Though Oriel has neither the bold sweep
of University nor the perfect proportions of Wadham, it yet is a
pleasing building, at least in its front.
Like New College, Oriel is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and, also
like New College, the name of "St. Mary's" early gave way to a
popular nickname. The College at once on its foundation received the
gift of a tenement called "L'Oriole," which occupied its present
site, and its name has displaced the real style of the College in
general use.
It is only fitting that, as in our picture, St. Mary's Church should
be combined with Oriel, for the founder was Vicar of St. Mary's, and
the presentation to that living has ever since been in the hands of
the College. It was as a Fellow of Oriel that Newman became, in 1828,
Vicar of St. Mary's, from the pulpit of which, during thirteen years,
he moulded all that was best in the religious life of Oxford. The
glorious spire of the church was still new when the College was
founded.
Oriel and its chapel are among the places for religious pilgrimage in
Oxford. As Lincoln draws from all parts of the world those who
reverence the name of John Wesley, so the Oxford Movement and the
Anglican Revival had their starting-point, and for some time their
centre, in Oriel.
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