Records relating to EC/13 Student Life

This area contains a selection of minutes, accounts and ephemera that relates to the variety of societies and clubs that have been created by students during their period of study. They were formed to enable students to make connections with others, and to provide relief from studying. Many can be grouped under the following themes:

Debating - The main club that debated philosophy was the Dialectical Society. The Church Society sought to discuss theological ideas and new thoughts about the church. The Stapeldon Society started out as a debating club, but changed over the years to become the mouthpiece on all Exeter College activities.

Food and Drink - The Adelphi Wine Club offered members regular dinners with fine wines and food.

Literary – Reading and critiquing of literature was a strong feature of Exeter College societies and there are many that the archive holds material on including the Anonymous and Literary Society, Essay Club, Pythian Club and Mods Classical Society.

Performing Arts - A number of shorter-lived musical/dramatic societies such as Kappa Club, and Leonids are featured, as well as the longer running Music Society and John Ford Dramatic Society.

Sport - Exeter College was one of the earliest Oxford Colleges to have a Boat Club from 1824, although the earliest minutes are from 1858. Athletics and Cricket are also strongly featured.

EC/13/1 Adelphi Wine Club (1873-1968, 1982) - One volume of minutes together with four folders containing menus, correspondence and receipts, plus four photographs following the revival of the club from 1923 (see recent article in the Register magazine for more information Register-2024.pdf)

EC/13/2 Amalgamated Clubs (1881-1999) - The Amalgamated Clubs group was brought about in order to make the financial affairs of the different groups, mostly sport derived, streamlined under the direction of a central committee; this series contains seven folders and fourteen volumes.

EC/13/3 Anonymous Literary Society (1890-1893, 1901-1914) - This small and short-lived society initially started with only 8 members in 1890; this section contains three volumes of minutes.

EC/13/4 Athletics Club (1854-1897, 1954) -  The Athletics club minutes initially started out as a series of 'Foot races' that were run over a week, which provided a chance for Exeter College members to compete against each other; contains two volumes of minutes of the Athletics club together with the program where Roger Bannister broke the record for running a mile in under 4 minutes.

EC/13/5 Boat Club (1831-1999) - This section contains a variety of captain's books recording results of races, minutes and accounts together with administration documents and inventories. Please look on the Exeter College Boat Club website for more details on it's history The Story of Exeter | Exeter College Boat Club

EC/13/6 Church Society (1886-1972) - This group was formed in 1886 to discuss church/theological matters amongst Exeter College members together with external speakers invited to highlight elements of a new theological paper they had written; contains seven volumes of minute books.

EC/13/7 Cricket Club (1896-1920, 1986-1990) - From 1844 until the 1920s Exeter College's playing field was based at Cowley. Following the building of a footbridge over the Cherwell, Exeter bought a new field in Marston from Oxford University and in 1924 had it laid out for rugby, hockey, cricket, football and eventually tennis; contains two volumes together with a cricket score book.

EC/13/8 Dialectical Society (1892-1950) - Four volumes of the Dialectical Society, which began 24 April 1892 'for the discussion of philosophy'.      

EC/13/9 Essay Club (1901-1952)  - A series of constitutional accounts and correspondence together with nine minute books, which initially began with the creation of poetry which changed to essays.

EC/13/10 John Ford Society (1934-1999) - Exeter College's earliest known dramatic society began with the first production of Perkin Warbeck in 1947; contains six folders of details of productions.  

EC/13/11 Kappa Club (1900-1902) -  This club formed in 1900, with a Greek motto of Kaloi Kapdou meaning Good heart, was purely a way for it's members to entertain each other; one volume held only.

EC/13/12 The Leonids (1899-1901) - This group formed for mental and social improvement met to discuss plays and perform songs; contains one minute book.

EC/13/13 Literary Society (1884-1930) - This society originally began as the "Exeter College Junior Shakespeare Society"; contains two volumes and two folders.

EC/13/14 Mods Classical Society (1893-1895) - this group met to discuss essays and papers on classical literary themes; contains two volumes of minutes.

EC/13/15 Music Society (1859-2004)  - The direct purpose of this society was 'the promotion and practice of vocal music', which contains six volumes and sixteen folders.

EC/13/16 Stapeldon Society (1869-1984) - Originally beginning as a private debating society in 1869 this altered to become the voice of the college, closely linked to the Junior Common Room, which contains twenty four volumes and eight folders.

EC/13/17 Oxford Borstal camps (1964-1972) - One folder regarding the origins of the camp which partly began through vacation work undertaken by the chapel groups of many Oxford Colleges as well as through the creation of a regular camp for boys from a housing estate near Leeds.

EC/13/18 Pythian Club (1903-1904) - A series of four programs relating to the meetings of the Pythian Club.

EC/13/19 Oxford University Clubs (1920-1950) - A small section of ephemera relating to Oxford University clubs including the Esperanto club, Raleigh club and Oxford University rugby football club/medical graduates.

EC/13/20 Magazines (1901-2009) - Individual or series of magazines produced by or about Exeter College students and other college members.