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Gazetteer

Baruch S Blumberg, Master of Balliol 1989-1994, suggested soon after his installation that it might be of interest to pull together in an organised form some of the notes on places of Balliol interest which had been collected over the years. The original intention was to offer the result for publication in the Balliol College Annual Record, but it turned out far too long, and is now made available in this form.

Many of the places below are associated with Balliol through the College’s patronage of the local parish church. Ecclesiastical patronage means that the patron holds the advowson, or right of nominating the incumbent. In several of the cases of patronage which are noted, the College parish is now run as a unit together with others in which the College had no interest originally.

Links on place names should take you to a map of the area. Links within descriptions go to historic site pages, church websites etc.

ABBOTSLEY
Cambridgeshire.
The College has been Patron since 1341. The ancient Church is dedicated to St Margaret; half of it is now the responsibility of the Redundant Churches Fund. Master John Wyclif was active on College business there in 1361.

ADLESTROP
Gloucestershire.
Master Theophilus Leigh (Master for nearly 60 years) was buried close by the Church of St Mary Magdalene there 1785; there is a memorial on the wall inside {Throughout, "memorial"means any kind of plaque, stone, tomb, whatever.}.

ASSISI
Hugh of Hartlepool, one of the two agents charged in 1282 by Dervorguilla with consolidating the College's foundation, and later Franciscan Provincial Minister, died and was buried there 1302: there is a massive incised grave-slab of marble, with an inscription and full-length effigy, on the floor of the middle Church of St Francis, under an archway between the Chapels of St Anthony and St Mary Magdalene.

ASTON FLAMVILLE WITH BURBAGE
Leicestershire.
The College has been Patron since 1919. The Church of St Peter at Aston Flamville is ancient. The Church at Burbage was rebuilt 1842-1845. It is dedicated to St Catherine of Alexandria (the College's Patron Saint, but this is a coincidence). The choir stalls, presumably designed by William Butterfield, were previously in the College Chapel.

BAILLEUL-EN-VIMEU
Picardy (there are at least ten more Bailleuls elsewhere in France).
The main home of the Balliol family from which John Balliol came; their castle was on the high ground above the village to the south. No superstructure survives, but the massive earthworks on which it stood can still be found in the Bois de Bailleul (private property, rich in game: part of the Chateau Coquerel estate), thickly overgrown but undisturbed.

BARNARD CASTLE
County Durham.
The main Balliol family base in England. Dervorguilla probably died there 28 January 1290. Open to the public: in the care of English Heritage.

BECKLEY
Oxfordshire.
The ancient Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary has an interesting wall memorial commemorating Ann, wife of Master Theophilus Leigh (see under Adlestrop), and several other members of his family.

BEDFORD
The College has been a Patron of St Mary's since 1855. The Church has a memorial brass for Archdeacon Giles Thorne (d. 1671), who was formerly a Fellow: in 1631 he was banished from the University for seditious preaching.

BERE REGIS
Dorset.
The College has been Patron since 1699. Henry Fisher, sometime Fellow, Benefactor, was buried in the Church of St John the Baptist there 1773; memorial (which had the same enigmatic inscription Verbum non amplius Fisher as the Fisher Building) stolen about 1980. John Morton, Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury, was born there (he was probably a Balliol man; his arms decorate the College Lodge); the Church has a spectacular carved and painted roof given by him in 1486.

BERWICK-UPON-TWEED
In 1292, John Balliol junior, son of the College's Founders (see under St Margaret's Hope), was declared King of Scotland in the Great Hall of Berwick Castle (most of which was demolished when the railway station was built: there is a plaque in the waiting room).

BLEDLOW
Buckinghamshire.
Master John Davey was Vicar; he was buried there 1798. He asked in his will to be buried in a "frugal" manner in the churchyard. Most of the churchyard has been cleared and few stones of pre-1800 date are visible and legible. The Church was locked on 19/8/93.

BLUNHAM
Bedfordshire.
The College has been Patron since 1919; the Church (14th century, restored extensively 1862) is dedicated to St Edmund.

BOURTON-ON-THE-HILL
Gloucestershire.
There is a memorial to Thomas Williams (d. 1829), sometime Fellow, Benefactor, in the Church of St Lawrence.

BRABOURNE
Kent.
The Parish has vague associations with the Balliol/Scott family, and there is a persistent false tradition that the heart shrine in St Mary's Church is John Balliol's.

BRISTOL
The College was instrumental in the foundation of Bristol University in the 19th century; in the 18th century there were strong links with Bristol Corporation (hence the Bristol Building, alias Staircase XII).

BUITTLE CASTLE
Near Dalbeattie, by Dumfries. OS map ref. NX 819616.
Dervorguilla's castle. The College Statutes were sealed there in 1282. The College now owns the motte and has legal right of access: vestigial masonry still stands. Read more about Buittle Castle here.

BURBAGE
Leicestershire. See above, under Aston Flamville.

CAMBRIDGE
Balliol has ties with St John's College, for mutual hospitality etc, but the connection is a pleasant modern invention.

CLEHONGER
Near Hereford.
Archdeacon Richard Prosser, sometime Fellow, Benefactor (the first of the great right-wing disciplinarians who made Balliol what it was), was buried in All Saints Church there 1839; there is a memorial.

CLOPHILL
Bedfordshire.
The College has been Patron since 1919; the Church of St Mary was rebuilt in 1848.

COLCHESTER
The College has been a Patron in the area since 1714. St Leonard's Church is ancient; it is now the responsibility of the Redundant Churches Fund. St Michael's, Myland was built 1854-1855. St Stephen's was built about 1906.

COLMONELL
Ayrshire.
On the edge of Almont Farm at Pinwherry in the Parish of Colmonell, there is a substantial 20th century monument to John Snell (Benefactor, d. 1679); there is also a memorial to him in the Kirk at Colmonell, over the side door, inside. By the Kirk is the gravestone of Snell's father, with an inscription by Snell himself. See also under Oxford, St Cross Church.

COLNE
Huntingdonshire.
Thomas Laurence (sometime Master, ejected after the Civil War) was buried in the chancel of St Helen's Church there 1658; any memorial would have been lost when the Tower fell in 1896.

COMBE
Oxfordshire.
FLM Willis-Bund, sometime Dean and Chaplain, was buried in the churchyard 1980; memorial.

CUMNOR
Oxfordshire.
Masters Robert Burley and Adam Squire (who embezzled a legacy to the College from his Cumnor patron Anthony Forster, to whom there is an imposing monument) were Vicars, 15th and 16th centuries respectively.

DULOE
Cornwall.
The College has been Patron since 1705. The ancient Church is dedicated to St Cuby. The list of incumbents includes Robert Scott, later Master.  Some of the pews were originally in the College Chapel.

DUMFRIES
The old stone footbridge over the river there is known as Devorgilla's Bridge--it was probably built in the 15th century to replace one originally provided at her expense; there is a Devorgilla Lounge (i.e. pub) and a Devorgilla Cafe near by. [The preferred spelling in the area is Devorgilla. Locals insist that this is the correct spelling, but there is no 'correct' spelling for a mediaeval name, and this one is in any case latinised Gaelic (Derbforgaill).]

DUNDRENNAN ABBEY
Near Kirkcudbright.
Dervorguilla's father, Alan of Galloway, is buried there.

DURHAM CATHEDRAL
Legend says John Balliol was whipped at the Cathedral door. Bishop Walter of Kirkham (d. 1260; see under Howden) was instrumental in the College's foundation; Bishop Richard of Bury (d. 1345) was a friend of the College later; both are buried in the Cathedral. Bishop Shute Barrington (d. 1826; see also under Mongewell) was a supportive Visitor; memorial.

EDLINGHAM
Northumberland.
Sir William Felton, Benefactor, was buried in the very ancient Church of St John the Baptist there c. 1359; there are fragments of heraldic stone relevant to him.

ELY CATHEDRAL
Bishop William Gray, Benefactor, was buried in the Cathedral 1478, but his memorial has been destroyed. The majority of the manuscript books he gave the College are still in the Library.

ELMORE
Near Gloucester.
One of the Guise memorials in the Church of St John the Baptist there accuses the College of embezzling the Snell Foundation in the 18th century.

FILLINGHAM
Lincolnshire.
The College has been Patron since 1343. The Church of St Andrew was built on the site of an ancient church in the 18th century.

FONTAINE-SUR-SOMME
Picardy (near Bailleul-en-Vimeu, q.v.)
The Lords of Fontaine had a substantial castle on the high ground above the village to the south (there is now nothing to be seen of it except the lie of the land): John Balliol's family had many links with them.

FOTHERINGHAY CASTLE
Northamptonshire.
Fotheringhay Castle (little of which remains) was one of Dervorguilla's homes in England: in 1284 she sealed a deed there concerning three plots in Horsemonger Street (i.e. Broad Street), the College's first freehold property.

FORDHAM
Essex.
The College has been alternate Patron since 1921. All Saints Church is ancient.

GARSINGTON
Oxfordshire.
Russell Meiggs, Praefectus of Holywell Manor, was buried in the cemetery 1989: memorial.

GLASGOW
The College has had close ties with the University of Glasgow for more than 250 years, through the Snell Foundation.

GLYMPTON
Oxfordshire.
Thomas Tisdale, would-be Benefactor (but his Trustees founded Pembroke College Oxford instead), was buried in St Mary's Church there 1610; memorial.

GREAT HASELEY
Oxfordshire.
Thomas Harrope, Benefactor, was Rector, early 16th cent.

GREAT HORKESLEY
Essex.
The College has been Patron since 1921. The Church is dedicated to All Saints.

GUILDFORD
Archbishop George Abbot, sometime Fellow, Benefactor, was buried in Trinity Church 1633; imposing memorial. Abbot's Hospital nearby is his Foundation.

HANDBOROUGH
Oxfordshire.
In September 1563 the College rented John Palmer's house (exact location not known) in Handborough and all except a couple of caretakers moved there from Oxford because of plague. They stayed there as a College for a full year.

HASLINGFIELD
Cambridgeshire.
Sir Thomas Wendy, Benefactor, was buried in All Saint's Church c. 1670; memorial.

HENLEY
Oxfordshire.
Lady Elizabeth Periam, Benefactor, buried in the Church of St Mary the Virgin 1621; spectacular memorial.

HEREFORD CATHEDRAL
Master Thomas Good (he rescued the College from bankruptcy) was a Canon; he was buried in the Cathedral 1678, but there is no memorial.

HOWDEN
Humberside.
Bishop Walter of Kirkham, the Bishop who according to legend forced John Balliol to establish the College, died and was embalmed there in 1260: his innards were buried in the Minster Church of St Peter (now partly ruined)where an inscribed stone survives (the greater part of him was buried in Durham Cathedral, q.v.), albeit lying loose on the south side of the Saltmarshe Chantry Chapel.

HUNTSPILL
Somerset.
The College has been Patron since 1724. St Peter and All Hallows Church was largely rebuilt after fire damage 1880.

ISLIP
Oxfordshire.
Above the blocked north doorway inside the Church of St Nicholas is a deathmask of Richard Busby, Visitor and Benefactor (d. 1695). See also under Westminster Abbey.

LEIRE
Leicestershire.
The College has been Patron since 1919. The ancient Church of St Peter was largely rebuilt 1867.

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL
Many Bishops of Lincoln were Visitors of the College; Bishop Oliver Sutton (d. 1299) was an important early friend: he was buried in the Cathedral (inscribed stone, retro-choir).

LITTLE WITTENHAM
Berkshire
Amongst the numerous Dunch family memorials in the Church, at the west end, is one to Sir Willam Dunch and his widow Mary, who established an exhibition, ca 1605

LONDON

FULHAM CHURCHYARD
Bishops Henry Compton and John Robinson, successive Visitors and Bishops of London, Benefactors, were buried there 1713 and 1723 respectively; memorials to both of them.

ST JAMES CLERKENWELL
Bishop John Bell, Benefactor, was buried there 1556; memorial (brass from previous Church, replaced 1884).

ST LAWRENCE JEWRY
The College was Patron 1294-1951. The Church (destroyed in the Great Fire, rebuilt by Wren, gutted in the Blitz) is now the Corporation Church, but it still has a prominent seat (it bears the College arms) reserved for the Master.

ST MARY-AT-HILL
The College was given the patronage in compensation for St Lawrence Jewry in 1951. The Church is at present (1990) being rebuilt after a fire.

ST MARY-AT-LAMBETH
This Church is now the Museum of Garden History, but the memorial to Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall, Benefactor, who was buried in it 1559, survives.

WESTMINSTER ABBEY
John Balliol's arms appear on the ancient north wall; perhaps he chipped in. Several Balliol men are commemorated - Matthew Baillie, Richard Busby (see also under Islip), Robert Southey, Dean Stanley, Matthew Arnold, and no doubt more.

WHITECHAPEL
The College has been closely associated with Toynbee Hall since it was established a century ago.  

LONGBENTON
Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
The College has been Patron since 1340. There was one parish but now there are two. St Mary Magdalen's Church is modern. St Bartholemew's Church was largely rebuilt in the late 18th century. The font has the College arms (as formerly used just an orle for Balliol) on it; the Balliol orle and the lion of Galloway appear either side of the main door arch. The College also had estates there 14th-20th centuries. Balliol Business Park is nothing to do with the College, except that it is on land once owned by Balliol.

LONGPRÉ-LES-CORPS-SAINTS
Picardy (near Bailleul-en-Vimeu, q.v.)
The Church of Longpré was built by Aléaume de Fontaines and Lorette his wife, John Balliol's maternal grandparents. It was razed in 1940 and subsequently rebuilt, but the original crypt containing an effigy of Aléaume (who died crusading) and Lorette's tomb survived.

LYDEARD ST LAWRENCE
Somerset.
Master John Venn was buried there 1687; table-top tomb in the churchyard.

MONGEWELL
Oxfordshire.
Bishop Shute Barrington (see under Durham) had a residence there, and restored the ancient Church of St John the Baptist in 1791, but the nave is now a roofless ruin. The responsibility of the Redundant Churches Fund, it is fenced off in the grounds of Carmel College. The chancel is normally locked: it contains memorials to Barrington and his second wife, who were buried there 1826 and 1807 respectively.

MORETON
Oxfordshire.
The College had an estate there for several centuries. The only trace of it now is a house called College Brook.

OXFORD

MERTON COLLEGE
Several early members of Balliol are buried in the Chapel, which also has a memorial to Master Edward Caird (Hon. Fellow of Merton).

ST CROSS CHURCH
John Snell, Benefactor, was buried in the Church 1679; original memorial destroyed or covered by pews in the 19th century.

ST CROSS CEMETERY
Masters AL Smith and JL Strachan Davidson (Benefactor) are buried near the gate there 1924 and 1916 respectively; also Sir Hugh Cairns (distinguished medic-Fellow) close to the east end of the Church 1952, and Ernest Walker (Director of Music) just inside the gate 1949; memorials for all four. And on the wall at the bottom is the wooden cross which was on the Ploegsteert wood grave of RW Poulton-Palmer (Balliol 1908, Captain of the England Rugby XV, killed in action 1915).

ST MARY MAGDALEN
Many Balliol men are buried there, including successive late 15th century Masters William Bell (Benefactor) and Robert Abdy in the Church. Memorial on the wall to Joseph Sanford (longest serving Fellow, 1714-1774).

ST MARY THE VIRGIN
Master Edmund Lilly was buried in the Church 1610; memorial to David Gregory (Savilian Professor of Astronomy, d. 1708), the first Balliol scientist in the modern sense.

ST MICHAEL AT THE NORTHGATE
Charles Harris, College Steward and Benefactor, was buried there c. 1714; memorial.

ST SEPULCHRE'S CEMETERY
Masters Benjamin Jowett (Benefactor) and Edward Caird buried there, 1893 and 1907 respectively; also TH Green (philosopher-Fellow) and John Farmer (Director of Music) 1882 and 1901 respectively; memorials, all near the gate.

WOLVERCOTE CEMETERY
FF Urquhart, Dean and Benefactor, was buried there 1934; there is a memorial (plot C1 55).  

PORTSLADE
Near Brighton.
Hannah Brackenbury, Benefactor, was buried in St Nicolas's Church (Brackenbury Chapel), 1873.

PULLOXHILL WITH FLITTON
Bedfordshire.
The College has been Patron since 1919. Flitton Church (St John the Baptist) is 15th century; Pulloxhill Church (St James) was rebuilt in 1846.

RISEHOLME
Lincolnshire.
The College was Patron from 1342 until about 1855. The College contributed when the Church was rebuilt about 1850. The Balliol arms, and the arms of Master Jenkyns (with an escutcheon of pretence for his wife Troth) and the arms of Scotland appear above the North Sanctuary window.

ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL
Bishop John Warner, Benefactor, was buried in the Cathedral 1666; memorial. Dean Robert Scott (sometime Master) was buried in the cemetery 1887; memorial brass communion rail in the Cathedral.

ROSS-ON-WYE
John Kyrle (Balliol 1654), alias The Man of Ross, is celebrated everywhere - in the Church, in street names and by a pub called The Man of Ross, the inn-sign of which is a copy of the Balliol portrait (cat. no. 83).

SHELLINGFORD
Oxfordshire.
Master John Parkhurst (Benefactor) was incumbent; he was buried there 1637.

SOUTH LUFFENHAM
Rutland.
The College has been Patron since 1855. The ancient Church is dedicated to St Mary.

STAMFORDHAM
Northumberland.
The College had extensive estates there 13th-20th centuries. What seem to be the arms of William Gray appear in the Church porch.

ST GERVAIS-LES-BAINS
Haute Savoie, France.
A thousand metres above St Gervais on the slopes of Le Prarion, is the Chalet des Anglais, to which FF Urquhart (Dean, died 1934) took largely Balliol reading parties 1891-1931. Reading parties still go there every summer.

ST MARGARET'S HOPE
Orkney Islands.
Margaret, the Maid of Norway, died there in 1290 on her way to take up the Crown of Scotland. The succession was unclear: it was eventually settled that John Balliol junior, Dervorguilla's son, not her husband of the same name who founded the College in 1263, should be King, and he reigned as such 1292-1296. Confusion between the two John Balliols soon led to the false notion that the College was founded by King John Balliol, an error which has been repeated many times down the centuries, and even now resurfaces from time to time.

SWEETHEART ABBEY
New Abbey, near Dumfries.
Dervorguilla founded, and was buried in, the Abbey (there are substantial ruins, nw curated by Historic Scotland), together with John Balliol's heart, in 1290. Fragments of a 16th century monument to her survive; the College had an inscribed stone put on her probable resting place after the 1963 Septcentenary celebrations. There is a picturesque cottage called Devorgilla nearby.

TENDRING
Essex.
The College has been Patron since 1714. The Church of St Edmund is ancient.

TIMSBURY
Somerset.
The College has been Patron since 1701. The Church of St Mary was rebuilt in 1825.

TIVERTON
Devon.
There was a strong connection with Blundell's School through the Blundell Foundation 17th-19th centuries; Blundell Fellows dominated the College in the 18th century. St Peter's Church has several interesting Newte family memorials: they were strongly linked to Blundells and Balliol.

UFTON
Warwickshire.
The College held (as Snell Trustees) and ran the entire village, 18th-20th centuries.

ULCEBY
Lincolnshire, near Alford (there are two Ulcebys in Lincolnshire. )
The College has been Patron since 1942. All Saints Church was rebuilt in 1926.

VENUS
The planet Venus has a crater which was named Dervorguilla in 1992.

WELLS CATHEDRAL
Master Richard Jenkyns (who was also Dean of Wells; Benefactor) was buried there 1854; the original obstructive memorial in St Katharine's Chapel has been replaced by an inscribed floor slab.

WELLS, ST THOMAS
The Church was built as a memorial to Richard Jenkyns, by his widow.  

WILBURTON
Cambridgeshire.
Archdeacon Richard Bole, Benefactor, was buried in the Church of St Peter there 1477; memorial brass. The manuscript books he gave to the College are still in the Library.

WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL
Bishop Richard Fox, who gave new Statutes which reshaped the College in 1507, was buried there 1528; spectacular chantry.

WOLVERHAMPTON
There is a Balliol Business Park there. It is named after the Balliol Trainers (aircraft which were built on the site): their connection with the College, if any, is not known.

WOODSTOCK , OLD WOODSTOCK, AND WOOTTON
Oxfordshire.
The old house (formerly called Praunce's Place) on the main road to the north of The Black Prince pub was set up by the College as a plague refuge in 1589. Other sometime Balliol properties in the area include The Marlborough Arms and a farm in Wootton. A farm near The Killingworth Castle is shown as Balliol Farm on some modern maps but regulars in the former did not know the latter name, 18/8/1993. A cottage near Wootton Church with an 1834 datestone is known as Balliol Cottage; in the Church to the left of the main altar is a memorial with a long inscription to John Harris, died 1676, recording that he was once a Fellow of Balliol.

WORCESTER CATHEDRAL
Near the North Porch is a memorial to Henry Bright, a celebrated schoolmaster (and sometime Fellow, 1585) who sent many pupils to Balliol.

YORK MINSTER
Archbishop John Piers (sometime Master) was buried there 1594; memorial.

ZILLEBEKE
Belgium
There is a memorial cross for TKH Rae (Keith Rae, Balliol 1907, leading light of the Balliol Boys' Club) at Sanctuary Wood Cemetery.

- Anna Sander