Brasenose College

Brasenose College was founded in 1509 during the reign of Henry VIII and ranks among the older constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. Its singular name derives from a medieval brass door knocker shaped like a nose — the 'brazen nose' — that once hung at its gate. According to college lore, the knocker was carried off to Stamford, Lincolnshire by students in the 13th century; when the college finally retrieved it in 1890, they did so by purchasing the entire building in which it hung. The Old Quad's Tudor stonework and the adjacent 17th-century chapel give the college its distinctive character. Visitors may enter the quadrangle during limited opening hours, experiencing the rare texture of a college that remains an active academic and residential community.