All Soul’s was founded by Henry Chichele in 1437 as a memorial to Henry V and the soldiers who died in his wars in France. Originally designed to train clergy and ecclesiastical lawyers, it still has only fellows and no undergraduates.
North Quad was designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor in Gothic style  with a library on the north, fellow’s rooms to the east, a new hall  in line with the chapel to the south and to the west,  a colonnade screening the quad from Radcliffe Square. The cloister screen to the Square has a central gateway and cupola in the style Hawksmoor called ‘the Monastik manner‘. The two central towers either side of the common room are topped by slender pinnacled turrets which form a prominent part of the Oxford skyline. These towers were built purely for their dramatic impact as they do not contain bells or flank an entrance.