The Sheldonian Theatre is the University of Oxford's ceremonial hall on Broad Street, one of the first buildings designed by Christopher Wren. It was built in 1664–1669 so that degree ceremonies no longer had to be held in a church, and its painted ceiling hangs from a roof that was a feat of engineering in its day.
Sheldonian Theatre at a glance
- Where: on Broad Street in central Oxford, between the Clarendon Building and the History of Science Museum, with the Bodleian Library's Divinity School behind it.
- Built: 1664–1669, paid for almost entirely by Gilbert Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury and later Chancellor of the university.
- By: Christopher Wren, then a young professor of astronomy at Oxford; the ceiling paintings are by Robert Streater, court painter to Charles II.
- What it is today: the university's hall for matriculation and graduation ceremonies, also used for concerts and lectures, seating up to about 700 people, and open to visitors when no event is on.
- Time needed: 45 minutes to an hour to see the auditorium and climb to the cupola.
A Roman theatre with an Oxford roof
Before the Sheldonian, Oxford held its degree ceremonies in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, where the noisy celebrations sat badly with the clergy. After the Restoration of Charles II, the vice-chancellor John Fell revived an older plan for a separate building and turned to Gilbert Sheldon for support. Sheldon promised to find sponsors, found few, and ended up paying nearly all of the cost of £14,470 himself.
Wren took his model from an engraving of the Theatre of Marcellus in Rome, which gives the building its D shape. A Roman theatre was open to the sky, but Oxford needed a roof, and no timbers were long enough to span more than 70 feet. Wren used a grid of shorter timbers locking into each other, based on a system worked out by the Oxford mathematician John Wallis. It was so strong that the University Press stored its books in the roof space for many years, and surveyors in 1720 found it sound despite the weight.
What to look for
- The painted ceiling: 32 canvas panels by Robert Streater showing Truth descending on the Arts and Sciences and driving ignorance out of the university, restored in a project completed in 2008.
- The D-shaped auditorium with its galleries, modelled on a Roman theatre.
- The eight-sided cupola on the roof, with large windows on every side and a view over the spires and domes of central Oxford.
- The Old Printing Loft under the roof, where the University Press once kept its books.
- The stone heads on pillars along the Broad Street railings, known as the Emperors. The ones you see today are the third set, carved by Michael Black and his assistants in 1970–1972.
The Emperors who are not emperors
Nobody is sure who the heads represent: the official term for them is herms, and early accounts call them termains. Each has a different beard. The nickname Emperors comes from Max Beerbohm's 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson, which made them famous. The first set lasted about 200 years and was replaced in 1868; those wore badly, and the current heads were copied from a 17th-century engraving.
Tips for your visit
- Check before you go: the auditorium closes for ceremonies and concerts, though the cupola can often still be visited then.
- The climb to the cupola is 114 steps, so take your time.
- Go to a concert if you can: the Sheldonian has a long musical history, and Handel conducted the first performance of his oratorio Athalia here in 1733.
- Look at the heads from across Broad Street to see the whole row with the theatre behind.
Nearby
- Bodleian Library and Divinity School: the university's great library and its Gothic hall with a carved stone ceiling, right behind the theatre.
- Radcliffe Camera: the round domed reading room of the Bodleian, a couple of minutes' walk south.
- History of Science Museum: in the Old Ashmolean building next door, with more of the stone heads in front.
- Hertford Bridge: the covered bridge over New College Lane, popularly called the Bridge of Sighs, a short walk east.
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Facts checked in October 2026.