Qualla: Christ Church, Oxford https://qualla.com/christ-church-oxford en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:14 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/n/christ-church-oxford-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Christ Church, Oxford https://qualla.com/christ-church-oxford Christ Church, Oxford: Introduction https://qualla.com/christ-church-oxford/ Photo credit Oxonwiki, CC0. Every night at 9:05 pm London time, a bell called Great Tom rings 101 times from a tower designed by Christopher Wren. The bell tolls once for each of the 100 original scholars of Christ Church, plus one extra stroke added in 1664 for good measure. It used to ring at midnight, signaling the close of all college gates throughout Oxford. Because the ringing took 20 minutes, Christ Church's own gates did not close until 12:20 am. Even after the ceremony moved to nine, Christ Church gates kept their 20-minute advantage. The college runs on Oxford time - five minutes behind GMT - and always has.

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]]> Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/n/christ-church-oxford-wp/gcpn-christ-church-oxford-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Christ Church, Oxford: Founded Twice by a King Who Killed His Cardinal https://qualla.com/christ-church-oxford/ Photo credit Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey suppressed St Frideswide's Priory in 1525 and started building Cardinal College on the rubble - a magnificent foundation paid for with the dissolution of minor abbeys, intended to be his monument. Four years later Wolsey fell from grace. He died in 1530 on ...

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Image: Bernard Gagnon | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/n/christ-church-oxford-wp/gcpn-christ-church-oxford-founded-twice-by-a-king-who-killed-his-cardinal.mp3 0:06 2 full Christ Church, Oxford: Charles I, a Cannonball, and the Civil War https://qualla.com/christ-church-oxford/ Photo credit Pinefish77, CC BY-SA 4.0. When Civil War broke out, King Charles I made the Deanery his palace and held his Parliament in the Great Hall. On the evening of 29 May 1645, during the second siege of Oxford, a Parliamentarian gun firing from Marston a couple of miles to the northeast dropped a nine-pound iron...

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Image: Pinefish77 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/n/christ-church-oxford-wp/gcpn-christ-church-oxford-charles-i-a-cannonball-and-the-civil-war.mp3 0:06 3 full Christ Church, Oxford: The Prime Ministers' College https://qualla.com/christ-church-oxford/ Photo credit Oscar Gustave Rejlander, Public domain. Thirteen British prime ministers studied at Christ Church - the highest number of any Oxbridge college. The list includes William Gladstone, Sir Robert Peel, Anthony Eden, Lord Rosebery, and Alec Douglas-Home. Add in foreign leaders and the count climbs further: Zulfikar Ali Bhut...

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Image: Oscar Gustave Rejlander | Public domain

]]> Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/n/christ-church-oxford-wp/gcpn-christ-church-oxford-the-prime-ministers-college.mp3 0:06 4 full Christ Church, Oxford: Wonderland, Hogwarts, and the Cathedral Choir https://qualla.com/christ-church-oxford/ Photo credit Public domain. Tom Quad and the Great Hall are among the most filmed spaces in England. Parts of Brideshead Revisited and Alice in Wonderland were filmed here. The Great Hall provided the model and the visual reference for the Hogwarts dining hall in the Harry Potter films - though for producti...

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]]> Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/n/christ-church-oxford-wp/gcpn-christ-church-oxford-wonderland-hogwarts-and-the-cathedral-choir.mp3 0:06 5 full Christ Church, Oxford: Cattle, Balloons, and Da Vinci Drawings https://qualla.com/christ-church-oxford/ Photo credit Peter Trimming, CC BY-SA 2.0. Beyond Tom Quad lies Christ Church Meadow, 175 acres of open ground that runs all the way down to the river. The meadow is open to the public and is grazed by English Longhorn cattle - a rare native breed kept in central Oxford for the sake of tradition and grass management. Jame...

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Image: Peter Trimming | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/n/christ-church-oxford-wp/gcpn-christ-church-oxford-cattle-balloons-and-da-vinci-drawings.mp3 0:06 6 full