Wills Hall is one of the nine hall of residence in the University of Bristol Cresting the Stoke Bishop site on the edge of the The Downs (Bristol) in Parrys Lane, it houses 340 students in two Quadrangle (architecture) . The majority of these students are in their first year of study, but a number of students from other years stay on to contribute to hall life through the Junior Common Room or other groups.

History

The name of Wills Hall reflects the university-wide connection with the Wills family. The fortune made by their famous tobacco empire, W. D. & H. O. Wills and later Imperial Tobacco enabled Henry Overton Wills III to fund the Universitys foundation in 1908 with a pledge of £100,000 and many of its finest buildings, such as the Wills Memorial Building His son George Alfred Wills provided the money to build a hall of residence in memory of his brother Henry Herbert Wills He originally planned to base the hall around Goldney Hall in Clifton, Bristol next to the existing hall of Clifton Hill House However, the warden of the all-female Clifton Hill House felt that having so many young men so close to "her girls" would be a grave moral risk, and demanded that the new hall be sited at least two miles away. Thus Downside House in Stoke Bishop was purchased, and a quadrangle of accommodation blocks erected around it according to the design of Sir George Oatley It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II listed building lt;/ref> A Latin inscription on the exterior of the dining hall dedicated the hall to Henry Herbert. Image:UoB Wills warden lodge.jpg Wills Hall was officially opened by Winston Churchill in 1929, then the Chancellor (education) of the University. When he returned to open Churchill Hall in the late 1950s, he allowed himself to be "kidnapped" and his release was allowed only after he signed the following statement, now displayed in the Wardens Lodge at Wills: :"I Winston Spencer Churchill MP, CH Chancellor of the University of Bristol, Declare there be no Finer Hostel than Wills Hall among the Universities of the [[British Empire]]".http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Wills/history.htm History of Wills Hall] The initial quadrangle sufficed until rising student numbers precipitated the building of a further accommodation block, XYZ, which was opened in 1961. Another expansion in 1990 completed this New Quad as UVW block was built. This new block featured en-suite rooms and a conference centre, in an effort to make Wills more competitive as a venue for the conference market, which was becoming an important source of revenue for cash-strapped universities.lt;/ref> Having initially been an all-male institution, Wills became the last hall to accept both sexes in 1985, despite opposition from the more traditionalist wing of the Wills Hall Association. In that first year, seventy women took up residence alongside 200 men, but over the next few years female numbers quickly rose, and Wills today is equally split between the sexes. However, due to the shared bathroom facilities, staircases in old quad and floors in XYZ blocks are single-sex.

Motto

Over the main entrance to Wills Hall can be seen a shield emblazoned with the Wills family crest and their motto "Pro Aris et Focis . This Latin phrase literally means "for our altars and our hearths", but is used by ancient authors to express attachment to all that was most dear and venerable. It could be more idiomatically translated as "for our homes".

Warden and Deputy Warden

The Warden of Wills Hall is Professor Julian Rivers, Professor of Jurisprudence in the School of Law. Professor Rivers is a leading expert in the field of legal and constitutional theory, with a particular research interest in the interplay between law and religion. The Deputy Warden is Mr Thomas Williams MA, a doctoral student in the Department of Music. Tom is a notable singer and choral conductor and regularly sings at Bristol Cathedral.

Facilities

Image:UoB Wills snow.JPG The Monica Wills Chapel was opened in 1930 and holds a short informal service for students from the Stoke Bishop halls each Sunday morning during term-time. It is occasionally used to stage plays and concerts. Image:Wills Hall Quad, 0908.jpg The Wills Hall Association, former members of Wills Hall, has recently presented Wills with an eleven stop two manual pipe organ as a present to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Hall. The organ was built by Peter Collins in 1983 when it was installed in St. Albans Abbey for the International Organ Festival. It was then moved to the Christian Science Church in Clifton until its closure in 2007. The inaugural recital on the organ was given by David Bednall on 1st November 2008. Wills Hall has an oak panelled dining room, often likened to that of an Oxbridge college. There are also tennis and squash courts which the Hall shares with the rest of the halls on the Stoke Bishop Site, a croquet lawn, table tennis room, and an oak-panelled snooker room which dates back to the original Downside House. The Wills Hall Ball takes place in June of each year.

Societies

The Hall has a theatrical society, the Wills Hall Amateur Theatrical Society (WHATS) which performs musicals, plays and variety shows for the students. Wills Hall is also the only hall in Stoke Bishop to publish its own newsletter, The Executor, which is edited by students in hall and is published several times a year. This itself is the successor to the Wills Hall Loo Sheet, a newsletter which got its name from the fact that it was distributed by being posted in all communal lavatories around the hall. Former members of Hall can join The Wills Hall Association, which has been running since 1930. The Association holds a large annual reunion in Bristol every summer in July when former members return for a reception on the Wardens lawn followed by dinner in Hall with a guest speaker. On Saturday, 4th July 2009 the guest of honour is Bob Marshall-Andrews QC MP, parliamentarian and wit. The Association organises an annual lecture or recital and a well attended service in the Chapel. The Association also holds a popular reception in London which attracts members who live in London and the South East. The Association produces a Yearbook and a Newsletter for its growing membership which comes from every era of those who enjoyed Wills Hall from the 1930s to the present. Wills Hall RFC takes part in the Intramural rugby tournament organised by Bristol University AU. The 2006-7 season was one of the worst on record, with Wills Hall RFC not winning a single game. The 2007-8 season, under captains Rhys Beynon-Thomas and Luke Falconer, was much more successful, with a large squad looking to make the play-offs at the end of the season.

Wills Hall and classism

In 2003, as part of the national controversy surrounding claims that British universities were discriminating in favour of Public school (UK) applicants, [[The Observer]]ran an article purporting to highlight class-strife and prejudice in Wills.lt;/ref> Letters in reply followed the next week vigorously defending Wills.lt;/ref>

Mini incident

In 2008 a Harrow educated undergraduate at Wills Hall crashed a relatively new Mini Cooper in the grounds of the hall, while intoxicated.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/3277826/Student-wrecks-Mini-in-Italian-Job-prank.html

Notable former students

*James Blunt musician *Stephen Williams (politician) Member of Parliament (Liberal Democrats *Derren Brown famous illusionist *Bob Marshall-Andrews Member of Parliament (Labour Party (UK) *Sir Liam Donaldson Chief Medical Officer, United Kingdom for England * The Lord Chilver of Cranfield FRS, Engineer and former Vice-Chancellor * Professor David Rhind FRS, FBA, Geographer, Non-Executive Director Bank of England and former Vice-Chancellor.

References

External links

* http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Wills/home.htm Wills Hall official website] * http://www.willshallassociation.org.uk Wills Hall Association] * http://www.bristol.ac.uk/Depts/Wills/jcr/index.htm Wills Hall JCR] * http://www.willshallball.co.uk Wills Hall Ball website] * http://www.bris.ac.uk/union/altprospectus/accomm/wills Bristol Student Unions alternative prospectus] Category:University of Bristol halls of residence Category:Grade II listed buildings in Bristol Category:Buildings and structures in Bristol