Founded in 1810, the college moved to its present site in 1927, and became a licensed hall of the University in 1957. The college now admits both undergraduate and graduate students to take Oxford degrees in a variety of arts, humanities and social science subjects. It is one of the few academic institutions within the University of Oxford to have accepted women as well as men since before the mid-twentieth century, with women attending the college since the 1920s. The college also trains men and women for ordained ministry among Baptist churches in Great Britain and overseas.

Each summer, the college hosts a themed ball named The Final Fling. During Trinity Term, croquet and pimms are enjoyed on the quad, which is also occupied by the college tortoise Emmanuelle. Emmanuelle is around 90 years old, and has won the Corpus Christi Tortoise Fair twice, as well as appearing on Blue Peter.