The Oxford College Barges

The first Corpus Christi barge was the Merchant Taylors' barge, bought from University College. This was handed to Wadham and a new barge built in 1885. This first commissioned Corpus barge had large round windows. By 1929 this barge had been broken up. 

Built in 1930, the second Corpus Christi Barge is still afloat and is owned and maintained by the Oxford College Barges Preservation Trust. 

'Its oval windows and good proportions make it one of the most interesting of those remaining.' Maccoun, 1971. Sarah Hosking's 1969 manuscript describes her as 'salmon pink on the superstructure'.

She can be clearly seen from the Thames towpath downstream of today's College Boathouses and from Donnington Bridge in Oxford. Read more

The first Jesus barge was built in 1887 and ordered to be 'plain and well built' by Tagg of East Molesey. The second barge was designed by John H England in Arts & Crafts / 'classical' style, borrowing its design from the Salters drawings of the Pembroke and Trinity barges and was built in 1910. It is 'to some extent classicised with small, curly Ionic capitals.' (S Hosking). 

The barge sank in 1962 but was subsequently retrieved.

Four of the barges had figureheads. Queen's had an eagle, Trinity had a griffin, Jesus had a dragon, and Corpus Christi had a pelican.

The Oxford College Barges Preservation Trust acquired and restored the Jesus College Barge between 1967 and 1969. The restoration, including an entirely new teak hull (a perfect replica of the original) was completed by Robert Maccoun, who describes it in his 1971 Plan for the Oxford College Barges as, 'guaranteeing that there will be at least one long-lived sample showing the traditional construction of the lower part'. Tough Brothers, who also restored the Hertford Barge in the late 1970s, undertook the skilled work of restoring the architectural features.  

The Jesus barge was returned to the Isis but was severely damaged by fire in 1988. Further renovation by Turks Boatyard (who now own her) means that she is now a restaurant lovingly renamed Peggy Jane. She underwent a further restoration after she sank in 2015 when the pontoon she was attached to failed to rise with the tide. You can take a tour here.

Jesus College Barge is known as 'the dragon barge' and is still painted in green & gold livery, with her fiery red dragon at her prow. 

Magdalen's 1927 barge (credit H Eades)

Built in 1886, the first Magdalen College Barge was broken up in 1925 and partly reconstructed as a shed at Timm's boathouse. 

The second Magdalen barge was built in 1927 and remains one of the most ornate of the Romanesque, 'Elizabethan Galley' style barges, along with the Keble Barge (of which only remnants remain). 

The 'W', which initials the intricate roundels, refers back to the founder of Magdalen college, William Waynflete, while the swan emblems in other roundels represent the Swan Hotel at Streatley, and were added at a later date. The Magdalen is one of the barges most decorated with college symbols.

This barge was sold to Talboys in 1939 and in 1958 it passed to Keble.

There is an undocumented legend that the 1886 Magdalen barge was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens (although its design is also attributed to G.C. Drinkwater), and a barge built like a 17th century galley would certainly have appealed to him, 'but is quite unfounded since he was only 17 at the date of building' (SH). The design gave the impression of tier upon tier of decks by varying the height and level of the balustrade. 

Magdalen College Barge has an innovative ferro-concrete hull, due to there being a lack of good quality timber after WWI. This was certainly a good move, as the hull remains strong and reliable to this day. 'Concrete for ship construction was a fairly new idea in 1927. The first concrete sea-going vessel was built in Norway in 1916 and America was manufacturing concrete oil-carriers by 1918. It must have been a designer of some intuition who adopted this material for a houseboat.' (SH)

Queen’s 1872 barge in c1900 (credit H Taunt)

Queen's college bought the Lord Mayor's Barge in around 1860, then the Skinners' barge. In 1872 they commissioned a new barge which was demolished in 1903, and in 1908 they commissioned their second barge which is still moored at Port Meadow in Oxford today. 

The hull of the 1908 barge was built of steel (with a roof of Canadian pitch pine) and 'in 1947 one of the Queen's Fellows who had been concerned with this wrote, "I remember a visit I paid to the builders of the new barge and mys truggle with my aesthetic conscience before approving the design". This steel-hulled barge ... owed its preservation to an accident. When it was taken upstream to Medley it was too tall to go under Folly Bridge so concrete was poured into its hull to weight it down which, having set, ... prevented any leakages' (SH) for many years. 

A major renovation (including a new steel shoe engineered by Robert Maccoun in the 1980s) being paid for by her previous owner, the MP Sir John Smith, founder of the Landmark Trust and restorer of the Jesus College Barge.

She remains in private ownership. 

Four of the barges had figureheads. Queen's had an eagle, Trinity had a griffin, Jesus had a dragon, and Corpus Christi had a pelican. Apparently all records of the Queen's barge 'went in the bin' in the 1930s. 

St Edmund Hall barge 1898

St Edmund Hall rented a 'rapidly decaying' barge from Salter's in 1898 so they quickly moved the Boat Club to the OUBC boathouse. 'The only doubt concerning the move was in the mind of the Captain of Boats of that year who wrote, "The material advantages of this change are considerable, and it remains to be seen whether Hall rowing will suffer from the fact that each outing is followed by a hot shower rather than a cold dribble issuing rather spasmodically in a dark corner of the barge'. (SH) 

St Edmunds - aka 'Tedders' or 'Eddys' - was built in 1898. In 1966 she was bought by a private buyer and was fitted with an outboard motor. She was 'the only college barge to suffer such an indignity'. She was bought by the current owner of Univ, but sold in the 1980s.

She is privately owned by an ex OCBPT committee member and is currently undergoing restoration at Caversham, near Reading. 

Read more

Univ 1883 barge in c1900 (credit H Taunt)

Robert Maccoun, in his 1971 Plan for the Oxford College Barges states, 'The University barge is a very interesting one for preservation as there are important decorative features - carvings and mouldings - and a stern which has an unusual fineness and elegance.' He also describes it as 'decorated with a savoury variety of sculptured forms,' 

University barge, along with the Corpus, is described by Maccoun in 1971 as one of, 'the most important surviving examples, in reasonable condition, of the barges very closely related to the Livery Company barges and the ships of long ago.' Sarah Hosking's 1969 manuscript describes her as being painted 'a fine, faded yellow'.

In 1854 Universtity College bought their first barge - the Merchant Taylors' barge - from the OUBC. By 1876 it was 'sinking fast and requiring manual pumping for one hour twice a day' and was broken up in 1908. 

Meanwhile, in 1878 the college had commissioned the celebrated architect John Oldrid Scott (designed the Albert memorial in Hyde Park) to design their new barge, which was built by Salter's at Streatley in 1883.  'The college joined Oriel and Corpus Christi in using prominent architects of their day'. 

In 1922 repairs were made by Salters to the barge, and a dramatic fire in 1932 necessitated a renovation, which included a 'committee of taste' set up, who chose new covers for armchairs, new curtains 'with gold braid'. She was sold in 1965 (link to anonymous eulogy on Crowdfunding page) and served as a boat repair shed for 20 years until she was bought by David Sherriff, a Thames marina owner. In 1988 'she was valiantly lifted... in canvas slings'. The process was filmed by Southern Television for a news bulletin on 25th June 1988.

She is still afloat and is moored at Caversham.

Wadham 1867 barge (credit R Lewis)

Built in 1897, the Wadham barge was designed by Sir Thomas Jackson and built by Talboys. Little more detail is remaining, other than Sarah Hosking's comment in her 1969 manuscript, 'some of the other barges had best be described as fairground architecture for, while they are pretty and enchanting, they are less solidly built and their decoration gives the impression that it has been cut out of hardboard and tacked on. Wadham's 1887 barge and the Lincoln barge of 1925 belong to this category.' 

All we know about the Wadham barge is that it was considered by Maccoun in his 1971 Plan for the Oxford College Barges to be 'worth taking into account... in urgent need of attention, both as to the bottom and as to the superstructure.'

Maccoun quoted for a new hull for her in 1973, but her fate is unknown. 

One anecdote remains: 'the Wadham men' pulled a piano on a gardener's trolley down through Christchurch meadow to their barge in the 1950s 'stopping on the way down Broadwalk to play it... a lot of drink was consumed... the piano went overboard, the men playing overboard too, all of them plastered in mud trying to retrieve the main frame from the mud.' CS. 

Trinity’s griffin figurehead in 1963 (credit R Lewis)

'In 1889 "A handsome and commodious barge was presented to the Consolidated Clubs. It was built by Salter's and was painted blue and white and had gilded knobs to its balustrade.' (H. Blakiston 1989)

The Trinity College Barge was adorned with 'a magnificent griffin figurehead complete with forked tongue and evil eye'. Four of the barges had figureheads. Queen's had an eagle, Trinity had a griffin, Jesus had a dragon, and Corpus Christi had a pelican. While the Jesus, Queen's and Corpus barge figureheads are straightforward pieces of heraldic carving the Trinity griffin is unashamedly a piece of fairground bugaboo. 

This engaging monster has a coronet around its neck which is probably intended to be described as 'ducally gorged' but while the leaves of the coronet should properly represent strawberry leaves, they are so provincialised and roughly carved that they can hardly be recognised as anything except, perhaps, jam tarts. 

Maccoun, in his 1971 Plan for the Oxford College Barges notes, 'We all look with regret at the cases of Keble and Trinity, now in a deplorable state, but originally two of the best examples. If a proper job had been done ten years ago to protect against rainwater and vandalism, these superb examples of architectural composition and carved decoration could have gone on for many years.'

Fittingly, it seems she ended up as a tea room at Shillingford Bridge (hearsay), and believed burnt out. 

[photo - permission pending]

The college has little record of the Worcester Barge, except that a new barge was 'paid for by subscription in 1887 and broken up in 1940 by the Worcester waterman on condition he could use the wood as firewood.' (SH)

'in 1871 Worcester moved to a small barge behind Queen's and gave an annuity to an old woman to her death for the barge.'

The college certainly had a barge in 1935 as reference can be found to her being broken up at Salters, and being 'not very big'. 

New College barge 1901

New College archives date their first barge from 1879. It was later used by Lincoln & Merton. Their second barge was built in 1909. By 1926 it was reported to be 'beyond repair'. The college commissioned a new one to be built in 1927/8 by Taylor & Bates of Chertsey but by the early 1950s with a new boathouse, the college no longer required it, so it was sold and towed to London in the 1960s where it was (is?) moored at Chelsea Reach. There is reputedly a 'missing' drawing of the 1927 barge. 

'There is some difficulty concerning the New College 1901 barge. The College owns a summary specification and blue-print of the 1927 barge which, according to photographs of the 1901 barge, is virtually identical with it except in the treatment of the stern. The explanation is probably that the barge built in 1901 by Salter's was found in 1927 to be rotten in the hull and beyond repair so, while completely rebuilding the barge hull, the old and very ornate superstructure and railings were retained intact to use again in the 1927 version.' (SH)

Christ Church 1862 barge in 1900 (credit H Taunt)

The first Christ Church barge was built between 1840-57 and lasted until c. 1907. The second Christ Church barge was built in c. 1860 and lasted until it was demolished in c. 1935. It was built in the 'gothic' style with pointed, lancet windows and spiedery, pierced railings. The college commissioned the first of the boathouses which was built between 1936-7 by Hinkins & Frewin Ltd. 

'There was a time when those barges that were built of a good quality wood were left unpainted to display it. Christ Church was one of these. It was reputed to be built entirely of oak, but a waterman who remembers it is sure that it was wood-graining and that it was innocent of oak above the hull.' (S Hosking)

Pembroke’s 1862 barge in 1902

Pembroke college shared a barge with New College, St Johns, and Jesus until 1877. In 1902 they had a new one - built by Salter's and designed by an unknown architect - but it was gone from the river by 1963. 

It was rumoured to have been the most beautiful barge built, rivalled only by Keble College Barge. 'Pembroke barge has been described as being one of the most fortunate since it was moored in front of a mass of pink and white hawthorn and this was added to by the pink geraniums and white marguerites on the roof.' (S Hosking)

Brasenose 1926 barge (credit H Eades)

When Brasenose 'took the river' in 1815 they 'celebrated with a bumps supper which would have made the hair of any modern vice principal stand on end' (C.S.)

The college commissioned a new barge to be built in 1860, and a second barge to be built in 1882. They had four barges in total. The 1882 barge was sold as a houseboat. The 1969 Sarah Hosking account says 'it is now in use at Donnington Bridge, Oxford.' 

A new barge was commissioned in 1926 and built by Rowhedge Ironworks of Colchester. It was described by Sarah Hosking, 'built very much in the Essex style of building having pointed pediments above the windows and an altogether cottagy appearance'. 

The reason for its being built in Colchester and not by Salters in Oxford is further explained, 'Salter's, the Oxford boatbuilders... who had considerable prejudice against the new innovation of building round a steel hull, refused to build the Brasenose barge round the proffered steel hull, which was formerly a flat raft used to support dredging apparatus. That was why it was built instead at Colchester and came back looking like an Essex cottage.'

By 1959 when the new BNC boathouse was completed, the barge was taken to Abingdon to act as a boys' club (still in use in 1969).

Exeter barge in 1873

Exeter college bought the 1825 Stationers' Co. Barge in 1849. Fondly known as 'the Red barge', 'with great swooping stern'. This was replaced by 'the Green barge' which was a houseboat style barge probably bought rather than rented from Salter's so that by 1864 Exeter had two barges. Possibly one was for the rowing men and another for the spectators. By 1873 both had been sold and the new Exeter Barge was designed by Mr Milner and built by Salters. It was 'a fine barge with pointed windows and ornate railings' (SH). Repairs were done in 1953 by Salters and the college 'talked of fitting a copper hull at £1500' (C. Sherriff, 2003). She was broken up at some point. 

Hertford 1911 barge (credit S Hosking)

Some time between 1877-90 the first Hertford Barge was built. 'Very often a college built a barge after a series of successes on the river, so Hertford barge was most likely built in the early 1880s ... after being head of the river in 1881.' (SH) 

The second was built in 1911, designed by George Drinkwater (possibly a pupil of Sir Thomas Jackson) in the 'classical' style. 

'It is not in any serious sense a use of classic orders in reiver architecture but it takes some of the most decorative features such as pillars and Ionic capitals and emphasises them out of all strict proportion to the barge's size. It is, in fact, a fairground parody of a Greek temple but beautifully built and entirely charming.' (S Hosking)

Donated to the OCBPT in 1966. Described as 'an ornate barge in classical style' by Maccoun. 

In the late 1960s The Hertford barge had a new steel hull fitted by Robert Maccoun (link). See photos which show the barge flanked firmly by two old narrowboats which he sank, and then pumped out, lifting the barge at the same time. The old hull was sawn off, and the barge was led down onto its new one. 

She was burnt out in 1969, but the superstructure was rebuilt by Maccoun, who describes the process in his 1971 'Plan for the Oxford College Barges':

'The  architectural details have been faithfully reproduced by Tough Brothers, and the Isis will again, for many years to come, be adorned by one of the most ornate barges, perhaps the most original of all with her Greek classical design, the work of Sir Thomas Jackson.'

Sadly she was vandalised again in 1997 at Sandford, and burnt out completely. (see photo above) The hull is now all that remains.

Balliol college bought the Skinners' Co. Barge in 1859 (later sold to Queens in 1885). 

'The Skinners made a considerable effort to preserve their barge for, apart from repairs, in 1776 it was decreed that "No French wine or hock was to be drunk aboard the barge" because of the damage such drinking had occasioned.' (SH)

They had a new barge built in 1881 but there seem to be 'no plans or architect's drawings' although she was reputedly designed by Alfred Waterhouse who was the architect of the Natural History Museum (unsubstantiated). 

'It is not known who built the Balliol barge but since it was too wide to go through Sandford Lock (which has since been widened) it must have been built near Oxford. Salters deny any knowledge of it so it may well ahve been built by Talboys. The canvas cover of this barge was replaced in 1904. 

This barge was once punted to Henley by members of the college and the journey took two weeks. The hull was probably resheathed during the war but there is no record of it. Balliol sold their barge on to St Catherine's at some point.

In the late 60s she was sold to 'an American' (probably Maccoun). In recent years, it 'went downstream with a man called Tate' where it sank (see photo of sunken boat on Crowdfunder page). Tate employed Mike Turk of Turks Boatyard to raise her and take her down to Richmond. Sadly, she has again recently sunk (2024).

St Catherine’s (formerly Balliol) 1881

St Catherine's bought the old Balliol barge. All we know about the St Catherine's barge is that it was considered by Maccoun in his 1971 Plan for the Oxford College Barges to be 'worth taking into account... can probably go on for 15 years without major attention to bottom or superstructure. However, parts of the bottom sheathing should be renewed and this will cost at least £300. Deck covering must be renewed.'

The Keble barge 1898

Built in 1889, the Keble College Barge with her Art Nouveau swirling lines, was rumoured to vie with Pembroke Barge in the beauty stakes, mixing Edwardian baroque with Art Nouveau styles. Her architect is unknown.

Records tell us that her hull was 2" elm for the bottom, and 1.5" oak for the sides.

Keble was one of the most elaborate of the 'Elizabethan Galley' style barges, along with the Magdalen College barge. Interesting details were her art-nouveau clapper-board stern, balustrading, and Baroque style shield/coat of arms.

By 1958 the barge was deteriorating and was taken on by the college cook, who had landed at Iffley. He was told by the Thames Conservancy that he didn't have permission either to take her out onto dry land, nor to sink her, so he dug a trench into his meadow, after which there was an 'accidental' delay in adjusting the flood gates and the river level rose enough to guide the barge into her new home. The bank of the river was repaired, the water levels dropped, and the barge was afloat in her new pond, much to the futile indignation of the Thames Conservancy. 

Keble then bought the 1927 Magdalen barge in 1958. By 1962 it had been sold privately as a houseboat. 

Robert Maccoun quoted for her restoration in 1967 but the work never took place. She was broken up at some point. Maccoun, in his 1971 Plan for the Oxford College Barges notes, 'We all look with regret at the cases of Keble and Trinity, now in a deplorable state, but originally two of the best examples. If a proper job had been done ten years ago to protect against rainwater and vandalism, these superb examples of architectural composition and carved decoration could have gone on for many years.'

Remnants of the Keble Barge, still in existence, 'give an inkling of her extravagant style' [CS]. The parts are owned by the OCBPT and kept in storage. One full side of the superstructure was preserved by the Oxford City Museum and gifted to the Trust in 2021.

Naval cadets’ 1941 Passing Out parade. Lincoln & Corpus barges in foreground (credit Dundas-Grant)

Little is known about the Lincoln barges except that the first was built in the late 19th century and sank in 1948.

In 1901-2 Lincoln college bought a barge from New College. This barge was sold as a houseboat and 'taken to Medley where it disintegrated' (SH). 

A new barge was acquired in 1925 and sold in 1957 to a private purchaser as a houseboat at Abingdon. Little detail is remaining of this barge, other than Sarah Hosking's comment in her 1969 manuscript, 'some of the other barges had best be described as fairground architecture for, while they are pretty and enchanting, they are less solidly built and their decoration gives the impression that it has been cut out of hardboard and tacked on. Wadham's 1887 barge and the Lincoln barge of 1925 belong to this category.' 

WINDOW barge

Merton took over the Window barge which 'was built in about 1850 and was shared by four colleges at a time. It had no door and the only entrances were through four windows, one for each changing room.' (SH) 

The new Merton barge was built in 1903 by Salter's and broken up in the 1940s.

The Merton barge bore some resemblance to the St John's barge in its parody of naval architectural style. It 'had similar stern treatment', with the poop sweeping up sharply and rectangular windows looking down from the stern, 'but differed in that it was decorated with ornamental carving.' (SH)

Rodney Needham describes 'dappled light flickering on the ceiling of the main chamber' and that he had never seen such an effect in any other setting, 'it was enchanting'. 

photo courtesy of Clare Sherriff

Built in 1891 in a style that parodied naval architecture - 18th century warships in particular - her poop swept up sharply and three windows looked down from the stern. She 'is reminiscent of an eighteenth century warship' (SH) and could appear surprisingly forbidding if seen so that her small scale was not apparent. 

A new hull was fitted to the barge in 1922. Sold by the college in 1961 to a St John's alumnus, she was restored in the 1950s and in 1971 a new steel shoe was fitted by Robert Maccoun. The St John's Barge Trust was set up that same year. In 1987 she was again restored, having been floated downstream from Iffley to Abingdon. Using 'Univ's spreader beams and the same lifting company, Terra Nova, with massive strops' and two cranes, she was then sent by low loader up to Perth in Scotland to be restored by the Ailsa-Perth Shipbuilders in Troon. [from a St John's fundraising pamphlet]

On her return to Oxford, a mooring was eventually found for her at the Four Pillars Hotel (now VOCO), but her condition deteriorated beyond repair over the years, and she was broken up in 2022.

Robert Maccoun in his 1971 Plan for the Oxford College Barges writes of the barges, "little time remains before they pass the boundary beyond which hope of restoration disappears. Afterwards one can think only of producing a copy. Even for that it is essential to prevent the demolishing of what remains, and time and various forms of vandalism are working against this." 

Oriel college bought the Goldsmiths' barge for £100 in 1846. This barge had been built in 1822 and had been used at the opening of London Bridge in 1831 and during a state visit to Greenwich in 1835. When, in 1845, the Goldsmiths resolved to give up the Lord Mayor's Show, they sold their barge to Oriel. (A. Petrides, 'State Barges on the Thames' 1959)

'The Oriel barge was very unusual. The College apparently admired their Goldsmiths' barge so much that when it had to be broken up in 1892, Sir Thomas Jackson designed a new barge for them that was almost a facsimile of the old one. It incorporated many of the fittings and ornaments from the old bafrge including two gilded, allegorical angels which are still preserved in the boathouse. It had a very long pointed prow and a modified, but still impressive, sweeping stern. All the London barges were clinker build but this Oriel barge was onlyy clinker built on the sides, and underneath the water line it was carvel, that is, the planks abutted and did not overlap as in clinker building. This was the only clinker built barge of the Oxford series. Nearly all the others were constructed with a flat bottom, and sides built up of horizonal boards, faced with inch thick vertical planking.' (S Hosking)

In 1892 Oriel College commissioned celebrated architect of the time, Sir Thomas Jackson to design their new barge. She was built in the same year, with 10 beautiful oval windows and the figures of two angels standing either side of the door.  She was broken up in 1954 but her 'distinctive angels' still decorate the purpose-built Oriel boathouse today.

The  drawings for Oriel college barge - 'the only full set of plans that have come to light so far' and a full set of drawings - can be seen in Clare Sherriff's excellent book 'The Oxford College Barges' 2003. The stove pipe can be seen standing 6ft 6in above the top deck and the flag pole was to have pulleys.  Oriel was to be clinker built with elm. The fireplace was to have 'York strips' which are thin, natural stone cladding specifically cut from Yorkshire sandstone, used for a rustic or natural look in building exteriors and interiors. 

These plans are unique in the history of the barges, particularly as Salter Brothers, who built the majority of the barges, lost all their documents in a fire at their Oxford premises'.