Talk:St Catherine's College, Oxford

Would somebody in a position to do it please add some history of St Catherine's Society.

Explanation of deletion

I've deleted the sentence criticizing the building delays because I don't think it's really appropriate in an Encyclopedia. I'm not saying that the criticisms of the College aren't valid -- just that this isn't the place to air day-to-day grievances like that, which come and go relatively quickly. There are newspapers and other forums which are much more suited for that purpose. I hope the deletion doesn't upset anyone. :) 163.1.81.25 14:54, 27 Jan 2005 (UTC) --JK

Erm, do we really need to be discussing building works? It's an Encyclopedia! -- Catz student 09:48, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC)

It should be St. Catherine's College, with a dot. It is actually one of the few secular Oxbridge colleges with any history to speak of. It does not have a chapel. Arne Jacobsen should turn in his grave! :D

It is actually one of the few secular Oxbridge colleges with any history to speak of.

I don't understand that observation. Would you like to expand?--Oxonian2006 17:13, 24 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

My sources (Oxford Guide to Style, Concise Oxford Dictionary) give "St" (no dot) as the abbreviation for "Saint", and "St." (with dot) for "street". Which is it we're after? [grins]. Also, Joseph Heller seems to have been a student at St Catherine's before it was founded. I presume he was a member of the "St Catherine's Society" mentioned in the article. --rbrwr

Surely its best to adopt the form the college itself uses - St with a dot; 'St.' - ref: http://www.stcatz.ox.ac.uk/ NeilTarrant

I have just looked at the college website and it appears that St (no full point) is currently being used. The fact that the college website previously followed bad practice doesn't mean that that was "the form the college itself uses"; it simply means that the website designer was ignorant of good style. I believe that all authorities recommend St. for Street and St for Saint. The full point indicates that the word has been shortened while the lack of it indicates that the word has been contracted and retains the final letter of the full form.--Oxonian2006 17:13, 24 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Can anyone verify Heller's association? Bmills 13:09, 30 Jan 2004 (UTC)

'He took an MA at Columbia in 1949, and spent a year at St Catherine's College, Oxford, on a Fulbright scholarship ...' - obituary in The Guardian [1] Omassey 13:19, 2004 Aug 9 (UTC)

His association with the college was celebrated while I was an Undergrad (1989-1992). I can't remember the exact dates, but he did spend some time in residence and I believe he took a course of writing masterclasses. I was in the bar for most of the time. --Rich 07:35, 14 November 2005 (UTC)Reply

The story about Jacobsen designing the electrical sockets is probably no more than a story. My reasons for thinking this: 1 I have seen the same sockets in another UK building of the same period (Lombard House, Croydon, built about 1959 - slightly earlier than the college and not one of his designs). 2 They are not mentioned anywhere on the Jacobsen websites I've visited. 3 The plugs were made by a UK company, not a Danish one. 81.77.233.83 09:10, 1 May 2006 (UTC) DKB (Catz 1975)Reply

Amended the page to refer to lampshades rather than electrical sockets.

DKB (22 Dec 2006)

Does anyone know what the arms of St Catherine's were back when it was "non-collegiate"? I've seen arms which look like those of the university with a canton.

I did actually manage to find a picture of it and subsequent blazon upon doing some quick research. It can be found here. ChevronTango (talk) 14:36, 25 April 2012 (UTC)Reply

Deleted the claim to be the biggest hall in Oxford. Keble actually has the largest hall in the University. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jefty (talk • contribs) 21:12, 27 September 2006

I humbly disagree. According to the Keble website, the keble dining hall seats 300 diners[2]. Catz, on the other hand, seats 350.[3]Philbradley 22:22, 25 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

So we've established that it has the largest capacity - but it may not have the largest dimensions. Omassey 08:20, 26 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

Well it's definitely bigger in both senses than Keble, I can tell you that much! - rst20xx (talk) 10:31, 25 April 2008 (UTC)Reply

The buildings have received a Grade I listing and the college is the only one in Oxford, Cambridge or Durham where every single building has this listing.

Someone else has already marked this as "citation needed", but I'd go further and say it's wrong. The listed buildings at Catz may once have included just about everything of any significance (ie, leaving out only sheds for maintenance etc) but the new buildings put up in the last few years are certainly not listed. According to this site the listed buildings are those on the main college "podium" (bounded by the common room on the north side, the water garden to the west and the playing fields to the east), together with the bike shed, squash court, Master's house, music room and (last and probably least) the "Brick Retaining Wall Running North–South 2 Metres West Of The Music Room, Between This And The Bridge".

I'll delete the sentence.Casper Gutman (talk • contributions) 07:40, 16 September 2008 (UTC)Reply

Yeah, until the new buildings were built this was true but now it's not. It still I suspect has more listed buildings than any other college, though I can't cite this. I also think Catz is particularly notable though for the fact that it's post-World War II and yet Grade I listed, but again, no citation from me - rst20xx (talk) 15:07, 16 September 2008 (UTC)Reply

Jacobsen's plans for the college did not include a chapel: St Cross church on the corner of Manor Road and Longwall Street serves this purpose when required.

St Cross Church is no longer used by St Catz. The Parochial Church Council of St Cross decided to allow Balliol to convert the church into its College Historic Collections Centre. The Chapel belonging to Harris Manchester College is now used when required.