St John’s College is the wealthiest of the 38 constituent colleges that make up the University of Oxford and it has considerable land holdings around Oxford. The college was founded in 1555, but several college buildings are at least 100 years older than this date and were originally built as a monastery.
Former students at St John’s include Kingsley Amis; former prime minister, Tony Blair; former Canadian prime minister, Lester B Pearson; former Sudanese prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and former Thai prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva.
![The Front Quadrangle at St John's College at the University of Oxford (Photo: Ed Webster [CC BY-SA 2.0])](https://englandrover.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/st-johns-college-oxford-1280x853.jpg)
What to see at St John’s College
Visitors to St John’s College are able to see the Front Quad, Canterbury Quad, the chapel and Kendrew Quad.
The Front Quadrangle dates from 1437 although it was considerably updated when the college was founded in the mid-16th century.
The chapel also predates the college’s foundation and was originally part of a monastery.
Canterbury Quadrangle is an Italian Renaissance-style building that was completed in 1636, and at the time it was the first example of this architectural style in Oxford. The quadrangle includes the college library.
Kendrew Quadrangle is the newest quad and was only completed in 2010.
The college also owns the Lamb and Flag pub on St Giles and its profits fund scholarships at the college. The pub has been operating since at least 1566, although it moved to its current site in 1613.
Visiting St John’s College
St John’s College is located on St Giles near the Ashmolean Museum and just north of Balliol College. It is less than a five-minute walk into the city centre.
Visitors to St John’s must enter through the main lodge on St Giles.
The college is free to visit and open to the public from 1pm–5pm daily (until dusk during winter).
Like other colleges at Oxford, St John’s College not all areas are open to visitors and it is occasionally closed to the public for university events.
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