Convocation House, Academic meeting hall at Bodleian Library, Oxford, England.
Convocation House is a meeting chamber within the Bodleian Library featuring a stone vault with decorative ribs and wooden wall paneling throughout. The room contains traditional tiered seating and a formal vice-chancellor's seat positioned at the northern end.
This chamber was constructed between 1634 and 1637 and later served as a meeting place for Parliament during the English Civil War. A decorative fan vault ceiling was added in the mid-1700s, transforming the upper appearance of the interior.
The space functions as a gathering place where the University of Oxford's senior academics and scholars convene for formal meetings. You can observe today how the institution conducts its most important discussions within these walls.
The chamber accommodates around a hundred people for formal occasions and ceremonies. Access is through the Bodleian Library, so planning ahead ensures you can properly view this historic space.
The ceiling was originally a simple barrel vault, but the added fan vault from the 1750s created an entirely new visual effect overhead. These later changes demonstrate how the university enhanced the space's appearance across the centuries.
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