Holywell Manor, Oxford

[2] It was acquired by Balliol College in 1929, prior to which it had been a convent of the Community of St John Baptist, Clewer[3] and a home for unmarried mothers (though it was deserted by 1929).

The purchase was planned by Kenneth Norman Bell in order to provide accommodation for undergraduates and was funded by donations to the Balliol Society which he had founded expressly for this purpose.

These include the road facing façade, the entrance courtyard and the grand Queen Anne style wings surrounding the distinctive two rows of Ginkgo trees planted by C. S.

[4] The Manor opened in 1932 and remained a hostel for Balliol's undergraduates until the 1960s, except for during World War II, when it was lent to St Hugh's College.

A supplementary graduate students accommodation block, built on the opposite corner of the road to the Manor on the 'Master's Field', was opened in 1966 and is officially the 'Martin Building' after Leslie Martin, and known jocularly as 'Holywell Minor'.

In addition, the garden contains a fountain by Peter Lyon, Icarus by Raymond Petit and a wind sculpture by George Rickey.