Location
Old Library
Event type
Library, Public, staff
Date
19 November 2025 - 29 April 2026
Time
2pm - 4:30pm
‘The Spirit of the Place’: Magdalen College and its Staff from Foundation to the Present Day
Like all Oxford colleges, Magdalen’s story is one in which the President, Fellows, and students loom largest. But the men and women who have made this college their academic home since 1458 have been supported across the centuries by an equally important group of servants and staff, without whom life at this place would be markedly different.
Today, Magdalen is home to over 170 members of administrative and support staff, who are responsible for everything from preparing its food and finances to looking after its archives and architecture. The story of their predecessors can sometimes seem remote, from the world of sixteenth-century ‘servitor-scholars’ to the all-male staircase servants (‘scouts’) of more recent times.
But there is both continuity and change across the generations, with the college’s staff historically playing an important role not just in supporting their academic colleagues but also in developing and maintaining Magdalen’s sense of self. Remembering his own time at college just before the war, Charles Arnold-Baker (1937, History) remarked how the staff he knew ‘made the spirit of a college’.
This exhibition looks to celebrate this spirit and the contributions made by staff – both individually and collectively – to Magdalen’s past and present. In doing so, it sheds light on a part of our history that has not always received the attention it deserves and showcases otherwise marginalised but important voices within the college’s historic archive.
The exhibition will be open to the public every Wednesday afternoon from 19 November 2025 until 29 April 2026, except for a three-week Christmas closure (17, 24 and 31 December). Openings last from 2pm till 4:30pm.
Please note that our exhibitions are free, but that Magdalen College charges an entrance fee to some visitors. Click here for details of admission and access to Magdalen College.
Access: The Old Library is accessed via a steep flight of stairs. There is disabled access via a lift, but please contact us in advance so that we can arrange this for you. Many thanks.
