Each year, the College marks Ascension Day, which falls 40 days after Easter. This year’s Ascension Day took place on 29 April, and the College marked the occasion in two distinct and traditional ways.

From 8:10am, members of the Chapel Choir sang in the Tower Room above Main Quad, their beautiful song reaching out across the College grounds. Later in the morning, parishioners of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin and children from New College School were welcomed into the College to take part in the traditional ‘beating of the bounds’. This tradition involves the marking of parish boundaries, which are then beaten with a stick. In the past, this was a means of embedding knowledge of geographic boundaries while also maintaining and checking boundary markers.

This year’s ‘beating of the bounds’ began in Front Quad, with the wall outside of Chapel being marked with chalk before those taking were invited to hit the marked boundary with a stick. The crowd then made their way into the Master’s Garden, where the Master threw coins and sweets from an upper window.

Our thanks to all who made this such a special morning.

We hope you enjoy the image gallery below.

Published: 5 June 2025

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