Virtual Tour

Open day and night, rain or shine, the Lodge is part of the essential fabric of Somerville life. During your time here, our Porters will become part of your extended Somerville family, helping you out with a multitude of tasks, from sorting the post to giving you expert local advice. Lodge staff are also here to monitor security, ensuring you feel safe and at home in College as well as welcoming visitors and presenting a friendly face to the outside world. You can contact the Lodge on 01865-270600 or email them.

There are few better places to be on a summer’s evening than our Hall, when the rich smell of cut grass drifts in to mingle with the tantalising aromas emanating from the servery, and the hubbub of conversation ranges back and forth across the tables. It’s just as cosy on a winter’s night, when the warm glow of candlelight dances off cutlery and glasses and falls softly on the wood-panelled walls and portraits of women Principals that make our Hall unique among the Oxford colleges.

Of course, the other reason our students love Hall is the food. Serving three affordable meals a day during the week and twice daily at weekends, the Somerville kitchens are highly regarded for their excellence as well as their focus on providing locally-sourced, sustainable and plant-based options wherever possible. What’s more, great food means great company, because the quality plus affordability of Somerville food means everyone regularly uses Hall, so it’s a great place for a catch-up morning, noon or night.

To find out more about meal arrangements, visit our Food and Drink page.

For generations of Somerville students, the gardens are a place indelibly associated with their happiest memories of Oxford. From throwing snowballs in the depths of winter to basking on the lawns at the height of summer, the Somerville gardens provide a rolling pageantry of colour, beauty and inspiration in every season.

At the heart of the Somerville gardens’ charm is the tireless work of our Head Gardener, Sophie Walwin and her colleague Dave Townsend. Their joint commitment to sustainable planting and ethical horticulture have guaranteed that our gardens are not just a beautiful place to get away from your studies, but a wonderful place to learn about nature thanks not merely to Sophie’s wonderful signage but also ongoing biodiversity initiatives such as the mapping and tracking of inverterbrates and pollinators.

You can read a feature by Sophie in the Somerville Magazine 2019-20 or follow her latest horticultural musings on Instagram.

By day, the Terrace is a favourite hang-out for sandwiches, study sessions and damn fine coffee. The outdoor area overlooking Little Clarendon Street is a lovely sun-trap, which you’re free to enjoy at picnic tables or on our lovely up-cycled seating, while indoors you can avail yourself of snacks, treats and games of pool.

By night, the Terrace takes on a different guise as our College bar – the perfect spot for a drink after a long day in labs or as the designated hangout post-formal or before hitting the town. For opening hours and details of how alumni can access the bar, please visit our main Terrace page.

Crunch those abs! Or don’t! Either way, if you want to stay on top of your fitness, the Somerville gym is the place for you. Equipped with all the kit you need to stay on top of your cardio and strength training, from free weights to running machines, it’s a brilliantly affordable, convenient and safe option. All members of College are eligible for gym membership, and can apply at the Lodge once they have paid for and attended an induction session. Once approved, gym access will be added to your College access card.

The Flora Anderson Hall and adjoining Brittain Williams Room are the ideal venue for lectures and meetings held by students throughout term, as well as college bops. As a student, you will be welcome to attend all kinds of events here, from the academic to the…slightly less academic. (A healthy work/life balance is the cornerstone of a successful academic career.)

We have 7 pianos on-site, all of which are available to play. One of these is in a dedicated practice room, while the others are available to use in spaces as varied as our beautiful Chapel and the New Council Room (pictured).

Once the College bar, today the Mary Somerville Room is an elegant, Neoclassical space used by students for evening concerts and drinks receptions. 

Both a physical space and a metaphysical construct, the Middle Common Room (MCR) is the association for postgraduate students at Somerville as well as the place where they meet. Based in Somerville’s dedicated postgraduate centre, Margery Fry House, the MCR usually consists of heavily caffeinated students studying, chatting and changing the world one seminar at a time. Margery Fry also contains study spaces, kitchens, and TV rooms, many of which can be booked out for personal use.

Are you a postgraduate? Do you need somewhere light, airy and inspiring to think uninterrupted? Look no further than our Graduate Reading Room, situated in the heart of the award-winning Catherine Hughes building, which opened in 2019.