St Catherine’s Society Building (Department of Music) St Aldates Oxford

ST CATHERINES SOCIETY - The opening of the new building for St Catherine's Society, a body which was formed to make possible an Oxford education for men who could not afford the expense of college life, will take place here tomorrow. Hitherto members of the society have had to use premises in High Street which provided no dining hall and only inadequate common rooms. They therefore lacked some of the means for social fellowship which the colleges provide. To meet this need, the University authorities approved a scheme for erecting a new building on a site in St Aldates, adjoining Christ Church Memorial Gardens. The site was formerly occupied by slum dwellings which were cleared away a year or two ago. In their place St Catherine's Buildings now stand. The architect of the buildings is Mr Hubert Worthington, of Thomas Worthington and Sons, Manchester. He has been concerned in his planning to preserve as full a view as possible of Christ Church College from the southern approach to the city. This he has done by abandoning the familiar quadrangle plan and arranging the building in the form of a "half swastika," - a block running east to west with a short arm at either end. By this means a diagonal view of Christ Church from the south-west is now open.

The building is low and simple so as not to clash with Christ Church. The exterior walls are of Bladon stone, with dressings of Clipsham stone, and the roof is covered with Cotswold stone slates. The main entrance faces St Aldate's, and over the deeply recessed door there is a balcony which displays in gilded wrought iron the figure of St Catherine supported by angels. To the right of the entrance is the dining hall, a lofty room lit on two sides by tall windows. The interior is panelled in oak up to the base of the windows, and the roof is of oak with panels of wood arranged so that the graining makes a delicate chequered pattern. Great care has been taken with all the details of furnishing.  Al the chairs and tables have been designed by Mr Worthington. A corridor runs from the entrance hall past cloakrooms and offices to the foot of a handsome circular staircase at the eastern end of the building, with the senior tutors' room and junior common room adjacent. This common room is panelled in teak, a fine, smoky colour almost up to the ceiling. Couches and chairs are coved in dark-blue hide.

The circular staircase leads to a corridor on the first floor which serves the library - with superb views of Christ Church and the meadows, - the Censor's room, a large lecture hall and the senior common-room. This room has two deeply-recessed windows overlooking St Aldate's in which are fitted desks and bookshelves flush with the wall. The woodwork is oak and the walls are finished in rough plaster. The furnishings are warm red in tone. There is an open fireplace flanked by recessed bookcases. Virtually all the rooms in the building have windows on two sides - another result of abandoning the quadrangle plan. The space between the buildings and St Aldates has yet to be laid out, and it is hoped that funds will be made available to enable the piers and railings of the Christ Church Memorial Gardens to be continued down to Floyds Row, the southern limit of the St Catherine's site. The buildings are virtually a complete college organisation without bedrooms, and it is believed that the spirit of collegiate life will grow among members of the society. When non-collegiate undergraduates were first able to become members of the University in 1868 they had few social advantages. They were known in the early days as "unattached" undergraduates and earned the name of "toshers." In 1931 undergraduates were formed into St Catherine's Society - a name taken from the title of the various clubs which non-collegiate graduates had formed for themselves and which met in St Catherine's Street. Membership of the society varies from 170 to 200. It offers undergraduates the means of getting an Oxford education at about £120 a year, excluding expenses for clothes and vacation. [Manchester Guardian 6 October 1936 page 2]

ST. CATHERINE'S NEW BUILDINGS - Lord Halifax, Chancellor of the University, opened today the new buildings of St. Catherine's, the Non-Collegiate Society in St. Aldate's. The building has been so designed by the architect, Mr. Hubert Worthington, that practically every room has a window on each side. The building is comparatively low and does not challenge the dominating outline of Christ Church, its neighbour on the north. The dining hall, which will be in use almost every evening except on Sun- days, is high and has oak panelling and oak furniture. The roof is also of oak. The junior common room is panelled in golden teak.

Reference    Manchester Guardian 6 October 1936 page 24
Reference    The Times, Wednesday, 7 October 1936; pg. 9 and 16 - illustration