As the start of Oxford term approaches, I have had to accept that my alma mater has closed its doors for the last time. St Benet’s Hall, Oxford, had been educating students since 1897 and was celebrating its 125th anniversary as a bastion of free thought and academic investigation. However, the hall’s planned joyful birthday celebrations abruptly morphed into its funeral oration, following a shock decision by the university council not to renew the institution’s licence.
To the casual observer, Benet’s – as it was always known – operated much like any other Oxford college. Yet it occupied a special place within the university’s history and governance structure. Established by the Benedictine monks of Ampleforth Abbey, who were seeking a hall of studies in Oxford for the purpose of enabling monks to read for degrees at Oxford, it was not technically a college, but a permanent private hall (PPH).
