New College!

Oxford is not as homogeneous as most universities.  Instead, it is split into 38 colleges, each with their own dining facility, housing, library, and traditions.  I am a member of New College.  The decentralized system can actually be a major hassle, since I don't have access to any of the other college libraries and the quality of food at the New College dining hall is mediocre at best.

Somewhat counter-intuitively, New College is actually one of the oldest colleges, founded in the 14th century.  I took plenty of pictures this time :D

This is what New College looks like from Holywell St. 

And here's the entrance to New College.  Except...

These buildings were actually built "recently" to house freshmen.  The actual college through the gate is largely invisible from the street.

Holy shit it's a fucking castle.

The old part of New College (i.e. almost the whole college) is surrounded by walls.  These were clearly not built as decoration.  They look like extremely serious fortifications.

There are arrow slits and stuff in the towers.

New College also has an extensive set of grounds.  In the middle there is "the mound".  The mound is off limits for reasons that have been lost to history.  An old staircase leads to the top.

I kinda expect there to be a sword in the stone up there or something.

Of course, the grounds are also surrounded by walls.

Other side of the grounds.  I don't remember what these buildings are for.

Ok, enough of the grounds.  What does the main part of the college look like?

O.O

Panning shot of the front of the college.

 Entrance to the chapel.

Chapel.  In retrospect I probably should have taken some pictures of the stained glass on the sides but oh well.

Here is the main quad at New College.  It had just snowed when I took these pictures so somebody made a snowman :-)

New College also has a set of cloisters.

Astute readers will recognize this area from a shot in Harry Potter.  I actually had no idea, but a bunch of people recognized the cloisters from the movies when the JCR president gave us a tour.

JCR = Junior Common Room (i.e. undergraduate).  Its just a social hangout area.  Every college has its own common room and also its own bar.  It's pretty funny seeing a bar in these old underground stone rooms.

More cloister pics.  Various status line the walls.

You're probably thinking that this place looks pretty sweet, and I'm spending my days in some fairytale castle.  Unfortunately, I'm almost never at New College.  The New College library is pretty bad, and it's the only library I can borrow books from.  All other libraries I have access to force me to stay in them if I want to read the books.  The food is cheap but bad and there aren't many events at the college I'm interested in.  Instead I spend 90% of my time in the Social Science library, where I can get almost all the books I need.

I pass gorgeous New College every day on my walk over here.