Oxford, Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire Churches posted a photo:

Oriel College

Oriel is one of the University of Oxford’s 39 colleges.

It is the fifth oldest of the University’s constituent colleges – it was founded in 1326.

www.oriel.ox.ac.uk

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriel_College,_Oxford

Cecil Rhodes
by Henry Pegram
1911

On the side facing the High Street, there is a statue of Rhodes over the main entrance, with Edward VII and George V beneath.

The statue formed part of a group of seven statues commissioned for the building from the sculptor Henry Pegram.

The inscription reads: “e Larga MVnIfICentIa CaeCILII rhoDes”, (Out of the bountiful munificence of Cecil Rhodes). The enlarged letters form a chronogram for the year 1911 when the building was completed.

Controversy

The statue has been the subject of protests for several years in the wake of the Rhodes Must Fall movement in 2015.

Hundreds of protestors again demanded its removal in June 2020, in the wake of the removal of the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol a few days previously. The Bristol and Oxford statues were targeted during the protests that arose following the murder of George Floyd in the United States.

On 20 May 2021, however, the college decided not to remove the statue despite the majority of members of a commission to decide its future recommending removal; Oriel College cited costs and ‘complex’ planning procedures.

www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/streets/inscriptions/central/rho…

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Rhodes