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St Benet's Hall, Oxford

St Benet's Hall (known colloquially as Benet's) was a permanent private hall (PPH) of the University of Oxford, originally a Roman Catholic religious house of studies. It closed in 2022. The principal building was located at the northern end of St Giles' on its western side, close to the junction with Woodstock Road, Oxford.

St Benet's Hall

38 St Giles', Oxford

Aula Privata Sancti Benedicti

Ausculta, o fili, praecepta magistri

Listen, O child, to the master's precepts

1897 (1897)

2022

St Benet's Hall Association[edit]

The St Benet’s Hall Association is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 2007 by Benet’s alumni. Its purpose is to promote a close relationship amongst those who studied, lived or taught at St Benet’s Hall. Following the dissolution of the Hall, the Association became the focal point for Old Benetians worldwide, organising regular social and networking events, both independently and with other constituents of the University of Oxford.[18]

Administration[edit]

The governing body of the hall comprised the trustees of a charity known as the St Benet's Trust, created in 2012 with the trust's chair being ex officio the Abbot of Ampleforth Abbey. However, the assets of this Trust were wholly owned by the Ampleforth Abbey Trust. In 2016, Abbot Cuthbert Madden resigned after allegations of sexual abuse and was replaced as chair by a lay fellow.[20]


Unlike the university's colleges and other PPHs, St Benet's had a joint common room of which all at the hall were members.[4] The JCR had its own committee,[21] and was responsible for running the St Benet's bar and gym facilities.

Sport[edit]

Despite the small size of the hall, the St Benet's Hall Boat Club raced an eight boat on the River Thames for many years.[22] In recent years, it has had a good record of winning 'blades', the trophy awarded for 'bumping' (rowing past teams ranked above) every day in the Torpids and Summer Eights bumps races. The Boat Club's M1 won blades most recently in 2019.[23] Although the Hall is closed, the St. Benet's Hall Boat Club still exists. The hall also had its own netball, rugby sevens, and field hockey teams, as well as a football team joint with Regent's Park College. The Benet's rugby sevens team is the back-to-back 2018 and 2019 Oxford University rugby sevens champion.[24]

Oswald Hunter Blair (1898–1909)[26]

OSB

Anselm Parker OSB (1909–1920)

[27]

Justin McCann OSB (1920–1947)

[28]

Gerard Sitwell OSB (1947–1964)

[29]

James Forbes OSB (1964–1979)

Philip Holdsworth OSB (1979–1989)

OSB (1989–1990)

Fabian Cowper

OSB (1990–2004); Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible

Henry Wansbrough

OSB (2004–2007)

Leo Chamberlain

OSB (2007–2012)

Felix Stephens

(2012–2018)

Werner Jeanrond

(2018–2022) [30]

Richard Cooper

English Benedictine Congregation

Wansbrough, Henry; Marett-Crosby, Anthony (ed.), Benedictines in Oxford (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1997).  0-232-52176-X; ISBN 978-0-232-52176-4.

ISBN

St Benet's Hall

St Benet's Hall Boat Club

St Benet's Hall Association