31,280 discussions, 145 guides
Somerville College (Oxford University)
31,280 discussions, 145 guides
Somerville College (Oxford University)
Somerville College
Woodstock Road
Oxford
OX2 6HD
1879
Oxide Radio is Oxford University's newly established and limited licence, student-run station. Eclectic music programming, current affairs and comedy feature.
The Siren
Somerville's termly magazine with annually elected editorship for college news, features and often creative student contributions.
Maggie T
First female PM and minor thorn in the side of Somerville's now predominantly liberal student body.
Indira Gandhi
Keeping up with Maggie on the subcontinent.
Iris Murdoch
Major twentieth century novelist.
Esther Rantzen
Last seen on Celebrity Come Dancing. Enough said.
Little Clarendon St and Walton St directly outide Somerville provide a plethora of bars perhaps best suited to a salaried twenty-something, but perfect (loan-allowing) for delicious cocktails. Freuds, a popular bar and restaurant situated in a stunning neoclassical church is a great place for live music and tasty food and drinks. Raouls on Walton St has received numerous awards for its impressively creative efforts with alcohol.
The classic Oxford bop is the central college based social event. Occurring two or three times termly, Somerville bops are thematically based excuses for dancing to cheesy pop and drinking obscene amounts of cheap alcohol.
Formal Hall every tuesday supposedly presents a more civilised antidote to the ubiquitous bop, but needless to say cheap alcohol intervenes again...
A recently established annual arts week in May comprises drama, music, fashion and pretty much anything else that anyone with enough enthusiasm would like to create, produce or perform!
Every alternate year Somerville shares a summer ball with Jesus College. Recent themes have included the 'Orient Express' and the 1920s.
Somerville Music Society, run by the Noel Coward impersonating history tutor Benjamin Thompson, holds two to three classical concerts termly in the college chapel.
Ability and enthusiasm are equally well catered for in Somerville sporting societies. The women's rowing team often outclass their male counterparts with their succes in the yearly 'Summer Eights' race. However, the situation is reversed in terms of college football, but both male and female teams seem to enjoy the exercise (and accompanying alcoholism) of the football club's annual participation in the Dublin based 'Doxbridge' competition.
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General accommodation at Somerville is variable to say the least. DHQ, mainly home to third-year finalists, is a complex of flats with kitchens and bathrooms for two to four students. In marked contrast, the listed 1960s concrete gem that is the Vaughan building is much more basic with single rooms and fairly limited shared facilities. Park and Penrose are situated in the original nineteenth century buildings and although offering similarly limited facilities are both redeemed by a more pleasant and characterful appearance.
Somerville is situated on the Woodstock Road, immediately surrounded by the attractive shops and cafes of North Oxford, close to the independent Phoenix cinema and the Ashmolean Museum. The town centre, with a predictable range of high street stores is a ten minute walk down St Giles.
Little Clarendon St provides free, but limited parking, whereas Walton St has greater availability but charges for short-stay spaces throughout the week.
A branch of Barclays and two ATMS are situated on neighbouring Little Clarendon St, and another ATM can be found close to the Co-op supermarket on Walton St.
Branches of Blackwells, Waterstones and Borders in Oxford's town centre ensure that almost every book required for reading lists is generally available or can be ordered with ease.
Somerville has a basic gym, almost exclusively providing equipment useful to the college's rowing community. Membership is £20 a year. The college also owns a 20% share of Wadham College's sports ground which includes three tennis courts, one rugby pitch, one football pitch and two grass hockey pitches.
From Somerville, most locations within the city of Oxford are easily reached on foot or by bike. Buses and trains from Oxford are frequent and serve many destinations.
Somerville prides itself on its realtively liberal stance of allowing its students to not only walk, but also lie and even play games on its attractive main quad. It is invariably densely populated as soon as the sun appears.
Port Meadow, common land since the medieval period, and home to a variety of wildlife is a five minute walk away and provides a peaceful break from academic stresses.
The 160,000 volumes in Somerville's comfortable on-site library are available to students 24 hours a day. Should that prove desirable...
All student rooms are equipped with internet connections for personal computers. The Palmer Room also provides access to decent computers, scanners and printers although space can be limited shortly before tutorials recommence on monday mornings...
Somerville is a welcoming college, where each student is mentored by a personal tutor from the senior academic staff. Trained peer supporters and allocated college parents also provide sources of support from within the undergraduate community.
