, originally '''Brazen Nose College''' (in full: '''The King's Hall and College of Brasenose'''), is one of the constituent
College s of the
University Of Oxford in the
United Kingdom . Although not wealthy by comparison to other Oxbridge Colleges, it has an estimated
Financial Endowment of £72m (
2003 ). Often referred to by the abbreviation, "'''BNC'''", Brasenose stands near the
Radcliffe Camera in the centre of Oxford.
The College was founded in 1509 by a lawyer, Sir
Richard Sutton , and the
Bishop Of Lincoln ,
William Smyth . Smyth provided the money for the college's foundation, and Sutton acquired the property. It was built on the site of Brasenose Hall — one of the
Medieval Oxford institutions which originally existed just as a lodging house, but which had grown to become a seat of learning. The college still maintains traditional ties to its official Visitor, the
Bishop Of Lincoln .
The name "Brasenose" is thought to originate from a brazen (
Bronze )
Door Knocker in the shape of a nose; the nose-shaped door knocker which hangs above the high table of the main hall of Brasenose College is thought to be the original door knocker belonging to Brasenose Hall. In the 1330s, a group of students left
Oxford for
Stamford in
Lincolnshire led by a student from Brasenose Hall, and are thought to have taken the door knocker with them. In 1890, a house in Stamford named "Brazenose" bearing a 12th-century door knocker in the shape of a nose was put on sale. The house was purchased by the college for the sake of the door knocker, which was removed and placed in the hall, believed to have been returned to its rightful home. The house, and remains of the Hall, are now part of the estate of
Stamford School . Interest in the college's history by its members is still strong, and in 2006, Brasenose students made a pilgrimage to
Lincoln and
Stamford .
Brasenose College Boat Club (BNCBC) is popularly held to be the oldest boat club in the world; this is impossible to verify but BNCBC is certainly the oldest collegiate boat club and took part in the first ever
Head Race , beating
Jesus College Boat Club on that occasion.
See also .
Brasenose College is featured as
Lonsdale College in the ''
Inspector Morse '' novels and TV adaptations. It appears both as "Brazenface College" and under its own name in
Cuthbert Bede 's
19th-century comic novel ''
Verdant Green, An Oxford Freshman ''
(online text) .
