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Convocation House

Heritage attraction
Convocation House
Photo: Ozeye, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Report the wrong picture

What is recorded here

Convocation House was built in the 1630s for Oxford University government and briefly became the meeting room of the House of Commons during civil war.

Read the whole record

Convocation House was built in the 1630s for Oxford University government and briefly became the meeting room of the House of Commons during civil war.

Why it was built

Oxford added the chamber beside the Bodleian Library so the university's governing body could meet in a room made for its ceremonies and debates.

People and work

University members met here, and the royalist House of Commons used the chamber when the king's court occupied Oxford during the Civil War.

How it changed

It later hosted parliamentary meetings again and continued in university use as ceremony and administration changed.

What survives

The stone chamber, carved wooden seating, painted ceiling and close link with the Divinity School survive.

Why it mattered

It matters because one room joined university government with national government at a decisive moment of civil conflict.

Sources for this account

Sources checked 16 August 2026.

From OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) w114575324

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Photo credits
  • Betty Longbottom, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Alan Iwi, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Philip Halling, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • AJD, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • N Chadwick, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • David Smith, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Charles Ricketts, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
  • Raymond Knapman, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Bill Nicholls, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
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