The Cardo Building is located on the Iffley Road opposite the University Sports Centre that is home to the 25-metre Rosenblatt swimming pool and the running track where Sir Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile. Cardo is a 10-15-minute walk from main College and the University Examination Schools, where many lectures are held.
Behind the Cardo Building are the College’s squash courts which students can book to use. A minute’s walk away is another College accommodation building, a house on James Street.
Running roughly parallel to the Iffley Road is Oxford’s Cowley Road. Cowley Road is hub of cultural activity and home to a vibrant mix of shops, restaurants, bars, and cultural venues that reflect the area’s multicultural community.
The best thing about Cardo is the community, it’s so nice to bump into friends in the shared kitchen or common room.
Ollie
The name
The Cardo Building, which used to be known as the Iffley Road Annexe, was renamed in 1992 after Charles Cardo and his sister Mary had donated a substantial sum of money in their wills in early 1990 towards the refurbishment of the building.
Charles Gordon Haine Cardo (b. 29 January 1908) came up to Queen’s from St Paul’s School in 1927 as an Exhibitioner in History. Shortly after his admission to Queen’s, he stated that he intended to read for a degree in Theology after completing Prelims in History, with a view to becoming a priest. He duly graduated with a Third in Theology in 1931, but at some point, he changed his mind about Holy Orders and took a further Third in Law in 1932. He was a popular and sociable student, and was both Captain of the Boat Club and President of the Taberdars’ Committee (i.e. JCR) in 1929-30.
After leaving Queen’s he joined the Civil Service, working for the Admiralty until his retirement in 1968. When he died in 1990, he left Queen’s a substantial sum of money and a some antique furniture, reflecting his lifelong fondness for the College. The College directed the money towards the Iffley Road refurbishment, where it formed the largest single bequest from an Old Member towards the project.
Amy Ebrey (Assistant Archivist)