{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} The '''University Chest''' is a term used, with slightly varying meaning, at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. The abbreviated form ''The Chest'' is common at Cambridge.
==Oxford== At Oxford the term is used in connection with the financial aspects of the university and its administration.
There has traditionally been an actual chest, an iron box that can be locked and used for storage.<ref name="morris">Jan Morris, ''Oxford''. Oxford University Press, 1987. {{ISBN|0-19-282065-6}}. Page 41.</ref> The current Chest at Oxford was made in the 17th century and is officially called "The Painted Chest".
Today, the modern "Chest" is in practice the finance department of the university. The central administration is located in modern buildings in Wellington Square.<ref name="morris" />
==Cambridge== At Cambridge the term is used to refer to the main capital account of the university. Again, the term derives from an actual chest, which was used to secure University property from the medieval period.
== See also == * ''An Oxford University Chest'' by John Betjeman (1938).
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/finance/information/history/ A history of the University Chest] * [https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/university-archives/glossary/chest Chest, The] * [https://www.finance.admin.cam.ac.uk/policy-and-procedures/financial-procedures/chapter-3-chart-accounts/section-2-source-funds-codes-0 Sources of Funds: The Chest]
Category:History of the University of Oxford Category:History of the University of Cambridge Category:Economy of Oxford