# High table

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{{Short description|Staff dining table at some universities}}
{{distinguish|Bar table}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:The Hall, Merton College, Oxford-geograph-3159217.jpg|thumb|View towards the High Table in the dining hall of [Merton College, Oxford](/source/Merton_College%2C_Oxford).  The lower tables have a mixture of chair and bench seating.]]

The '''high table''' is the table (often on a [dais](/source/dais))
where the most important guests are seated at a formal meal.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/high-table|title=High table|website=Cambridge Dictionary|access-date=26 April 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/high-table|title=High Table|website=Oxford Learners' Dictionary|access-date=26 April 2026}}</ref> These include [state banquet](/source/state_banquet)s,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1830015/queen-camilla-blue-tunic-jewellery-kenya-state-banquet?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target |title=Queen Camilla stuns in blue tunic and trouser combo for Kenyan state banquet|work=Express|author=Catherine Meyer-Funnell|date=31 October 2023|quote=Upon arrival Charles and Camilla were received by the President and his wife, First Lady Rachel Ruto, before meeting other guests at a short reception ahead of taking their seats at the High Table.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=Tatler|url=https://www.tatler.com/article/qatari-state-dinner-jewellery-queen-camilla-duchess-edinburgh-duchess-gloucester-princess-anne|title=An emotional tiara debut for Queen Camilla, a surprise re-wear for Princess Anne, and a treasured favourite of Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh: all the royal jewellery tributes and traditions you missed at the Qatari State Dinner|date=4 December 2024|author=Ben Jureidini|quote=Speaking from high table, King Charles addressed the visiting royals}}</ref> [wedding reception](/source/wedding_reception)s,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ainsworthhouse.net/where-do-the-bride-and-groom-sit-at-the-reception/|title=Where Do the Bride and Groom Sit at the Reception?|date= 14 December 2024|website=Ainsworth House|quote=From the left to the right, those who sat at the high table were a groomsman, a bridesmaid, the best man, the bride, the groom, the maid/matron of honor, a groomsman, and a bridesmaid.}}</ref> [university formals](/source/formal_(university)), and other formal events such as the [White House Correspondents' Dinner](/source/White_House_Correspondents'_Dinner).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/26/white-house-press-dinner-shooting-how-it-unfolded|title=Shots rang out, pandemonium erupted: how the White House press dinner shooting unfolded|quote=Donald and Melania Trump appeared in good spirits as they settled in on the high table at the White House correspondents’ dinner in Washington DC|work=The Guardian|author=Victoria Bekiempis|date=26 April 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/world/us/2026/04/26/donald-trump-rushed-from-white-house-correspondents-dinner-after-gunman-fires-shots/|title=Donald Trump’s dinner with the media descends into chaos as gunman storms hotel|work=The Irish Times|date=26 April 2026|author=Keith Duggan|quote=At 8.34pm, Trump was sitting in the centre of the high table flanked by the first lady, Melania Trump and Jiang when the scene was suddenly flooded with Secret Service and military personnel who rushed the president out.}}</ref> At some colleges in universities, the high table may be used by members of the [senior common room](/source/senior_common_room) during ordinary meals as well as at formal dinners.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.greyscr.co.uk/dining|title=Dining in College|website=Grey College SCR|quote=Informal meals are taken through the servery with SCR members sitting at High Table in the main Dining Hall.|access-date=26 April 2026}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Barley Hall 1.jpg|thumb|The restored great hall at [Barley Hall](/source/Barley_Hall) in [York](/source/York), with the high table across the width of the hall and two other tables down its length]]
In the medieval period, the high table was where the host and the most important guests sat at meals in the [great hall](/source/great_hall) of a castle. It was at the far ends of the hall from the doorway to the kitchens, on a raised [dais](/source/dais), and stretched across the width of the hall while they other tables, for the ordinary members of the castle household, ran down its length. This was preserved in the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge universities, where the students took the place of the members of the castle household and the fellows that of the lord and their guests.<ref>{{cite book|title=Castle|publisher=Channel Four Books|page=170|author=[Marc Morris](/source/Marc_Morris_(historian))|date=2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/IC267/002|title=Reconstruction drawing showing a dinner taking place in the great hall of a typical 13th century castle, with the lord and his closest associates sat on the high table at the far end|date=1992|website=Historic England|access-date=26 April 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/goodrich-castle/history-and-stories/life-medieval-household/|title=Entertaining at Goodrich Castle|website=English Heritage|access-date=26 April 2026}}</ref> Traditionally the high table had chairs while the other tables had benches, and the food served at the high table could be completely different from that at the other tables.<ref>{{cite book|author=[Roy Strong](/source/Roy_Strong)|title=Feast: A History of Grand Eating|pages= 102-105|date= 2002|publisher= Jonathan Cape|ISBN=0224061380}}</ref>

==Universities==
[[File:S95HighTableFitzwilliam.jpg|250px|thumb|The high table in the dining hall of [Fitzwilliam College](/source/Fitzwilliam_College) at the [University of Cambridge](/source/University_of_Cambridge)]]
The high table at universities is for the use of [fellow](/source/fellow)s (members of the [Senior Common Room](/source/Senior_Common_Room)) and their guests in large university dining halls in some universities, where the students eat in the main space of the hall at the same time. They remain the norm at many colleges of [Oxford](/source/Oxford_University),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2025/11/16/investigation-the-cost-of-high-table/|title=
Investigation: the cost of High Table|date=16 November 2025|author=Lila Robinson|work=The Oxford Student}}</ref> [Cambridge](/source/University_of_Cambridge)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://glossary.lib.cam.ac.uk/term/high-table| title=High table|website=University of Cambridge|access-date=29 April 2026}}</ref> and [Durham](/source/Durham_University)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://durham-student.org/what-is-a-formal/|title=What is a formal?|date=20 November 2024|author=Mia Ainsley|website=The Durham Student|publisher=Durham University}}</ref> universities, as well as at [Devonshire Hall](/source/Devonshire_Hall) at the [University of Leeds](/source/University_of_Leeds)<ref name=Devonshire>{{cite web|url=https://residencelife.leeds.ac.uk/story/13159833/devonshire-hall-formals|title=Devonshire Hall Formals|website=Residence Life|publisher=University of Leeds|access-date=22 April 2026|author= Sarah Djuric}}</ref> and [St Anselm Hall](/source/St_Anselm_Hall) at the [University of Manchester](/source/University_of_Manchester)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://manchestermill.co.uk/slems-is-known-as-the-weirdest-university/|title=Slems is known as the weirdest university halls in Manchester. That’s exactly how the students like it|date=25 November 2023|website=Manchester Mil|access-date=26 April 2026}}</ref> in the UK, [Trinity College Dublin](/source/Trinity_College_Dublin) in Ireland,<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://classicsireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/ClassicsIreland29_42-54_Somerville.pdf|journal=Classics Ireland|publisher=Classical Association of Ireland|volume=29|pages=42–54|year=2022|title=Oculi omnium: The Graces of Trinity College Dublin|author=R. A. Somerville}}</ref> [St Paul's College, University of Sydney](/source/St_Paul's_College%2C_University_of_Sydney) in Australia<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bigthink.com/the-present/democratic-rituals/| title=We need highly formal rituals in order to make life more democratic|author=Antone Martinho-Truswell|date=19 June 2020|website=Big Think}}</ref> and the [Graduate College](/source/Princeton_University_Graduate_College) at [Princeton University](/source/Princeton_University) in the US.<ref name=Princeton>{{cite web|url=http://www.princeton.edu/~gradcol/perm/hightable.htm |title=High Table|website=Princeton University|access-date=26 April 2026}}</ref>

The high table is normally at the end of the dining hall on a raised platform,<ref name=Princeton/> although this is not always the case. Typically, the high table is set across the breadth of the hall, and is thus at right angles to the tables in use by the main body of diners, which stretch along the hall's length. On more formal evening occasions, [dinner jacket](/source/dinner_jacket)s are worn. It is also still common to wear [academic gowns](/source/academic_dress), at least for dinner.

===Other usage===
At the [University of St Andrews](/source/University_of_St_Andrews), "high table" refers to a small formal meal for a group of students and academics rather than to a high table in the dining hall.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/accommodation/ug/residences/stsalvators/ |title=St Salvator's Hall |access-date=30 July 2015 |archive-date=5 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005051600/https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/accommodation/ug/residences/stsalvators/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> At [Trinity College](/source/Trinity_College%2C_Toronto) and [Massey College](/source/Massey_College%2C_Toronto) in the [University of Toronto](/source/University_of_Toronto), "high table" refers to the [formal dinner](/source/formal_(university)) for the whole college,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://thevarsity.ca/2018/10/21/the-problem-with-high-tables/|title=The problem with high tables|author= Gavin Foster|date=21 October 2018|work=The Varsity}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://masseycollege.ca/events/massey-high-table/|title=Massey High Table|website=Massey College|access-date=22 April 2026}}</ref> as does "high table dinner" at universities in Hong Kong.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sa.hkbu.edu.hk/en/lqc/leadership-development/HKBU-High-Table-Dinner.html|title=HKBU High Table Dinner|website=[Hong Kong Baptist University](/source/Hong_Kong_Baptist_University)|access-date=26 April 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cityu.edu.hk/sro/reslife/WPD/KLT/HighTableDinners/|title=High Table Dinner (HTD)|website=[City University of Hong Kong](/source/City_University_of_Hong_Kong)|access-date=26 April 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://rc.hsu.edu.hk/joint-rcs-high-table-dinner/|title=High Table Dinner|website=[Hang Seng University of Hong Kong](/source/Hang_Seng_University_of_Hong_Kong)|access-date=26 April 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hkmu.edu.hk/ba/news-events/high-table-dinner-2025-event-highlights-5-march-2025/|website=Hong Kong Metropolitan University|title=HKMU Business School High Table Dinner|access-date=26 April 2026}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

Category:University of Cambridge
Category:Durham University
Category:University of Oxford
Category:Traditions
Category:Dining

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [High table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_table) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_table?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.