Many rounds of applause

Oxford is a city where historical milestones are never far around the corner. And next to the oldest buildings such as St Michael at the North Gate, thought to have been built between 1000 and 1050, a few hundred years ago may seem comparatively recent.

But that will not stop students and staff at Oxford’s colleges and halls from fondly commemorating the 350th anniversary of the Sheldonian Theatre’s foundation stone-laying this year.

Though as well as being the place where Oxford University’s many bright-eyed and promising pupils begin and end their academic affiliation with the city, it is also well known amont others for another persisting quality: its uncomfortable seats.

But chairman of the curators, Paul Coones, the latest in a long line to head the institution, said visitors should not expect change any time soon.

He told The Oxford Times: “It is an iconic place, though I don’t like to use that word, and a good example of how things are still the same way here ... the ceremonies are still done in Latin.

“The only problem is it can be dearly uncomfortable and so after all this time people ask why we don’t just change the seats.

“But it’s a listed building — I can’t even change a doorknob because of that — and uncomfortable seats are part of the tradition really. That is just how it has always been.”

The Grade I-listed building, which often plays host to concerts, operas and degree presentations, is now in its 351st year and though replacing doorknobs may be difficult, there are other changes Mr Coones has managed to usher in.

One is a redecoration that has, for the first time in hundreds of years, made the venue look like it did in the 18th century again, as envisioned by architect Sir Christopher Wren. Reddy-brown shades have replaced whites and creams and the long-overhanging chandeliers (“which I was never a fan of”) have been taken down.

Mr Coones said: “We found Wren’s original specifications and so re-did it in his own colours. We have also installed long wooden boards, which is what he wanted.

“There are a few other things needed, but it is now in good shape for the celebrations. You have to hand it to Wren, after 350 years it is still doing all right.”

The building holds a dear spot in the hearts of many from the University, because as well as being the meeting place of its governing body, the Congregation, it is the home of their most prestigious ceremonies.

Many were originally performed in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, in High Street, but with time some of them became “a bit profane for a religious building”, Mr Coones said. By 1664 the University had negotiated the lease on some land in the city, by way of a curious arrangement. Modern-day accountants at the university’s finance department were bemused to discover £7 was being paid out to a small charity twice a year, on Candlemas and Lammas Day.

Mr Coones explained: “When it was being built there were seven widows’ cottages on the site and they were removed, but we are still charged £7 twice a year to lease the ground as a result. One pound for each widow’s cottage.

“It is not the sort of sum the university is used to paying. We neglected to pay in recent years and nearly had the site reclaimed.

“Now I have to check regularly to make sure it is getting paid. It is the sort of thing that could only happen in Oxford.”

Once the land had been acquired a generous donation of £12,200 from Bishop Gilbert Sheldon, former warden of All Souls College and later Archbishop of Canterbury, got the project off the ground and Sir Christopher Wren was hired as the architect.

His designs were inspired by Roman architecture and classical in nature, marking a radical departure from prevailing buildings in the city at the time.

Most revolutionary though was his approach to constructing the roof, a wooden structure spanning the 70 by 80-foot auditorium using no cross beams, just braces and screws. He would later redeploy the method when he was called upon to rebuild London’s many churches after Great Fire of 1666.

The original roof was later rebuilt by George Saunders, architect of Oxford University 1801 and 1802, with the existing cupola also being redone by Victorian architect Edward Blore in 1838.

Responsibility for the theatre’s famous ceiling fell to English painter Robert Streater. The fresco depicts cherubs tumbling among the clouds, symbolic of truth descending on the arts and sciences of the University, with envy and ignorance cast out. In 2004, all 32 panels were painstakingly taken down to allow for essential repairs but were also deemed to be in need of a retouch.

They were repaired and brought back in 2008, looking significantly more vivid.

Mr Coones said Oxford University Press, which started out storing its books in the building’s attic, kindly footed the bill.

Since the restoration, the theatre has attracted more than 4,200 visitors in just a few hours, during the last Oxford Open Doors event in 2013. Mr Coones said: “It is a world-class building that we maintain on a shoestring budget. And because in some ways it is a difficult building, we have to raise money to look after it.

“As a venue it is ideal for concerts because you have a view down on to the floor from the balconies, though you have to warn people because some performances are like the Western Front, with people falling all over the place on the stairs, which are a bit steep.”

The theatre’s 350th celebrations are set to begin in November, Mr Coones said, with a concert performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. It is a foundation stone-laying song, performed by German composer Richard Wagner after he laid the first stone of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, in Germany.

“I will be conducting, which I have not done before at the Sheldonian, so it will be a huge occasion for me as well. By then I hope to have learned the symphony backwards.”

The concert will be the first of a series and there are also hopes to establish an exhibition about all the various figures who have collected honorary degrees from the University in the theatre.

Mr Coones added: “It is important to do the celebrations properly and make them memorable.

“Although we all take it for granted, it is an important place.”

The Sheldonian Theatre 350th Anniversary Celebration Concert will take place on Sunday, November 16, at 8pm, in the Sheldonian Theatre. For more information visit ox.ac.uk/sheldonian