The development of the college's buildings is perhaps best thought of as a zigzag, beginning in the 1870s at the end of Norham Gardens and making its way down towards the River Cherwell, and then running back towards Norham Gardens forming quadrangles on the return journey. The following account of the buildings moves through the college as these spaces emerge for a visitor entering the college at the Porters' Lodge and walking to the river. Because of the way the college developed, the dates and styles of the buildings enclosing the quadrangles are not all of a piece.
Leatare Quadrangle The Leatare quadrangle was completed in March 2017 and includes both the college's newest and oldest buildings. The main entrance consists of the front gates flanked by classical columns along with the Porters' Lodge (2017). Unlike most other Oxford colleges, the Porter's Lodge is freely accessible 24/7 to visitors and members of the public even during term time, and visitors are not charged for entry. It is also wheelchair accessible, and is participating in the Safe Lodge Scheme, in which students from other participating colleges who feel vulnerable or unsafe can go there and receive free transportation back to their own college, which is later charged to their student account. On the North West side the Donald Fothergill Building (2017) contains student accommodation while the Clore Graduate Centre (2017) extends further out to the South East towards the University Parks. The college's oldest buildings are along the southeast side of the Leatare Quadrangle. The college's original house, a white brick gothic villa, is now known as "Old Old Hall", while the adjoining red-brick extension designed by
Basil Champneys is known as New Old Hall (1884). On several occasions in the 20th century, consideration was given to demolishing the earliest buildings of the college, but the temptation was resisted. The only remaining visible evidence of the road that used to run alongside Old Old Hall and past the steps of Talbot Hall are the two large
linden trees, which used to line the pavement before the road was removed to allow expansion of the college. The two smaller trees were planted during construction of the quadrangle. The recent expansion designed by
John Simpson Architects was modelled after the
Porta Maggiore in
Rome, in conjunction with the simple façade of the Wolfson West building. The MCR, located in the Clore Graduate Centre, is named after the first female
Prime Minister of Pakistan,
Benazir Bhutto, who studied at the college from 1973 to 1977.
Wolfson Quadrangle The architect of the main early college buildings, including Lodge, Talbot and Wordsworth, was
Sir Reginald Blomfield, who had earlier worked on other educational commissions such as
Shrewsbury School, and
Exeter College, Oxford. He used the
French Renaissance style of the 17th century for the buildings and chose red brick with white stone facings, setting a tone the college was to continue to follow in later work. These buildings describe the south and east of the Wolfson Quadrangle and run out into the gardens to the east. Blomfield was also involved in establishing and planning the gardens. The central block, the Talbot Building (1910) on the North East of the main quad houses Talbot Hall and the Old Library (currently a reception and lecture room), while the accommodation for students and tutors is divided between three wings, the Wordsworth Building (1896), the Toynbee Building (1915) and the Lodge Building (1926). Talbot Hall contains some fine oak panelling donated by former students to honour Elizabeth Wordsworth and, prior to the Deneke Building, was used as a dining hall for the students. In recent years, it is used to house termly live music nights among other college events. The portraits in the Hall include the work of notable artists; among the portraits of principals are: • Sir
J. J. Shannon's portrait of
Dame Elizabeth •
Philip de László's of
Miss Jex-Blake • Sir
Rodrigo Moynihan's of
Dr Grier •
Maud Sumner's of
Miss Sutherland Library In the old Library is a marble statue by
Edith Bateson. On the North West is the Lynda Grier building (1962) housing the college library; this was officially opened by
Queen Elizabeth II in 1961. The ground floor of Lynda Grier was originally student accommodation but in 2006 it was converted into a law library, which was opened that year by
Cherie Blair. The library was of great importance when founded as women were not permitted to use the
Bodleian Library, and thus is relatively large for an Oxford college. Since 2016 the library has also featured a feminist book collection curated by Associate Fellow
Emma Watson, called "Our Shared Shelf". This collection supports a feminist book club that runs at the college. The Briggs room originally contained the entire archive of rare and antiquarian books donated to the college over the years. However, due to its size of around 2,000 books, the archive is now stored in the Lawrence Lacerte Rare Books Room in the new Law Library extension on the ground floor. The collection includes a
Quran created and a Latin translation of
Galileo's Dialogo from 1663. Lynda Grier and Wolfson West were designed by
Raymond Erith. In recent years the Wolfson Quadrangle, in contrast to many
Oxbridge quadrangles, has been planted with wildflowers instead of an intensively managed, striped quadrangle lawn.
Lannon Quadrangle Named after former principal,
Dame Frances Lannon, the quadrangle consists of the Sutherland Building (1971) and the Pipe Partridge Building (2010). Behind this is Sutherland's sister building, Kathleen Lee (1972), which houses the JCR. The first phase of the recent plan to expand the college, the Pipe Partridge Building, was completed in early 2010 and was opened by the
Chancellor of the University of Oxford,
Chris Patten, in April 2010. The Pipe Partridge Building includes the 136-seat Simpkins Lee Theatre, a dining hall, seminar rooms and 64 new undergraduate study bedrooms. It won the
Georgian Group award for the best new building in the classical tradition.
Chapel and Deneke To the northeast extends the large
Deneke Building (1932) along with the hall and the college's
Byzantine-style chapel where the choir practises and carol services are held in Michaelmas term. These were designed by
Giles Gilbert Scott. The dining hall has a reputation for serving the best meals of any Oxford college, and is one of only a few Oxford colleges to serve
Halal meals. The chapel has simple decoration with several paintings on the walls, and a statue of
Margaret Beaufort that lies in the central section of the chapel. The passageway that leads to the chapel is referred to within the college as "Hell's Passage". The name was derived from the 19th-century illustrations of
Dante's
Inferno, by
John D. Batten, that used to decorate its walls. The chapel is in the form of a
Greek cross and was dedicated by the college's founder Edward Stuart Talbot, in January 1933.
Gardens and grounds Lady Margaret Hall is one of the few Oxford colleges that backs onto the
River Cherwell. It is set in spacious grounds (about ). The grounds include a set of playing fields, netball and
tennis courts, a punt house,
topiary, and large herbaceous planting schemes along with vegetable borders. There is a Fellows' Garden – hidden from view by tall hedgerows – and a Fellows' Lawn, on which walking is forbidden. ==Student life==