HERALDRY | Mansfield. (Updated May 13, 2018)

Blazon Gules an open Book proper inscribed DEUS LOCUTUS EST NOBIS IN FILIO in letters Sable bound Argent edged and clasped Or between three Cross crosslets Or.

Authority Granted February 10, 1956.

Mansfield Badge. All photos
© 2018 by JT Marlin.

Meaning The cross crosslets are associated with the Crusades; they are components of the Jerusalem Cross. The motto means "God has spoken to us through His son." Which suggests that Nonconformists have direct access to the word of God through the Bible, and don't need the Established Church to interpret the gospels. The message is one of critical thinking rather than adherence to doctrine.

Founded 1838 as Spring Hill College, Birmingham. 1886 moved to Oxford. 1955 given status of a Permanent Private Hall. 1995 Given Royal Charter as a full Oxford college.

Principal: Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws.
  

Torpids Bumps, 2017.

Special Features: Mansfield was the first college at Oxford created for Nonconformists. It claims to be the college with the highest percentage of state-sector graduates. It also claims to be the "most diverse" college.

History: Spring Hill College in Birmingham was the first college for Nonconformist students, i.e., students not affiliated with the established church.

Students of any religious affiliation before 1871 were legally entitled to attend universities but only members of the established Church of England were allowed to take degrees. 

In 1871, the Universities Tests Act ended religious tests for non-theological degrees at Oxford, Cambridge, London and Durham Universities, opening them to Nonconformists.

Sign at Mansfield, April 2018.

Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone promoted the idea that Nonconformists should have their own college at Oxford. 

To meet this need, in 1886 Spring Hill College moved to Oxford, being renamed Mansfield College after donors George and Elizabeth Mansfield. It was Oxford's first Nonconformist college.

Mansfield tie and badge.

In 1955, the college was granted the status of Permanent Private Hall within the University and in 1995 obtained a Royal Charter giving the institution full college status. 

Mansfield admitted its first mixed-gender cohort in 1979, having previously not accepted women.