|IT can only be conjectured how long the vision of a stately building
which, like Absalom's Pillar, should preserve the memory of his
childless house, haunted the vacant hours of Nicholas Wadham of
Merifield, in the county of Somerset. What is certain is that death cut
short his day-dreams, and that he committed the accomplishment of his
design to his wife Dorothy. This remarkable woman was seventy-five years
of age when the task devolved upon her. She assumed its responsibilities
to such good purpose that within three years the College which bears her
name was completed. The members of the first Foundation were admitted in
1613, and the Foundress lived some five years more.
Wadham is one of the most perfect specimens of late Gothic architecture
in existence.
No alteration whatever has taken place in the Front Quadrangle since its
erection; only, where the stones have crumbled, they have been cunningly
replaced. The Chapel, though Perpendicular, was erected at the same time
as the other buildings. The late Mr. J. H. Parker made the reasonable
suggestion that the architect desired to emphasise by this variation of
style the religious and secular uses of the several structures. Wadham,
whether viewed from Parks Road or from its own delightful gardens, is a
veritable joy to the beholder, as our illustrations indicate. The Hall,
moreover, which is one of the finest in Oxford and contains a large
collection of portraits, should not be neglected, nor the interior
of the Chapel, with the sombre grandeur of its stained windows and
"prophets blazoned on the panes."
[Illustration: 0253]
[Illustration: 0254]
Wadham's early prosperity received a check in Civil War times, when
its plate was melted down for the king and its Warden driven out by the
Roundheads. Yet Wilkins, its new Warden, did not abuse his trust; and,
thanks to his interest in science, it was within the walls of this
College that the idea of the Royal Society was conceived.
Wadham has not lacked famous members, of diverse professions and highly
divergent opinions. There is Admiral Blake, whose statue watches to-day
over his native Bridgewater; Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, who was made
Master of Arts at fourteen; Onslow, Speaker of the House of Commons;
Lord Westbury, whose inscription in the ante-chapel tells us that he
"dated all his success in life from the time when he was elected
a scholar of Wadham at the age of fifteen"; Dean Church among
ecclesiastics and Dr. Congreve among Positivists. Finally, there is
Sir Christopher Wren, whose name has been kept to the end in order that
there may be coupled with it the name of Mr. T. G. Jackson, R.A.; for
these two architects, both sons of Wadham, have left impressions which
deserve to be indelible upon the Oxford that we know.