Academic dress on monuments in Oxford churches and college chapels

Compiled by Alex Kerr Early-fourteenth-century windows in Merton College chapel provide a unique record of contemporary university robes: they include twenty-four images of the donor in academic or official dress. Later in the fourteenth century monumental brasses for graduates began to appear in the two English university towns. In Oxford two incised slabs and nearly fifty brasses with effigies in academic dress survive, the last dating from 1619. In addition, there are some fifteen or so sculptural wall monuments with figures in academic dress; they date from 1589 to 1691. Another fifty brasses and several sculptural monuments showing academic dress can be seen in churches, college chapels and museums elsewhere in England, including eleven brasses in Cambridge. The numbers are approximate because in several cases it is uncertain whether the dress is academic or not.
Visitors can see many of the monuments in Oxford without any prior formalities, but Queens College, St Edmund Hall Library and St Aldates Church are not normally open to visitors. At Magdalen College most brasses are now hidden by a locked vestry built round them in the antechapel. Each church and college that is open to the public has its own opening hours. See the map below. ST JOHNS COLL. open 15 free 4 brasses 4 sculptural monuments 1 incised slab ST MARY MAGDALEN CH. open normal hours free 1 brass ST MICHAELS CH. open normal hours free 1 incised slab 1 brass JESUS COLL. usually open afternoons free 1 sculptural monument NEW COLLEGE open: winter 24 free; summer 115 entry fee* 12 brasses 3 sculptural monuments
ST EDMUND HALL LIBRARY

St Peter-in-the-East Church closed special permission from the Librarian required 1 brass
QUEENS COLL.

closed special permission from the Home Bursars Secretary required 2 brasses

ST ALDATES CH.

kept locked ask at church office, 40 Pembroke St 1 recumbent tomb effigy 2 brasses

MAGDALEN COLL. open afternoons entry fee* 10 brasses (7 inside vestry) 2 sculptural monuments ALL SOULS COLL. open weekdays 24 free 3 brasses 1 sculptural monument MERTON COLL. open weekdays 25, weekends 105 entry fee** stained glass 5 brasses 2 sculptural monuments

CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL open normal hours entry fee* 6 brasses 3 sculptural monuments

ST MARY THE VIRGIN CH. open normal hours free 1 brass CORPUS CHRISTI COLL. usually open afternoons free 2 sculptural monuments

December 2011 (revised April 2014)

* Free entry for residents of Oxford and holders of a Bodleian readers card or Oxford University alumni card; and one guest in each case ** Free entry for holders of a Bodleian readers card or Oxford University alumni card

Note: A glossary of medieval items of academic dress is given at the end of this list. Garments described as bound may simply be edged; in many cases it is impossible to determine which. ALL SOULS COLLEGE Brasses 1. Richard Spekynton BCL d1490 supertunica with sleeves bound; hood lined and bound. 2. David Lloyd BCL d1510 demi; supertunica with sleeves bound fur; tabard with sleeves lined and bound different fur; hood lined and bound same fur as tabard; and on the same monument 3. Thomas Baker SCL d1510 demi; subtunica with belt; open robe/gown with bell sleeves and fur cuffs; mantle fixed on left shoulder; cowl (part of mantle?) but no cape to hood. Sculptural monument 4. Robert Hovenden DD d1614 painted; demi; doublet; ruff; black DD gown; red closed convocation habit with slit on chest; hood; square cap. CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL Brasses 5. Henry Dowe BA? and junior student d1578 kneeling; back view; ruff; gown with loose coat-style sleeves gathered to turn-back cuffs; curving cowl of simple hood lined ?; no liripipe. (The inscription states he was declared BA hence the simple hood? but the records do not corroborate this.) 6. Thomas Morrey MA d1584 kneeling; front view; shirt with turn-down collar; cassock? with knotted cincture; gown with facings and loose coat-style sleeves gathered to turn-back cuffs. 7. Stephen Lence MA d1587 three-quarter length; doublet; ruff; gown with closed sleeves slashed from shoulder to waist level to release the arms (or possibly coat-style sleeves with a cappa nigra over it); hood with front in deep curve and the upper part continuing over the left shoulder to show the folded cowl protruding; a squarish cap with soft corners and no tump visible. 8. John Bisshop junior student d1588 kneeling; front view; ruff; gown with upstanding collar and loose coat-style sleeves. 9. John Walrond undergraduate d1602 kneeling; front view; doublet; ruff; gown with openings at shoulder level, hanging false sleeves or streamers covered in barley-sugar welts and the front edge and foot apparently trimmed with braid and the shoulders with a little wing formed by a twisted roll of fabric. 10. Thomas Thornton MA d1613 kneeling; front view; ruff; gown with wide, coat-style sleeves
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2. David Lloyd 3. Thomas Baker

1. Richard Spekynton

4. Robert Hovenden

5. Henry Dowe

8. John Bisshop

9. John Walrond

with turn-back cuffs; hood with deep V front and the upper part continuing over the left shoulder to show the cowl protruding (like Lences) and the liripipe. (Note: the waster on the back of the plate has a half-finished figure, showing doublet and gown with closed sleeves with a horizontal slit at the elbow.) Sculptural monuments 11. William Godwin DD d1620 painted; demi; doublet; ruff; gown with closed sleeves having a horizontal slit at the elbow; red convocation habit, open on chest, showing buttons of doublet underneath; red hood in deep V, not covering shoulders entirely red, although folds of lining obvious (miscoloured for black?); skullcap covering the ears. 12. Robert Burton BD MA d1639 painted; head and shoulders; doublet; ruff; undress MA/BD gown with peaked shoulders. 13. Edward Pocock DD d1691 unpainted; bust; shirt and clerical bands; coat; DD undress gown and scarf; square cap with deep skullcap covering the ears, raised ribs running from the corners on the underside of the square, and a tump. CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE Sculptural monuments 14. John Reynolds DD d1607 painted; demi; doublet; ruff; red bell-sleeved robe with no black on sleeves or facings; red hood in slight V with turned-down black lining in sharper V. 15. John Spencer DD d1614 painted; demi; doublet; ruff; red bell-sleeved robe with black facings only; red hood straight across shoulders with turned-down black lining in V. JESUS COLLEGE Sculptural monument 16. Sir Eubule Thelwall MA d1630 painted; kneeling in profile; doublet and hose; ruff; black robe of dignity with false-panel sleeves; gold braid & tassel on upper sleeves and in four rows on lower sleeve. MAGDALEN COLLEGE Note: brasses below marked v are now inside a locked vestry and may be seen only by arrangement. Brasses 17. Ralph Vawdrey MA d1478 demi; subtunica; supertunica with sleeves lined and bound fur; hood lined and bound fur. 18. Thomas Sondes MA? d1478 subtunica; supertunica with sleeves bound; tabard with

11. William Godwin

12. Robert Burton

13. Edward Pocock

14. John Reynolds

15. John Spencer

16. Eubule Thelwall

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sleeves lined and bound fur; hood lined and bound fur. 19. John Bentley? MA d1486 demi; subtunica; supertunica with sleeves lined and bound fur; tabard unlined; hood lined and bound fur. 20. vGeorge Epworth? MA d1489 subtunica; supertunica with sleeves bound; cappa nigra with side slits bound; hood bound. v 21. Thomas Freer? MA d1490 subtunica; supertunica with sleeves bound; cappa nigra with side slits and hem bound fur; hood lined and bound fur. 22. vGeorge Lassy BA d1496 demi; subtunica; supertunica with wide sleeves lined and turned back fur; tabard with sleeves lined and bound different fur; hood lined and bound same fur as tabard. 23. vThomas Mason MA d1501 subtunica with sleeves bound; supertunica open? with wide sleeves lined and turned back fur; cappa nigra side slits bound different fur; hood lined and bound same fur as cappa nigra. 24. vWalter Charyls MA d1502 demi and headless; subtunica with sleeves bound; supertunica with wide sleeves lined and turned back fur; cappa nigra/tabard with side slits possibly bound and sleeves divided up the front (cf Bowke (Merton)); hood lined and bound fur different from supertunica. 25. vThomas Dyke? MA d1503 cut off below knees; subtunica with sleeves bound; supertunica with wide sleeves turned back; cappa nigra with side slits bound fur; hood lined and bound fur. 26. vNicholas Goldwell MA d1523 subtunica with sleeves bound; supertunica with very wide sleeves lined and turned back fur; cappa nigra with side slits bound; hood lined and bound fur. Sculptural monuments 27. Laurence Humphrey DD d1589 painted; demi; doublet; ruff; red bell-sleeved robe with black on facings only; red hood in sharp V with turned-down black lining in V. 28. William Langton DD d1626 unpainted; demi; doublet; ruff; DD undress gown; convocation habit; hood in shallow V with turned-down lining in shallow V; square cap with tump and side pieces. MERTON COLLEGE Stained glass 29. Mannesfield glass (early 14th c.) multiple figures of the donor in profile; supertunica; cappa clausa with one slit (cope) with integral cowl but some figures appear to have a mantle with integral hood; pileus.
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22. George Lassy

23. Thomas Mason

24. Walter Charyls

27. Laurence Humphrey

28. William Langton

Brasses 30. Robert de Tring MA d1351 subtunica?; supertunica with decoration or buttons under forearms; tabard ending above ankles with hem bound fur? and sleeves lined and bound fur; labels on upper chest; no separate cape of hood cowl definitely part of tabard is this academic dress at all? 31. John Bloxham BD d1387 subtunica; supertunica with sleeves lined and bound; cappa with 2 slits; hood lined and bound; and on the same monument 32. ... John Whitton non-graduate? d ? subtunica; supertunica only to ankles; hood with short cape; apparently not lined or bound; monument c1400. 33. John Killingworth MA d1445 demi; subtunica?; supertunica with sleeves lined and bound; tabard with sleeves lined and bound fur; hood lined and bound fur. 34. John Bowke MA d1519 demi; subtunica/cassock with sleeves bound; supertunica with wide sleeves turned back fur; tabard apparently open with facings and with sleeves turned back fur and cappa nigra-style side slits bound (cf Charyls (Magdalen)); hood lined and bound fur. Sculptural monuments 35. Sir Thomas Bodley MA d1613 unpainted; demi; doublet; turn-down shirt collar; robe of dignity? with wide facings and flap collar; false-panel? sleeves with inverted-T armholes; upper sleeves with braid & toggle decoration. 36. Sir Henry Savile MA d1622 painted; demi; doublet; ruff; black gown with closed sleeves having a horizontal armslit and hanging tube, but also hanging false panels behind with bars on them, two little wings at the shoulder and wide facings continuing up and over the shoulders to the back (is this an MA gown or a robe of dignity?); a black skullcap. NEW COLLEGE Brasses 37. William Fryth? BD d1420 (hidden under stalls?) 38. John Sowthe (formerly misread as Lowthe) DCL d1427 subtunica; supertunica with sleeves bound; cappa clausa with two slits and two pendants (cappa manicata?); hood lined and bound fur; pileus with two vertical lines (indicating seams?) 39. William Hautryve DCanL d1441 subtunica?; supertunica with sleeves lined and bound fur;

30. Robert de Tring

31. John Bloxham

35. Thomas Bodley

36. Henry Savile

38. John Sowthe

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cappa clausa with one slit (cope); attached turned-down cowl lined and bound fur; pileus. 40. Geoffrey Hargreve MA? d1447 (inscription plate missing) subtunica; supertunica with sleeves lined and bound fur; tabard with sleeves lined and bound fur; hood lined and bound fur. 41. Walter Wake MA d1451 demi; subtunica; supertunica with sleeves lined and bound; tabard lined and bound; hood lined and bound. 42. Thomas Hylle DD d1468 subtunica; supertunica; cappa clausa with one slit (cope); attached turned-down cowl lined and bound fur; pileus with very small stalk. 43. Richard Wyard BCL d1478 (holding tau cross) subtunica; supertunica with sleeves lined and bound; tabard unlined; hood bound (but apparently not lined) fur. 44. John Palmer BA d1479 subtunica; supertunica with sleeves lined and bound; tabard with sleeves lined; hood lined and bound. 45. John London MA d1507 subtunica bound; supertunica open at the front with fur-covered turnbacks/facings and wide sleeves turned back fur?; cappa nigra with bound side slits; hood lined and bound fur. 46. Walter Bailey DM d1592 doublet; ruff; gown with facings bound with a double line which continues up over the shoulders as if to join a flap collar behind; two bands of silk/braid? decorate the hem of the gown, the foot of the closed sleeves and panels apparently laid on either side of the inverted-T armholes. 47. Hugh Lloyd DCL d1601 kneeling; back view; doublet; ruff; gown with small turn-down collar behind; closed sleeves with bound inverted-T armhole and short hanging tube with a bound circular opening at the foot. 48. Anthony Aylworth DM d1619 doublet; ruff; plain closed gown with coat-style sleeves and cuffs; hood; soft cap (bonnet?) with skull section and small topknot or stalk. Sculptural monuments 49. Hugh Barker DCL d1632 unpainted; demi; doublet; ruff; gown with facings continuing up over shoulders to flap collar; hanging closed sleeves with inverted-T armholes and braid strips with large buttons with tiny tufts on them. 50. Robert Pinke DD d1647 unpainted; demi; doublet; square clerical collar/bands; MA/DD undress gown; scarf. 51. Michael Woodward DD d1675 unpainted; demi; cassock with cincture; square clerical collar/bands; MA/DD undress gown; scarf.

41. Walter Wake

42.Thomas Hylle

45. John London 46. Walter Bailey

47. Hugh Lloyd

48. Anthony Aylworth

49. Hugh Barker

51. Michael Woodward

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QUEENS COLLEGE (closed to visitors) Brasses 52. Nicholas Hyenson DM d1477 (so badly worn that details cannot be identified) supertunica?; cappa clausa with 2 slits (chimere) ?; hood. 53. Henry Airey DD d1616 kneeling; front view; ruff; doublet; closed gown with armholes and another slit at an angle between that and the end of the boot, which has a slight curve on the inner edge and appears to be open at the foot; convocation habit; hood across shoulders with deep V front; skullcap with side pieces covering the ears. ST ALDATES CHURCH (usually closed) Recumbent tomb figure 54. John Noble BCanL d1522 unpainted (or stripped); subtunica/cassock with wide sleeves; very loose surplice? with extremely wide sleeves; hood opening into a V at neck. Brasses 55. Griffin Owen MA d1607 kneeling; front view; ruff; gown with facings and coat-style sleeves; hood with V front; cowl and apparently cape behind. 56. Nicholas Roope BA d1613 kneeling in profile; doublet with turn-down collar; gown with closed hanging square-ended tube sleeves open at foot; hood with V front and cowl and narrow rounded cape behind. ST EDMUND HALL LIBRARY St Peter-in-the-East Church (closed to visitors) Brass 57. Richard Radcliffe DM d1599 kneeling; front view; doublet; ruff; gown without decoration; facings continuing up to join a flap collar; arm emerges at shoulder level with a panel as false sleeve or streamer over, cut squarish at foot. ST JOHNS COLLEGE Brasses 58. Robert Harte MA d1571 kneeling; front view; doublet; ruff; gown with facings and loose coatstyle sleeves turned back as cuffs; hood with cape in shallow V covering shoulders and lining covering to within an inch of lower edge. 59. Robert Shingleton MA d1577 kneeling; front view; doublet; ruff?; gown with facings and loose coat-style sleeves with narrow binding; hood with cape in deep V covering shoulders and lining turned down about halfway with cowl or liripipe behind.

53. Henry Airey

54. John Noble

57. Richard Radcliffe

59. Robert Shingleton

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60. John Glover MA d1578 kneeling; front view; doublet; small ruff; gown with loose open sleeves; hood with cape covering shoulders and having V front but lining not turned down. 61. Richard Hutchenson MA d1579 (a close copy of Glovers?) kneeling; front view; doublet; small ruff; gown with facings and loose open sleeves; hood with cape covering shoulders and having shallower V front and lining not turned down. Sculptural monuments 62. John Case DM d1600 painted; kneeling; in profile; ruff; black gown with coat-style sleeves; red convocation habit; red hood in V on chest and with rounded cape and cowl lined pink. 63. Richard Latewar DD d1601 painted; kneeling; in profile; black doublet; ruff; black gown with closed sleeves with short tube, lower portion open at foot; red convocation habit; red hood in V on chest and with rounded cape and cowl lined black. 64. Ralph Hutchenson DD d1606 painted; demi; white cuffs and ruff; black gown with facings and sleeves ?; crimson hood in V but not covering the shoulders, almost entirely covered by black turned-down lining. 65. William Paddy DM d1634 unpainted; bust; coat or cassock; ruff; open lay gown with facings continuing up to form flap collar; upper sleeves with two rows of buttons set vertically, but no obvious horizontal braiding. Incised slab 66. John Wickstead BCL d1607 kneeling; front view; shirt with turn-down collar; gown with fairly narrow coat-style sleeves with cuffs; hood apparently simple shape, with V-shaped neck portion, not covering the shoulders and the cowl hanging behind, showing the lining. ST MARY MAGDALEN CHURCH Brass 67. William Smith MA d1580 kneeling; back view; ruff; gown with loose coat-style sleeves; sketchy hood in curve (cape or cowl?) lined ?; no liripipe? ST MARY THE VIRGIN CHURCH Brass 68. Edward Chernock commoner d1581 kneeling; front view; doublet with upstanding collar; ruff; gown with fur facings continuing up to form flap collar and with false-panel sleeves with inverted-T armholes bound ?

61. Richard Hutchenson

63. Richard Latewar

64. Ralph Hutchenson

65. William Paddy

66. John Wickstead

68. Edward Chernock

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ST MICHAELS CHURCH Incised slab 69. Walter Dottin scholar and fellow of Exeter Coll. d1603 kneeling; front view; doublet with turn-down collar; gown with facings continuing up to form collar; and closed sleeves with horizontal armhole and tube open at foot. Brass 70. John Pendarves commoner of Lincoln Coll. d1617 demi; doublet; ruff; gown with wide fur-covered facings continuing up as wide flap collar and with wings on shoulders; sleeveless, with streamers behind arms.

69. Walter Dottin

70. John Pendarves

Glossary of medieval items of academic dress

cappa clausa A voluminous ankle- or floor-length sleeveless cloak worn over the supertunica, having one or two slits at the front to release the hands. The Oxford doctors convocation habit derives from the version with two slits (the chimere); the Cambridge vice-chancellors cope derives from the version with one. cappa manicata A variant of the cappa clausa with two slits, having a redundant sleeve or pendant hanging behind each arm. cappa nigra A less full sleeveless cloak, characteristically black, reaching only to the shins and having side slits to release the arms. pileus A domed, round cap (later squarish), usually brimless, sometimes with a stalk or tuft on top. subtunica A close-fitting undertunic, usually worn with a belt; the forerunner of the cassock. On medieval monuments usually only the ends of the sleeves are visible. supertunica A loose overtunic, worn closed by academics, reaching the ankles or feet and having narrow coatstyle sleeves until the end of the fifteenth century, when they opened into a bell shape; the forerunner of the undress gown and of the full-dress robe or festal gown. tabard Another style of habit worn over the supertunica, formed of two T-shaped pieces of cloth, reaching to the shins, sewn up at the sides and having short pointed sleeves.

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Further reading
Arthur, Jean, Memorial Brasses and Engraved Brass Plates in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford (Oxford: Friends of Christ Church Cathedral, 1992). Bott, Alan, The Monuments in Merton College Chapel (Oxford: Blackwell, 1964). Druitt, Herbert, A Manual of Costume as Illustrated by Monumental Brasses (London: Moring, 1906). http://www.archive.org/details/manualofcostumea00drui Gnther, R. T., A Description of Brasses and Other Funeral Monuments in the Chapel of Magdalen College (Oxford: Horace Hart, 1914). Hargreaves-Mawdsley, W. N., History of Academical Dress in Europe until the End of the Eighteenth Century (Oxford University Press, 1963), Chapters 3 and 4. Kerr, Alex, Layer upon Layer: The Evolution of Cassock, Gown, Habit and Hood as Academic Dress, Trans. of the Burgon Soc., 5 (2005), 4258. See copy uploaded on Scribd. Kerr, Alex, Hargreaves-Mawdsleys History of Academical Dress and the Pictorial Evidence for Great Britain and Ireland: Notes and Corrections, Trans. of the Burgon Soc., 8 (2008), 10650. See copy uploaded on Scribd. Kerr, Alex, Gowns Worn by MAs in Early-Seventeenth-Century England and the Curious Case of Thomas Thorntons Sleeves, Trans. of the Burgon Soc., 12 (2012), 7285. See copy uploaded on Scribd. Knll, Stefanie A., Creating Academic Communities: Funeral Monuments to Professors at Oxford, Leiden and Tbingen, 15801700 (Haren, Netherlands: Equilibris Publishing, 2003).

This inventory is a follow-up to a visit on 16 July 2011 by members of the Burgon Society and their guests to study the academic dress on the monuments in Oxford college chapels and city churches. The itinerary included St Johns College, New College and All Souls College, the University Church of St Mary the Virgin and St Michaels Church. For information about the Burgon Society visit http://www.burgon.org.uk

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