It was built in the North-East corner of the fortified city - there are remnants of the old city wall in the grounds. Many of the buildings are just as they were 600 years ago. The college may be approached from either Holywell Street, or New College Lane; the latter entrance is deceptively plain, giving no hint of the magnificent buildings within. Included among these is the Chapel with its 14th Century stained glass, reredos (statues in niches covering the entire East wall of the Chapel) and a statue of the risen Lazarus. The college has its own choir school and the standard of singing in the Chapel is exceptionally high.

The Cloisters, considered by many to be the loveliest in the University, were used for military stores in the Civil War and the First World War. The Dining Hall contains a portrait of Dr Spooner, a Warden of the college, and the originator of the 'Spoonerism'. He is reputed to have told an idle undergraduate: "You have tasted two whole worms. You have hissed my mystery lectures. You will leave by the next town drain", and once proposed a toast to "The queer old Dean".