Nuffield is a graduate college of the University of Oxford dedicated to advanced study and research in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics, and sociology. The College was established in 1937 when the motor manufacturer and philanthropist William Morris, also known as Lord Nuffield, donated land and provided a gift of £900,000 to the University of Oxford. This gift provided the funds to build the College and an endowment to fund its activities. One of Lord Nuffield’s key ambitions in establishing the College was to create a place of postgraduate study that could enhance cooperation between the academic and non-academic worlds in order to address social, economic and political problems - the aspiration to act as a bridge between the academic and public worlds continues to guide the College’s activities today.
As one of the newer Oxford colleges, the archive collection is largely from the 19th and 20th centuries and includes material from Fellows, Wardens and others with a connection to the College. We therefore have collections on Lord Nuffield, Norman Chester, Henry Clay, G.D.H. Cole and Alexander Loveday, among others. Largely thanks to G.D.H. Cole, we also have an eclectic mix of collections which have a social, political and historical theme. These include William Cobbett, the Gainford/Pease family, Frederick Tanner, Trotskyist material and Guild Socialism. Our largest and most popular collection, however, is that of Frederick Lindemann, Lord Cherwell. He was Winston Churchill’s scientific adviser during World War Two and his archive is a rich mix of personal and public papers, illustrating scientific and military developments during the war, his political career, the Clarendon Laboratory in Oxford and his time at Farnborough and much more.
Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 9.30-17.30, by appointment only
Address: Nuffield College, New Road, Oxford, OX1 1NF
Phone: 01865 278550
E-mail: library-archives@nuffield.ox.ac.uk
Web: www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/the-college/library/special-collection-and-archives/archive/
