Abbot's Kitchen, Oxford

The Abbot's Kitchen in Oxford, England, is an early chemistry laboratory based on the Abbot's Kitchen at Glastonbury Abbey, a mediaeval 14th-century octagonal building that served as the kitchen at the abbey.[1]

Abbot's Kitchen chemistry laboratory in Oxford

Detail of a wood engraving by W. E. Hodgkin of 1855 showing the Abbot's Kitchen

History

Chemistry was first recognized as a separate discipline at Oxford University with the construction of this laboratory, attached to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and opening in 1860.[2] The laboratory is a stone-built structure to the right of the museum, built in the Victorian Gothic style. The building was one of the first ever purpose-built chemical laboratories anywhere and was extended in 1878. A further major extension adding three wings was completed in 1957.[3] It is still a part of the Department of Chemistry. The ground floor is used as a training room by the Radcliffe Science Library.[4]

In December 2018 it was announced that the building would be used as part of a new graduate college of the University, Reuben College, opening in 2021.[5]

Gallery

• 
  Oxford University Museum of Natural History (left) and the Abbot's Kitchen chemistry laboratory (right)
• 
  Wood engraving of the Oxford University Museum with the smaller octagonal Abbot's Kitchen building on the right, by W. E. Hodgkin (1855)
• 
  The Radcliffe Science Library with the Abbot's Kitchen on the left

See also

• Abbot's Kitchen, Glastonbury, on which the laboratory building was based
• Balliol-Trinity Laboratories, another early Oxford chemistry laboratory
• Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford
• List of octagonal buildings and structures

References

1. "Glastonbury Abbey Photo: The Abbot's Kitchen". TripAdvisor. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
2. "History of Chemistry at the University of Oxford". UK: Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
3. "The "Abbots Kitchen" by the Oxford University Museum of Natural History". UK: Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
4. "Radcliffe Science Library | RSL History". Bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
5. "Oxford unveils plans for new graduate college". University of Oxford. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2019.

External links

• Bashkin, James (30 August 2006). "P8300885 Abbot's Kitchen Oxford Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory". Flickr. Retrieved 26 August 2015.

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