the graduate common room is known as the Hulme Common Room (HCR), named after a past benefactor, rather than the Middle Common Room (MCR).<ref name="HCR">[http://hcr.bnc.ox.ac.uk/index.php/the-constitution "Hulme Common Room constitution"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100810164659/http://hcr.bnc.ox.ac.uk/index.php/the-constitution |date=10 August 2010 }}. Retrieved 2010-08-20.</ref>

The college also organises an annual summer arts festival, one of the largest in the university. First staged in 1994, it features plays, [[pantomimes]], comedy evenings, musical performances, and a keenly-contested bake-off. In 2016, the college held its 22nd summer arts festival, which featured six days of open-air plays, music concerts, a stage combat workshop, an outdoor film night, a poetry brunch as well as an outdoor summer bar, all organised by Brasenose students.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/news/1548-arts-week-2016-launched|title=Arts Week 2016 Launched – Brasenose College, Oxford|last=Wall|first=Chloe|website=Brasenose College, Oxford |access-date=2018-05-10}}</ref> In 2015 Brasenose also celebrated the 40th anniversary of the admission of women into the college through an exhibition, which modelled the portraits in the Dining Hall, by filling the JCR with a series of portraits of female alumnae "40 Years of Brasenose Women".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/news/1381-40-years-of-brasenose-women |title=40 Years of Brasenose Women |last=De Fraja |first=Margherita |website=Brasenose College, Oxford |access-date=2015-10-28}}</ref> In 2017 the undergraduates held their first "Frewchella" festival, named after the [[Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival]] in California and the college's Frewin Annexe, featuring food, music and a bouncy castle.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/news/1809-student-blog-brasenose-does-coachella|title=Student Blog: Brasenose does Coachella – Brasenose College, Oxford|last=Hughes|first=Sarah|website=Brasenose College, Oxford |access-date=2018-05-10}}</ref> In 2018 special events included Chinese New Year,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/news/1907-student-blog-chinese-new-year|title=Student Blog: Chinese New Year – Brasenose College, Oxford|last=Carter|first=Natalie|website=Brasenose College, Oxford |access-date=2018-05-10}}</ref> a St David's Day dinner<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/news/1923-student-blog-dydd-gwyl-dewi-hapus-o-brasenose|title=Student Blog: Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus o Brasenose! – Brasenose College, Oxford|last=Cakebread|first=Miriam|website=Brasenose College, Oxford |access-date=2018-05-10}}</ref> and an Egg Hunt.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/news/1934-student-blog-egg-hunt|title=Student Blog: Egg-hunt! – Brasenose College, Oxford|last=Binukrishnan|first=Manish|website=Brasenose College, Oxford |access-date=2018-05-10}}</ref>

===Music===
The college has a director of music, who directs the chapel choir with the assistance of up to three organ scholars.<ref name="Music scholarships">{{cite web|url=http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/current-students/college-life/music-at-bnc/scholarships|title=Music at BNC: Scholarships|access-date=9 March 2015}}</ref> The director of music also facilitates a range of concerts, which usually happen on a weekly basis. These include the professional Platnauer Concerts, held in memory of Maurice Platnauer, Principal of Brasenose (1956–1960).<ref name="Platnauer Concerts">{{cite web|url=http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/current-students/college-life/music-at-bnc/platnauer-concerts|title= Platnauer Concerts|access-date=9 March 2015}}</ref> Other concerts are designed to highlight talented soloists or groups of performers in college. The college awards up to four music scholarships at any one time through auditions in the year prior to entry or at the beginning of the academic year.<ref name="Music scholarships" />

Brasenose College has a non-auditioned choir, although up to eight choral scholarships are offered to members of Brasenose, again, through auditions in the year prior to entry or at the beginning of the academic year. Up to four choral exhibitions may also be given<ref name="Music scholarships" /> to members of Brasenose and other colleges. The choir sings Evensong every Sunday, and also sings for various special services and events, including two carol services, the annual joint service with Lincoln College and other occasions. Recently there has been the inauguration of a biennial Alumni and Music Reunion Dinner, with a Festal Evensong for all attendees preceding this. The choir regularly goes on tour, for instance to Paris in 2006, Lombardy in 2009, Rome in 2010 and Belgium in 2013, and sings at cathedrals near Oxford during term-time.<ref name="Choir at BNC">{{cite web|url=http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/current-students/college-life/music-at-bnc/choir|title=Music at BNC: Choir|access-date=9 March 2015}}</ref>

In 2010 and 2011 the college ran the Wondrous Machine event, where local primary school children were invited to Brasenose for interactive sessions to learn about the pipe organ and the science behind the musical instrument.<ref name="Wondrous Machine">{{cite web|url=http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/about-brasenose/news/878-wondrous-machine-2011|title=Wondrous Machine 2011 |access-date=10 March 2015}}</ref>
[[File:BNCBC rowing jersey 1840s.jpg|thumb|150px|An 1840s depiction of Brasenose college's rowing outfit]]

===Sport===

Brasenose students participate in a wide range of sports including football, netball, hockey, lacrosse, basketball, badminton, squash, pool, rugby, darts, boxing, dancesport and more. Student play at all levels and participation is completely optional and forms no part of the admissions process.<ref>{{cite web |title=Brasnose Sport |url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/current-students/college-life/sport |website=Brasenose |access-date=27 April 2022}}</ref>

[[Brasenose College Boat Club]] (commonly abbreviated to BNCBC) is the [[rowing (sport)|rowing]] club of the college and is believed to be one of the oldest boat clubs in the world. The date of formation of the club is impossible to verify: a boat from the college took part in the earliest recorded race between rowing clubs anywhere in the world. This was a [[Bumps race|head race]] in Oxford in 1815, beating [[Jesus College Boat Club (Oxford)|Jesus College Boat Club]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Sherwood |first=WE |title=Oxford Rowing: A History of Boat-Racing at Oxford from the Earliest Times |year=1900 |publisher=Henry Frowde |place=Oxford and London |page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordrowinghist00sheruoft/page/8 8] |url= https://archive.org/details/oxfordrowinghist00sheruoft}}</ref> A number of college members have rowed for the university against [[Cambridge University]] in the [[Boat Race]] and the [[Henley Boat Races|Women's Boat Race]]. Notably, [[Walter Bradford Woodgate|Walter Woodgate]], a Boat Race winner, eleven-time [[Henley Royal Regatta|Henley]] champion and inventor of the [[coxless four]], [[John Cherry (rower)|John (Con) Cherry]] who represented [[Great Britain at the 1936 Summer Olympics]] in [[Berlin]] and [[Andrew Lindsay]] who won a gold medal in rowing at the [[2000 Summer Olympics]], and participated in the Boat Race in 1998 and 1999.

The college [[boathouse]], which is shared with [[Exeter College Boat Club]], is in [[Christ Church Meadow, Oxford|Christ Church Meadow]], on the Isis (as the [[River Thames]] is called in Oxford). It replaced a moored barge used by club-member and spectators.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}} Brasenose College Rugby Football Club (abbreviated to BNCRFC) can draw association with [[William Webb Ellis]], who is often credited as the inventor of the game and studied at Brasenose.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

==People associated with the college==
[[File:Cropped-CMEC 1 009.jpg|upright|thumb|[[David Cameron]], former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]]
[[File:Michael Palin.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Michael Palin]], actor and comedian]]
{{Main|List of people associated with Brasenose College, Oxford}}
{{See also|:Category:Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford|:Category:Fellows of Brasenose College, Oxford}}

Notable former students of the college have included [[politics|politicians]], [[scientist]]s, [[literature|writers]], [[entertainment|entertainers]] and [[academia|academics]].

Among the best known living Brasenose alumni are former [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[David Cameron]], former [[Prime Minister of Australia]] [[Malcolm Turnbull]], actor/comedian [[Mark Williams (actor)|Mark Williams]], actor/comedian [[Michael Palin]], and [[Jessie Burton]], author of ''[[The Miniaturist]]'', as well as [[Duncan Campbell (journalist, born 1952)|Duncan Campbell]], journalist and co-founder of the charity [[Stonewall (charity)|Stonewall]], [[Dominic Barton]], former managing director of [[McKinsey & Company|McKinsey]] and the Canadian ambassador to China, author [[David Langford]], [[J. Michael Kosterlitz]], Nobel laureate in Physics in 2016, [[Kate Allen (Amnesty International)|Kate Allen]] director of [[Amnesty International]] UK, and [[George Monbiot]], environmental and political activist.

Earlier alumni include [[Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth|Henry Addington]], Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, [[Elias Ashmole]], founder of the [[Ashmolean Museum]], [[John Buchan]], author of ''[[The Thirty-Nine Steps]]'', [[John Clavell]], highwayman and author, [[Colin Cowdrey]], English Test batsman, [[William Webb Ellis]], often credited with the invention of [[Rugby football]], [[John Foxe]], author of ''Actes and Monuments'' popularly abridged as ''[[Foxe's Book of Martyrs]]'', [[William Golding]], winner of the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]], [[John Gorton]], Prime Minister of Australia, [[William Robert Grove]], pioneer of [[fuel cell]]s, [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig]], soldier, [[Robert Runcie]], Archbishop of Canterbury, [[Bruce Kent]], active in the [[Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]], and [[Thomas Traherne]], poet and theologian.

<!-- ==Fictional Brasenose== --------- [[WP:TRIVIA]], if this can be written into the main content it should be ----------------
* Brasenose College is featured as [[List of fictional Oxford colleges|Lonsdale College]] in the ''[[Inspector Morse]]'' novels and television adaptations. It appears both as [[List of fictional Oxford colleges|Brazenface College]] and under its own name in [[Cuthbert Bede]]'s 19th century comic novel ''[[Verdant Green, an Oxford Freshman]]''.
* Parts of the novel ''[[Doomsday Book (novel)|Doomsday Book]]'' by [[Connie Willis]] take place in a not-too-distant Brasenose College.
* In ''[[The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch]]'' by [[Terry Pratchett]] a reference is made to "those bastards over at Braseneck College", probably a parody of Brasenose.
* [[Thomas Love Peacock]] in his novel ''Crotchet Castle'' (1831) has one of his characters say: 'the Friar is gone, and his learning with him. Nothing of him is left but the immortal nose, which, when his brazen head had tumbled to pieces, crying "Time's Past," was the only palpable fragment among its minutely pulverised atoms, and which is still resplendent over the portals of its cognominal college. That nose, sir, is the only thing to which I shall take off my hat, in all this Babylon of buried literature.'
* Brasenose is mentioned in the Renaissance play [[Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay]] by [[Robert Greene (dramatist)]].
* Brasenose is also mentioned in Chapter 5 of [[Evelyn Waugh]]'s [[Brideshead Revisited]], where the "pub-crawlies hearties from BNC" were noted as frequenting the Turf tavern.
* Brasenose is mentioned several times in [[Middlemarch]] by [[George Eliot]]. The character Mr Casaubon is fearful about how the 'leading minds of Brasenose' will react to his (never completed) 'Key to all Mythologies'. -->

==See also==
{{portal|University of Oxford}}
* [[Brasenose College Boat Club]]
* [[Brasenose Lane]]
* [[Camden Professor of Ancient History]]
* [[Radcliffe Square]]
* [[University of Stamford]]

==References==
<references>
{{r|n=bnc-ox-statutes|r=
{{cite web
| author=Brasenose College, Oxford
| title=Statutes of the King's Hall and College of Brasenose in Oxford
| date=December 1999
| language=en-GB

| url=https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/downloads/freedominfo/statutes.pdf
| url-status=live
| access-date=2022-10-20

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020021939/https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/downloads/freedominfo/statutes.pdf
| archive-date=2022-10-20
}}
}}
</references>

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book |last=Buchan |first=John |author-link=John Buchan |year=1898 |title=Brasenose |url=https://archive.org/details/brasenosecolleg00buchgoog |series=Oxford University College Histories |publisher=FE Robinson |oclc=4556215}}
* {{cite book |last=Crook |first=J Mordaunt |author-link=J. Mordaunt Crook |year=2008 |title=Brasenose: The Biography of an Oxford College |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0199544868}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Brasenose College, Oxford}}
* [https://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk/ Official website]
* [http://hcr.bnc.ox.ac.uk/ Official HCR website]
* [http://jcr.bnc.ox.ac.uk/ JCR website]
* [http://www.chem.ox.ac.uk/oxfordtour/brasenosecollege Virtual tour of Brasenose College] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111115231657/http://www.chem.ox.ac.uk/oxfordtour/brasenosecollege/ |date=15 November 2011 }}

{{University of Oxford}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Brasenose College, Oxford| ]]
[[Category:1509 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Colleges of the University of Oxford]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in the 1500s]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Oxford]]
[[Category:Grade I listed educational buildings]]
[[Category:Organisations based in Oxford with royal patronage]]
[[Category:Hulme Trust]]