Clarendon Building

The neoclassical building next to the theater is the Clarendon Building. As a matter of fact, the theater originally had two functions. It was used for graduation ceremonies, but it also housed the printing press of the Oxford University Press. The OUP, which stands for Oxford University Press, is the world’s largest university press, with a printing historywhich begun in the 1480s. It was officially granted the legal right to print books in 1586! It is the second oldest university press after Cambridge University Press. Upon the construction of the theater, the OUP moved into the basement. However as the printing presses made quite a lot of noise it wasn’t very compatible with ceremonies. So, in 1711, it was decided to build a dedicated building called The Printing House, which you’re now looking at! Look up at the roof and you’ll find statues of the nine muses. Very controversial, they took two years to be accepted and installed at the top of the building. Over the centuries two fell downand were recently replaced by fiberglass copies. In the 1820s, the university’s press moved again, and the building was then used by the administration and even the police, who set up their station with cells in the basement. At this point it acquired its present name of Clarendon, in reference to a book entitled “The History of the Great Rebellion” written by Lord Clarendon. His son had generously donnated the copyrights to the University, thereby partially financing the construction of the building.”. Today, the premises belong to the Bodleian Library, and houses their admission department and offices. It is listed as a Grade I Historic Building and is not open to public.