Permanent private hall

A permanent private hall (PPH) in the University of Oxford is an educational institution within the university. There are four permanent private halls at Oxford, three of which admit undergraduates.^[1] They were founded by different Christian denominations. PPHs principally differ from colleges in the sense that the latter are governed by the fellows of the college, whereas the governance of a PPH fully or partially rests with the corresponding Christian denomination.

Students at PPHs are members of the University of Oxford and have full access to the university's facilities and activities.

Overview

Regent's Park College is the largest PPH, and admits men and women of any age. Blackfriars Hall, and Wycliffe Hall were all male-only institutions historically, but both are now co-educational, training ordinands for their respective denominations, and also admitting students for a range of other courses of study. Campion Hall admits graduate students in Humanities and Social Science subjects, and occasionally in other disciplines.

History

Private halls

Main article: Private halls of the University of Oxford

The Oxford University Act 1854 and the university statute De aulis privatis (On private Halls) of 1855, allowed any Master of Arts aged at least 28 years to open a private hall after obtaining a licence to do so.^[2] The longest lived of the thirteen private halls was Charsley's Hall (1862–1891).^[3] Notable masters of private halls included William Edward Addis^[4] and George Butler.^[5]

The Universities Tests Act 1871 opened all university degrees and positions to men who were not members of the Church of England (subject to safeguards for religious instruction and worship), which made it possible for Roman Catholics and Nonconformists to open private halls. These non-Anglican private halls included Clarke's Hall (now Campion Hall), opened by the Jesuit Order in 1896, and Hunter Blair's Hall (later St Benet's Hall) opened by the Benedictine Order in 1899.^[6][7]

Permanent private halls

In 1918 the university passed a statute to allow private halls which were not run for profit to become permanent private halls and the two halls took new names.^[6]

In some cases, a PPH can be granted full collegiate status; recent examples include Mansfield College (became a full college in 1995) and Harris Manchester College (became a full college in 1996).

Greyfriars (1224; refounded 1910) closed in 2008.^[8] St Benet's Hall started admitting women as graduates in 2014 and as undergraduates in 2016, but then closed in 2022. St Stephen's House ceased to be a permanent private hall in September 2023, but continued to be an Anglican theological college.^[9]

List of permanent private halls

Name	Founded	PPH status since	Affiliation	Undergraduates	Graduates	Visiting students	Total students	Undergraduate degree subjects
Blackfriars Hall (website)	1221; refounded 1921	1994	Roman Catholic (Dominican)	4	39	9	52	PPE, Philosophy and Theology, Theology
Campion Hall (website)	1896	1918	Roman Catholic (Jesuit)	0	9	0	9	-
Regent's Park College (website)	1810	1957	Baptist Union of Great Britain	115	70	16	201	Classical Archaeology and Ancient History, Classics, Classics and English, English, Geography, History, History and Politics, Law, Philosophy and Theology, PPE, Theology
Wycliffe Hall (website)	1877	1996	Church of England (Evangelical)	77	27	55	159	Philosophy and Theology, Theology

Former permanent private halls

Name	Founded	PPH status from	Affiliation	Current status
St Peter's Hall	1929	1929	Church of England	Became a new foundation 1947, full college 1961
Mansfield College	1886	1955	Nonconformist (Congregational/United Reformed Church)	Became a full college 1995
Manchester College	1889	1990	Nonconformist (Unitarian)	Became a full college 1996
Greyfriars	1224; refounded 1910	1957	Roman Catholic (Franciscan)	Closed 2008
St Benet's Hall	1897	1918	Roman Catholic (Benedictine)	Closed 2022
St Stephen's House	1876	2003	Church of England (Anglo-Catholic)	Remains a theological college from 2023

References

1. "Permanent Private Halls". University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
2. Statuta Universitatis Oxoniensis [Oxford University Statutes] (in Latin). University of Oxford. 1876. pp. 275–279. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
3. Christopher Hibbert (ed.), "Private halls" in The Encyclopaedia of Oxford (London: Macmillan, 1988), p. 337
4. Storey, Graham (2014). A Preface to Hopkins. Routledge. p. 194. ISBN 9781317896036. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
5. Aldrich, Richard; Gordon, Peter (2016). "Butler, George (1819–1890)". Dictionary of British Educationists. Routledge. ISBN 9781317949312. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
6. "Victoria County History". british-history.ac.uk. pp. 339–340. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
7. "Victoria County History". british-history.ac.uk. pp. 340–341. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
8. Macleod, Donald (24 October 2007). "Oxford religious hall closes down". the Guardian. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
9. "St Stephen's House". University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2022.

External links

• Regulations for the Establishment and Maintenance of Permanent Private Halls
• Review of the Permanent Private Halls associated with the University of Oxford