MAN-10265 MAGAZINE.indd - Mansfield College - University of Oxford

From the Archives: the Changing Landscape of Mansfi eld College
Anyone for tennis?
This photograph, (left) dating from 1950, shows four members of the Congregational Society (including Elaine Kaye, second
left, then at St Anne’s, and Trevor Watt, fi rst right, a Mansfi eld Ordinand) enjoying tennis on the College Lawn. The postcard
(right) shows the old tennis nets on the lawns.
The Principal’s Lodge
The Principals of Mansfi eld used to live
in a Lodge that lies where the Porters’
Lodge is situated today (see below,
and on the left above). The Lodge was
demolished in the early 1960’s to allow
the construction of the John Marsh
buildings.
The Mansfi eld Obelisk
The Mansfi eld Obelisk (see above on the right of the Lodge,
and see right) was presented to the College in 1928. It was
discovered in the grounds of Spring Hill College, which was
of course the original site of Mansfi eld. The Obelisk bore
a motto, Dux femina facti*, which referred to Sarah Glover
(née Mansfi eld), who was one of the founders of the College.
The original magazine entry from July 1928 reads:
“One piece of news gave an unexpected fl avour to the dish
– that an obelisk discovered on Spring Hill property is to
be presented to the College. We understand that it is to be
set up in a sacred “grove”**, and foresee the possibility of the archaeologists
of another era claiming it is an interesting relic of the ancient ritual of
Nonconformity in the Dark Ages.”
* [“Woman leader of the deed” – from Virgil’s Aeneid, said of Dido.]
“**Or perhaps it would be more correct to say “as a grove” – though it would seem to bear more resemblance
to Mazzebah that Asherah.”***
***[This footnote refers to the fact that Mazzebah, or pillar, is used to refer to the male genital organ, whilst
Asherah, or grove, refers to the female genital organ.]
Unfortunately, and contrary to the 1928 prediciton of longevity, the obelisk
crumbled as it was moved to make way for the new buildings.
EH
MANSFIELD PAST AND PRESENT 16