Drop-in

‘It’s rather sad…to belong, as we do, to a lost generation. I’m sure in history the two wars will count as one war and that we shall be squashed out of it altogether’ – The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford.

This year, Balliol’s exhibition will delve into the Archives to reopen the space between the first and second world wars. We will explore what went on in College from student pranks to social change, and what members of College were up to in the wider world in the inter-war period. 

First built in 890, St Cross Church houses Balliol College’s historic collections of books and manuscripts.

Arguably the oldest of all the Oxford colleges, Balliol has one of the longest continuous histories of any educational institution in the English-speaking world. The College Archives contain well over 10,000 items, covering all aspects of the College’s history from its earliest years to the present. 

Balliol also holds many collections of modern personal papers, with notable strengths in 19th- and 20th-century politics, diplomacy and education, including Balliol alumni T.H. Green, and Harold Nicolson, Benjamin Jowett (Master of Balliol (1870-1893), and the papers of the Mallet and Morier families; and an extensive holding of literary manuscripts including material by Balliol alumni Matthew Arnold, Arthur Hugh Clough, and Graham Greene, and Robert Browning. 

Balliol’s early libraries include 20,000 early printed books dating back to the 15th century and 400 early manuscripts including a part of the Domesday Book (1160-1170), Richard Hill’s memorandum book (the unique source of many English carols) and the library of William Gray, Bishop of Ely, which has been called ‘by far the finest, as well as the largest, private collection to survive in England from the Middle Ages’.

Accessible - Please ask staff to make portable ramp available at the door.

Families - Families are welcome and there will be hands-on activities for visitors of all ages.