The Record 2009 - Keble College - University of Oxford

Letter from the Warden
The Life of the College
As I write the Lodgings are shrouded in scaffolding and green
netting for necessary work on the roof and for the repair and
restoration of the stone work and the balconies overlooking the
Warden’s Garden. The work is badly needed, and is all part of
our effort to maintain these Grade 1 listed buildings as well as
we can, a task in which we rely very much on the expert advice
and evaluations of our conservation architect, David Yandell.
photo: Kevin Edwards
David has also been much involved along with our organ
consultant Dr William McVicker in drawing up the invitations
for quotes for a new pipe organ in the College Chapel. We felt
that current conservation and heritage thinking would require
the preservation and if possible the inclusion of the original
painted pipes, and the positioning of the console in the elevated
position which it had held since the building of the side-chapel
in 1892, even though the raising of the organ at that time had
partly obscured the stained glass window in the south transept
and exposed the organ itself to deleterious effects from the
sun. There are also interesting legal issues, since at present the
Chapel ranks as a ‘peculiar’ and as such is not covered by any
planning regulations. This is set to change but meanwhile we
followed David’s advice and held a consultation with the city
planning officer and Peter Howell of the Victorian Society (also
acting on behalf of English Heritage). I am glad to say that
both accepted our proposals and we hope that the new organ
designed and built by Kenneth Tickell Organbuilders Ltd will
be in place for the start of Trinity Term 2011. If indeed it is
in place for the annual St Mark’s Day service and dinner that
will be extraordinarily appropriate, given the significance of St
Mark’s Day in the history of the College and especially of the
Chapel.
This academic year also saw the publication of Keble Past and
Present, the illustrated history of the College written and edited
by Ian Archer and myself. Many of the nearly 1400 subscribers
and contributors attended the launch party held at the end of
November at the British Academy, and the response has been
very positive overall. Published by Third Millennium, this
handsome book draws on unpublished material, memoirs,
oral reports and interviews as well as written sources, and
the College archives have been greatly enriched as a result
of collecting the material. We also now have a collection of
thousands of digital images which are being catalogued this
summer vacation with the help of Ben Heller, who is working
on a D.Phil. in history. The role of Robert Petre, the College
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