23. Balliol

A door opening into the Lower Library of Balliol College from the Library Passage, which runs between the Front and Garden Quad. The doorway was that of the College Hall from 1853 until 1877, when Alfred Waterhouse built the present hall and the Old Hall was converted into an extension of the Library. The door was designed by Anthony Salvin, who was the architect for the remodelling of the hall and creation of the present Library Passage in 1853. The ironwork Catherine Wheel motif is an allusion to St Catherine of Alexandria, the College's patron saint. St Catherine's Day (25 November) has been the College's feast day for more than seven centuries.