Mary Woodward

Mary Woodward & the College Scarf

Anne Elliot discusses the importance of the College archives as Canon Peter Woodward discovers wife, Mary Woodward's, College scarf.

Mary Woodward (née Hall) St Mary ’ s student 1953-1957, was a fresher in the second of the year groups to occupy the splendid new 1952 buildings on the Elvet Hill site. Like most students, she owned that distinguishing mark of St Mary’s College - the purple and white scarf.

The scarf has a long history. After St Mary ’ s gained collegiate status in 1919, its name and a new main building at 8 The College, which later became the Chorister School on Cathedral Close, were created. More changes followed this to befit the new status of St Mary ’ s, including a crest with motto, a boat and a College scarf.

In the 1927 edition of ‘The Dove ’ , the College magazine, Senior Woman Olive Greeves records that ‘The JCR has adopted a College scarf of purple and white, these colours having come to be definitely regarded as the college colours ’ . It was quite a heavy fabric with three pairs of vertical white stripes on the purple.

The modern scarf, the result of a student design competition, is complete with fringe but maintains its traditional look. It is purple acrylic with two vertical groups of stripes which pick out the colours white, red and blue from the College crest. The College name and crest are prominently displayed.

When Mary ’ s husband Canon Peter Woodward was sorting out her belongings, he came across her purple and white scarf with a tiny faded nametape stitched discreetly on a corner. This discovery, coupled with the time and opportunity that lockdown 2020 gave, allowed Peter to go through papers and check memories with family and friends, inspiring him to compile these recollections. He is pleased to have achieved this and appreciative of the opportunity the SMCS Newsletter has given him, explaining “I am ever so happy to have all this on record for my family and especially the children and grandchildren. ” And so the task that had begun with Mary ’ s scarf was completed with the following article. We are very grateful to him for his generosity in sharing these memories of Mary ’ s significant achievements and wish him and his family all the best.