Residential Conferences
Magdalen College is the ideal location for conferences of 50 – 150. All participants can be accommodated on site and the facilities available include a 160 capacity tiered Auditorium built in 1995, and Medieval panelled dining hall seating 150. Small groups can be accommodated in various seminar rooms seating 10 – 50. Informal events can be held in our Old Kitchen Bar with riverside terrace. The College grounds extend to 100 acres including immaculate lawns, beautiful herbaceous borders, a circular riverside walk and a deer park.
The following information is offered as a guide to conference organisers in their planning.
Accommodation
Accommodation is available in single study bedrooms. Bedding, linen and small bath towels are provided and rooms serviced on weekdays. Linen and towels are generally changed twice weekly. Rooms are equipped with a small refrigerator, and tea and coffee making facilities are provided.
Standard rooms have their own wash hand basin, and guests share bathrooms, showers and toilets located nearby, with a few other residents. A total of 160 standard rooms are available within the College walls.
Ensuite rooms have a private shower, toilet and wash hand basin. A total of 45 ensuite rooms are available inside College walls, with a further 20 very close by.
It may be possible to provide up to four twin-ensuite rooms, as part of the total number of single rooms provided, and depending on the needs of other conferences in residence.
Accommodation is normally only provided on the main dates of the conference as agreed with the Organiser. Any dates before and after the main period must be requested and agreed well in advance, and only through the Conference Organiser.
Meals
Meals are normally assisted-service through the Buttery, dining in Hall. Special diets can be catered for if notified in advance.
Breakfast is served from 8.00 – 9.30. A selection of cereals, toast, fruit and yoghurt, together with some cooked items is available.
Lunch is served from 12.30 – 13.15. A two-course meal with a choice of hot or cold items including a vegetarian option with a hot or cold pudding or fruit is available, and jugs of fruit juice are placed on the table.
Dinner is served from 18.00-19.15, with a two-course meal in the same style as available at lunch.
Alternative times for meals can be arranged in advance to suit the conference programme.
Formal dinners can be catered for offering three or four-course served meals from selected menus, at a fixed charge. Wines with the meal, pre-dinner drinks and port can be served and are charged as consumed. The capacity of the Hall for a served dinner is 160. Formal Dinners should begin no later than 7.30pm.
Meeting Facilities
Magdalen College has a range of meeting rooms of varying capacities, from the 160-seater Grove Auditorium, to the Old Practice Room seating 14. Use of the Auditorium includes full audio-visual services such as the projection of data or DVD, with microphones and sound amplification. Several seminar rooms have integral data projection. Smaller rooms are provided with a whiteboard, and can be equipped with data, slide or overhead projection. Refreshments can be served at intervals as required.
Additional Facilities
Conference Office
A conference office is not normally offered to short term conferences as the Auditorium Foyer provides a suitable venue for this with access to a telephone line. Longer-term residential conferences and summer schools may reserve a conference office and request telephone lines.
Computer Services
Wi-Fi is available throughout the College. All bedrooms have an Ethernet socket for access to the Internet for personal computers with this facility. An Ethernet lead, user name and password are required, and can be supplied by the College.
Parking
Parking is very limited in Oxford; conference participants are advised to use public transport wherever possible. A maximum of three parking spaces may be available to Conference Organisers to use at their discretion, subject to access restrictions in the evenings and at weekends. Car parking spaces are charged for.
Emergency contact
The College is manned 24 hours a day, and there is always a Porter on duty in the Main Lodge (at the main High Street entrance). The Lodge can be contacted by telephone on 01865 276000 at any time day or night.
