Abbot's Kitchen, Oxford
# Abbot's Kitchen, Oxford

The Abbot's Kitchen in Oxford, England, is an early chemistry laboratory based on the Abbot's Kitchen at Glastonbury Abbey, a mediaeval 14th-century octagonal building that served as the kitchen at the abbey.

## History

Chemistry was first recognized as a separate discipline at Oxford University with the construction of this laboratory, attached to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and opening in 1860. The laboratory is a stone-built structure to the right of the museum, built in the Victorian Gothic style. The building was one of the first ever purpose-built chemical laboratories anywhere and was extended in 1878. A further major extension adding three wings was completed in 1957. It is still a part of the Department of Chemistry. The ground floor is used as a training room by the Radcliffe Science Library.

In December 2018 it was announced that the building would be used as part of a new graduate college of the University, Reuben College, opening in 2021.

## Gallery

* Oxford University Museum of Natural History (left) and the Abbot's Kitchen chemistry laboratory (right)
* Wood engraving of the Oxford University Museum with the smaller octagonal Abbot's Kitchen building on the right, by W. E. Hodgkin (1855)
* The Radcliffe Science Library with the Abbot's Kitchen on the left
