Corpus Christi College was founded by Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester, in 1517 and all the central buildings date from the early 16th century. However, the Fellows' Building to the south of the college and overlooking the Fellows' Garden and Christ Church Meadow, was erected by President Turner in 1706-12. It is a very handsome stone building, but, in the absence of documentation, the identity of the architect remains a matter of scholarly controversy. The laurel seems to have settled on one of two of Oxford's great amateur architects, Henry Aldrich, Dean of Christ Church (1648-1710), or William Townsend (died 1739).
After training under John Varley, Turner returned to Oxford in 1811 and set up as a teacher. Devoted to the 'city of dreaming spires', he executed many drawings of Oxford, although he was a prolific artist and his subjects range from the Isle of Wight to the Isle of Skye